Students Blast 'Unfair' SAT Reality Show Question

High school students who studied instead of watching Jersey Shore say they've been left at a disadvantage by a question on the SAT college entrance exam. The students complain that the essay question, which deals with the nature of reality shows, assumes that all students have a television and watch plenty of trashy reality TV, reports the Washington Post. “I’m proud he doesn’t watch television and then he goes into the one test that really counts and he gets pummeled," one father complained. The question is part of the writing portion of the test and counts toward one third of students' SAT scores.

“This is one of those moments when I wish I actually watched TV,” one test-taker said. “I ended up talking about Jacob Riis and how any form of media cannot capture reality objectively. I kinda want to cry right now." Another student told the New York Daily News: ”I guess the kids who watch crap TV did well. I was completely baffled." The director of the SAT program says the question contained enough information for anybody to be able to answer it. "The primary goal of the essay prompt is to give students an opportunity to demonstrate their writing skills,” she said. (More Jersey Shore stories.)