Teens in the Media by Becky Polk
In South Carolina, a girl has a child at the age of fourteen, while throughout the nation millions of teenagers complete their homework and get ready for bed. A young boy guns down another teen on a dark street in New York, while on the other side of the city a group of teens walks away from a fight. A girl in California overdoses on heroin and dies on the way to the hospital, while teens all over the nation refuse drug offers daily. Which of these stories will you hear on the news?
The media portrays teens unfairly and inaccurately. The media makes all-inclusive generalizations about teens. Teenagers are grouped into stereotyped cliques which they then feel the need to fit into. The media also emphasizes the violent, misbehaving, and disruptive aspect of the teenage population instead of celebrating the good, or responsible, teens.
The media loves to pose questions like, "What's wrong with today's teens?" This question, found all too often in magazines, on television, and in newspapers, is offensive to the millions of teens who refrain from violence, practice abstinence, and refuse drugs. Questions like this reflect badly on all youth, not just the ones who have behaved irresponsibly. The media likes to emphasize the bad aspect of the news because that is what they believe the public wants to hear. SInce teens are what the adult public fears, teens are the best target for negative media. The media needs to commend the good things that teens do.
Stereotypes have a huge impact on teenage life. Teens are constantly exposed to images of the ideal teen. For teenage girls, perfection is portrayed as being pretty, skinny, and popular. Teenage girls see these images in films, on television, and in magazines. For example, in the film Can't Hardly Wait, Jennifer Love Hewitt's character is a beautiful, skinny, smart, popular girl whose biggest problem is that she has just broken up with her stereotypically perfect boyfriend. Constant exposure to these images contributes to depression, anorexia, bulimia, suicide, and low self-esteem among teenage girls. For teenage boys, perfection is portrayed as a handsome, popular, athletic guy who always gets the girl. Boys encounter these images in television, films, and magazines. For example, in the film She's All That, Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s character is the popular, athletic, handsome class president who, of course, gets the girl. Constant exposure to these images can lead to depression, suicide, steroid abuse, and violence among teenage boys.
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