Effects Of Media On Youth

Nearly every adolescent growing up in the United States is subjected to numerous encounters with the media every day. American adolescents on an average watch television for at least two hours a day, and listen to music for about four hours a day. Seventy percent of all CD sales are sold to the adolescent demographic ages 12-20. Teenagers watch more movies then any other age grouping, and more then 4 million adolescent girls have monthly subscriptions to magazines like YM, and Seventeen. After adding internet usages, newspapers, videos, and books, the sum adds up to media being a significant part of the adolescent experience.

Recently there has been a debate on the effects of mass media on the youth of the United States. This refers back to the nurture verses nature theory sociologists have been disputing for years. Does what our children watch, hear or read on television, radio, video games, newspapers, magazines, and the internet really influence their choices and behaviors? Or more importantly are those behaviors learned strictly through the teaching and guidance of parents, teachers, and care givers?

The answer lies here. Adolescence is a time when young people are identifying important aspects of socialization like employment, gender rolls, and the development of morals, values, and beliefs. However it is also a time when family influence and ties become weaker and other outside presences become stronger and more important in the lives of the young. This is a transition stage before the importance of long term employment or marriage has become significant. This conversion allows most adolescence a chance to search for an outside governing source. Most youths look for guidance and mentoring from celebrities they see on TV, pop stars on MTV, politician they read about in the newspaper, or their favorite rap artist.

Adolescents learn gender rolls about how females and males should act, what kind of job to search for in the job force, physical and behavioral gender ideas through music, movies, television, and magazines. Young women are particularly influenced by magazines. There are countless articles on heterosexual relationships, sexual intercourse, and relationship rolls in these magazines. They are also littered with innumerable ads with thin, beautiful women advertising a certain product. Young women are influenced through these magazines, they are forced to believe that they need to look or act like the models they see. This kind of advertising is causing young women everywhere irreparable damage, depression, self-esteem issues and poor body image. Why is this going unnoticed? And if it is noticed why is no one doing anything about it? Why has profit margins, taken persistence over the mental stability of our youth?

Girls aren't the only target of these media attacks. The media effects young men in a different yet equally devastating way. Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals evidence that media violence increases the chances of aggressive or violent behaviors. The short term exposure increases the chances of physically and verbally aggressive behavior and aggressive thoughts and emotions. Media violence primes potential existing aggressive