Issues Affecting Society's Perceptions Of Young People

1580 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effect of media on public opinion

Throughout this essay issues that affect how a society perceives young people will be discussed and described. Such issues include the media. The worlds perceptions of other people comes predominantly from the media and so a lot of trust is placed on them. This means that despite biases coming through of ideas of young people being lazy and threatening, they will still be believed. Another issue is the beliefs older people have of younger people. These are a great influencing power because despite what is the truth, it is hard to overcome prejudices and stereotypes people may hold. This leads to the issue of the young people believing what older people think and acting on it. These interchange and reflect how it can affect how society perceives …show more content…

125 participants, aged 18-76. The result of this is the neighbourhoods felt threatened and disturbed by the young people who gathered in groups. This idea that the young people ‘appear’ intimidating or lurking is highly subjective. The fact that their presence is threatening says more about the older people than it does about the young people. The idea that older people’s ideas of young people is the issues that affects perception can, however, be supported. This is because the experiment also showed that there was vandalism and criminal damage committed by the young …show more content…

This is the case for the way people perceive young people. Biased stereotypes have the power to greatly affect how a society will view young people. Perceptions of young people are engendered by ‘social anxieties and insecurities’ rather than objective measures – Mackenzie et al (2010 p15). This leads to the concluding point that the way you view a young person based on your own perceptions affects how everyone around you will view them. This is a clear issue that affects how society perceives young people. Finn and Checkoway (1998) – ‘the dominant view of youths in any society will affect the beliefs and behaviours of adults and youths themselves’ (p335). Finn, J. L. and Checkoway, B., 1998. Young people as competent community builders: a challenge to social work. Social work, 43 (4), 335-345. It suggests that enforcing a certain view point of someone will eventually stick with them, e.g. call someone a failure enough times then they will become one. The stigmatisation of young people is arguably one of the most damaging forms of discrimination that affects the whole of

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis Of Miguel Ruiz's Four Agreements

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    2011). Some research suggests that the recent prevalence of targeted youth work is further stigmatizing the young people involved (Scanlon et al 2011; Jenkinson 2013). It is the role of the youth worker to challenge these negative agreements, to help young people find their truth. Rogers (1980) and Ruiz (2012) describe a process where a person, e.g. youth worker, values the significance and worth of another person. Through this acceptance the young person will begin to adopt a similar attitude and they will experience a rise in self-worth. Thus, they create a new agreement, that they are worthy of being valued and cared for.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Carol Gladwell's Mind-Sets And Equitable Education

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout life, anyone will realize that there is and will always be an age, gender, and ethnicity stereotype during different stages in your

    Read More

  • Stereotypes at PHLS

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stereotypes are everywhere and can often create problems for people, however they become even more detrimental to teens, especially at schools. Writer and science correspondent for the NRA, Shankar Vedantam, in his article, “How a Self-Fulfilling Stereotype Can Drag Down Performance,” explains that stereotypes can hurt the performance of the person that it is associated with. He supports his claim by first explaining that how well people do on tests are determined by who administers the questions, then he explains that studies show that when people take tests and they are reminded of negative stereotypes that associate with them, then they don’t do as well, and finally he states that the studies are being widely ignored by all the people who should take heed of the findings, such as test makers and college acceptance people. Vedantam’s purpose is to tell you about the research conducted by Huang in order to inform you that stereotypes can affect performance on tests. In my 9th grade class at Point Loma High School, we were given questions about stereotypes from our teacher to interview two students.

    Read More

  • How Does Stereotypes Affect Children

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many thoughts come into the mind when hearing the word stereotype. The society has been exposed to too many stereotypes. These stereotypes result in controversial issues, which in turn, affect adults and children. The TV shows, internet, and social media are sources that expose children, as well as the adults, to stereotypes. Examples of those stereotypes are religion, sexism, and race. As children grow up by, the age of four they are able to pick up many stereotypes through those sources and without the perception and knowledge these children carry these stereotypes along with them in their long term memory. Moreover, children are not able to know or distinguish whether those thoughts are negative or positive stereotypes, which in turn, cause

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Stereotypes

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, a teenager in today’s socialistic normalities are thought to be selfish and so absorbed in their phones they miss out on everything around them. However, not everyone is like that. The only reason someone thinks about a stereotype being fact is because the ones apart of the statistic are the ones who are the loudest and are easily pointed out. Mitch1991 claims in a Teen Ink article posts “Loud, obnoxious, rebellious, out of control, and up to no good… these are just a few of a wide number of stereotypes that are attributed to American teenagers. What is it about teenagers that make the rest of society seem to turn against them?” He has a very reliable point because he is living the stereotype first hand. A teenager is not alone in stereotyping of age. Elderly people are stereotyped as well. These may include being ignorant of what is going on, not being able to learn anything new, and being weaker at everything than younger people. Although these may be true for some people, they are still not true for everyone. Similar to how not all things people say about teenagers are true. This post he made matters because stereotyping does not just stop at the adult level or the color or race of a person level. It expands way past that. This is similar to how the Finch kids are treated at Cal’s church; unfairly and judgeful. Grouping people together like a teenager or elderly person is today or how the Finch’s are in the book, are one in the same because both have been stereotyped and not completely truthful for

    Read More

  • Negative Youth Portrayals In Media

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a modern age where the media retains a strong influence on the general population, many youths across the globe are feeling the effects of being misrepresented by media. The characteristics often forwarded by media frequently links youths with that of criminals and gangs. Similarly, depictions of teenagers being ignorant and haughty is now a widespread stereotype. These inaccurate depictions, which are sometimes taken for granted, are causing detrimental damages to the lives of youths and their futures as members of society. Despite the media’s likelihood to portray modern youths negatively, evidence suggests the opposite; that modern youths are in fact responsible,

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Teens in the Media

    367 Words  | 1 Pages

    First of all, whenever someone opens a book or magazine or turns on the television, they see a bunch of teens having fun. Immediately, because of how society sees teens, people think that the teens must be doing something wrong. People think that teens are out to cause trouble, when in reality, most of them mean no harm.. Many people may think that teens are dangerous and shun them for their own safety. It is almost a prejudice against the teenage race.

    Read More

  • The portrayal of young people in the media.

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    This essay will look at the different ways in which young people are portrayed in the media. It will focus on how the idea of childhood innocence has been challenged by the media and rather than ‘little angels’ children are now seen as ‘little devils’ in the public eye. By looking at ‘The Bulger Case of 1993’ we can see where the idea of ‘little devils’ and children as evil beings began. It will examine why media stories of young people are focused much more on negative aspects such as crime and gang culture rather than positive ones. It will also look at how television programmes such as ‘Teen Mom’ and ‘Skins’ portray the youth of today and whether these programmes come across as a positive or negative portrayal of teenagers. The idea of a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ will also be examined and whether the way the media portrays children can be harmful to the construction of their identities and possibly lead to alienation.

    Read More

  • Homeless Youth Essay

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    I believe young people must be seen as full-fledged citizens of our world. Youth empowerment, the act of bringing out natural talents and energies in youth, is effective. Youth should be provided the supports and opportunities that enable them to increase individual self-worth and skills and have significant impact on services to communities, states, and the nation. Youth should be active participants on decisions affecting their lives, including their living situations. Further, the involvement of young people in the planning and implementation of services and in mobilizing community support for programs that affect their lives, and those of their families, is essential to their individual development and the success of the programs working with

    Read More

  • Language, Gender, and Culture in Society

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is being perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate. Some hardly even apply to the particular group people it claims to. It is true that how people are perceived has a big impact on how other individuals interact with them; however, people are not perceiving these groups correctly.

    Read More

  • Ageism Essay

    2494 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ageism stereotypes permit people in society to engage in negative behaviors towards the late adulthood population. Ageism occurs throughout America and seems to be considered an almost ignored method of abuse. According to Nelson, (2005) attitudes toward older people began to shift dramatically with two major developments in civilization (p. 208). The major developments Nelson referred to are the invention of the printing press and the industrial revolution. The elderly population lost social status because historical events were now able to be printed and documented more easily. The need...

    Read More

  • Cultural and Racial Stereotyping

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are several factors that play a role in the development of stereotypes. The biggest learning of stereotypes come from family influences. Young children don’t see color or hold beliefs about culture and religion, but as they grow up, their ideas about people change with the people that they are surrounded by and associated with. Stereotypes also come from the media and social categorization (Ferguson). In young l...

    Read More

  • The Transition of Youth into Adulthood.

    1730 Words  | 4 Pages

    Youth of today are taking longer to complete the transition into adulthood compared to youth of twenty-five years ago. Changes in education and the benefit system may be responsible for the altered state of transition in current youth (Keep, 2011) which is an assumption that will be explored. In regards to this; this essay will cover youth transition and will look at how the restructuring of polices and legislations have affected youths transition in to adulthood. Furthermore the manner in which political ideologies and perspectives have altered factors such as education, employment, housing and benefits will be examined. Once a full explanation has been provided; the fundamental question that needs to be answered is; are the teenagers of today embattled or empowered?

    Read More

  • Propaganda and Stereotyping

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    Males, Mike (1994). “ Bashing Youth: Media Myths about Teenagers”. Online at: , consulted on March/April, 1994.

    Read More

  • Social Problems Affecting Youth Today and Ways to Solve Them

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    People do this to rebel or fit in the society they live in, others do

    Read More

More about Issues Affecting Society's Perceptions Of Young People

Open Document