Media Matters

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Questionable behavior among young adults has always existed. Since time began the previous generation has always been suspect of their progeny. I’m sure somewhere during the Pleistocene Epoch one hominid noticed another, slightly more erect, hominid using a stone tool for the first time and muttered their version of “kids these days.” Few would disagree that young adulthood is a time to explore life’s options, and take chances while relatively unburdened by the usual responsibilities one acquires with age and status. It must also be stated that while pondering the state of the youth today many older adults conveniently downplay their own adventures and youthful misdeeds. In recent years though, how has our social climate changed? Are we more revealing as a society? What role does the media play in changing social attitudes? How much influence does it have on our young men and women? Current sensationalistic news programs, reality television series, and gratuitous sex and violence in popular music and videos can have an impact on the behavior of young adults.

A newer style of entertainment news has arrived in the past decade. Specifically TMZ (which began as an internet news blog) is the premier celebrity gossip news show of the nation. It [TMZ] glamorizes the decadent side of life of many Hollywood stars, musicians, and prominent figures in the entertainment world. It highlights the excessive behavior of people who live a life beyond the reach of most normal Americans. It exemplifies a way of “living above the law” without repercussions for untoward behavior. Rampant drug and alcohol abuse of our “elite” is reported on daily as they check in and out of rehab like hotels. This is also a very invasive and revealing program t...

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...al unit still shoulders the responsibility for equipping young men and women with the tools to face the world. I often complain of how puritanical and discriminatory our laws and attitudes can still be in this country. In my study of evolution I’ve learned that it consists of an explosion of life of all kinds and a systematic narrowing down of what simply does not work. My optimistic hope is that our younger element on their march towards a more open minded, inclusive, classless society is narrowing down “Snookie” and “The Situation” as we speak.

Works Cited

Media Influence on Youth

http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/teens/media_influence_on_youth.htm

Arce, Rose. “Hip-hop portrayal of women protested.” CNN Entertainment 4 March, 2005

http://articles.cnn.com/2005-03-03/entertainment/hip.hop_1_hip-hop-black-women-spelman-college?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ

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