It is estimated that by teenager years, roughly 78% of adolescents will face issues with how they view themselves (Washington Dept.). As time passes, the number is steadily increasing. This is a major issue. Teens are exposed to the media every day and is impacting them severely. Media proves to have a negative effect on society and people in their preteen and teen years. This topic is extremely important to me. I, myself, am a teenager. It worries me that something as big as media would allow themselves to continue to hurt teenagers emotionally and in worst cases, physically. This topic is something that is close to my heart and I find interesting. I personally know people that have been affected by eating disorders and low self-esteem issues. I want to know how the media can impact someone so much that they would want to harm themselves and their bodies in order to fit the ideal perfection standard implemented by the media. I hope that in the near future, people can see the true dangers and the issues can be resolved. My sources are all electronic. All sources are found from articles and websites on the internet directed by Google. My first source I had found was from the American Psychological Association. This source gave a professional approach to eating disorders and Alvarado 2 how they came to be. In addition to this source, there is the NEDA Feeding Hope foundation that is also based on eating disorders. Another eating disorders source is Something Fishy. The electronic sources Teen Ink, Divine Caroline, Westminster College, and Washington Department are all sources that focus on how media affects teenagers in general. All sources give professional and factual input. The main idea behind the sources is to fo... ... middle of paper ... ...ously. I am concerned on what types of stories would be acceptable. Stories of everyday teens? Stories of celebrities that changed themselves for media? Or stories of people in careers like ballerinas that have eating disorders due to the need of being “perfect?” Which stories would be best to use? I am hoping that my paper will produce a newfound opinion about the media. Not necessarily a negative outlook, but a clearer outlook. One that is not tainted by various reality shows and music pop icons. My focus will be on the media and its effects. Not necessarily that it is bad, but the truth behind it. This work is extremely important because to this day, Alvarado 4 we are leaving too many harms for teenagers to act in. We need to change the way media is to get a better outcome for teenagers to avoid the bad phase or even deadly phase of eating disorders.
The media uses means such as social media, magazines, and television to influence people, specifically teenagers. Adolescence can be a confusing time for everyone, but teenage girls are more vulnerable to their influence due to their emotional maturity. Although girls currently believe that this impossible body image is expected of them, they develop eating disorders because of it. For example, the Victoria's secret fashion show and underwear commercials help set up the impossible beauty standard all girls and women are trying to achieve. Those models live by a strict diet and exercise routine plus their photos are manipulated in order to look the way they do. If models don't look thin enough, they will “frequently have collarbones, ribs, and even hips erased to make them look thinner (Body Image-Photo Manipulation).” Magazines are also a huge part of media's influence. It is common to find teenage girls reading fashion magazines. One issue of the popular magazine, Vogue, “was found to contain 144 manipulated images, including the cover (Body Image-Photo Manipulation).” It is normal to be conce...
The average teen spends up to 10 hours and 45 minutes a day on social media (Newsom) Because of this, teenagers are being constantly exposed to images of models and celebrities who are giving false expectations saying, “To be perfect you have to be skinny.” The constant pressure on teens to look the way media says they should is having negative effects on health and leading to common cases of Depression, Anorexia and Body Dimorphic Disorder. The false accusations the media is sending to boys and girls are causing many damaging effects to body image.
It is very clear that the images displayed in the media have dangerously negative impacts on teenagers in our society. With airbrushed models and dolls wearing designer clothes being the role models of beauty for teens, isn’t it obvious that this will eventually lead to eating disorders? The media must find a healthy way to potray beauty rather than bombarding teenagers with images of slender women or muscular men that represent approximately 2% of the Canadian population. Your body is NOT a battleground and every calorie you gain is NOT a new war.
It is no secret that the current generation is obsessed with media. You cannot walk anywhere without seeing teenagers, adults, and even kids using technology and social media. Everywhere you look there are ads to purchase the latest and greatest clothing, technology, or beauty products. Television standards have been lowered by the FCC and shows with explicit content have now taken over television leaving teenagers to idolize a lifestyle that is not to their best interest. But how does this media really affect us? What age is most drawn in and how does it change the outlook of their future? This would fall under evaluation research, I am seeking to find out the impact that media has on the current generation. Showing the negative correlation between media and child development will have an impact on how families chose to raise their children and the supervision of mass media in homes.
Strasburger, V. C., & Wilson, B. J. (2002). Children, adolescents, and the media. Thousand Oaks Calif.: Sage Publications.
In contemporary society, people are strongly influenced by mass media. Although traditional television watching and newspaper reading are no longer as popular as before, people spend more time in front of computers listening to music and radios, reading news and information, interacting with other people in social network and watching television programmes and films. The developing technology of mobile phone allows people to do almost everything they can do with the computer. Nowaday, people are living in a world ‘saturated by media sounds and images.’ (McQuail, 2008, p.456) In this essay, a general introduction of social change and media influence will be discussed in the first section. The second section will introduce Golding’s four concepts of news media and their effects. The media effect in political area, such as propaganda will be examined in the third section. Next, the methodological research of media violence and its problems will be analyzed. The final section will criticize the problem of early theoretical research of media effects.
The media has many negative and positive effects on teenagers in this generation. Such as cultural and political awareness and communication of information to the public which are seen as positive influences. Deifying negative behaviours and image and beauty standards produced by the media are viewed as negative.
Have you ever watched a movie and later caught yourself daydreaming about the actors' lives? Ever finished a movie then found yourself imitating the way the heroin talks, wears or walks? Do you not ever stop and wonder how much your views and attitude have been influenced by the media and what you're constantly exposed to? The media has an enormous influence over the lives of men, women, and teenagers. Today, individuals get affected by how people dress, talk, behave, and think trying to become another version of them. Media doesn't only have a positive effect on us, but it can also impact us negatively. Nowadays, the media is widespread in society in different forms (television, books, films, internet etc.), and its effects on individuals is quite noticeable mainly in youths' physical and verbal aggression through violent and emotional behavior. This is a result of the current presented means of entertainment. People are now constantly watching TV series and video clips and later start taking the actors, singers and even TV presenters as role models and dressing like them in attempt to stand out and be up to date. Not only do they dress like their role models, but they blindly believe in their opinions no matter how biased and incorrect they are. The media is currently making our decisions for us, such as deciding our own personal preferences. Media is affecting teenagers greatly because it displays abundance of violence, and inappropriate scenes as well as unhealthy living conditions, making teenagers believe that such behaviors are acceptable in our society. Mass media has become a major negative influence in the society, especially on the younger generation's attitude, beliefs, and values.
Strasburger, V.C. & Donnerstein, E. (1999). Children, adolescents, and the media: Issues and solutions. American Academy of Pediatrics, 103, 1-15.
To conclude, in the world where everything are quickly changed, mass media has an important role as a social agent, due to its great capability of influencing, mass media can bring change for the better if it functioned properly and cause various effects to the society. Even so, mass media still need to follow the rules which are set by its community in each country. However, even though mass media is capable of changing human's paradigm, in the end, it all comes back to each person, whether they agree to change or not.
When you look at a magazine, what catches your attention the most? Is it the juicy gossip which tells you if a certain celebrity broke up with another? Or is it the beautiful models which grace every single page of the magazine? What music is the best? What is in fashion? A place we might like to visit for vacation. Where should we go out with our friends? What movie to go watch. We all get some sort of influence from the media. It shapes our opinions, but it can be for the worse as well. Over the past years the media has grown widely in magazines, radio/music and the internet. It has a powerful influence on mostly the youth and teenagers of this generation.
Mass media includes Internet, radio, television, mobile devices, and other communication technologies. The existence and power of media influences are strongly recognized as a significant part of the ecology of the young generation. The media has become an inseparable part of the life of teenagers. Nearly every adolescent growing up in the United States is exposed to various encounters with mass media every day. Considering the current influences, the media plays an important role in forming opinions and dictating the actions of the youth culture. The mass media has tremendously affected people’s lifestyle, living patterns, and socialization. Although many people in today’s society could be affected both negatively and positively, teenagers are more inclined to be influenced by the media and hence, receive the greatest impact. The positive influences of the media might not be talked about often, but positive effects do exist. However, the negative influences of the media are more visible due to the consistency used to elaborate its negativity into people’s minds. Some of the negative impacts of mass media on the young generation involve the increase of aggressive behavior in adolescents. Another aspect is the youth-targeted advertisements that portray ideal body images toward the female demographics, and also the celebrity hype that causes teenagers to demand expensive materials is another disadvantage.
“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses” (Thinkexist, 2010). The mass media, including news, movies, magazines, music, or other entertainment source has become a part of daily life for many people. As the quote mentions mass media and its power are capable of influencing people’s mind and behavior. Contents in the media introduced to young people make it difficult for them to distinguish between what is real and what is not, as a result stimulating confusion and blind imitation. The mass media plays an important role in the increase of violence, sexual activity, and risky behaviors among teenagers.
Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.
... our minds of what we should look like which and since so many people fail to meet those standards it leads to several people having low self-esteem, or eating disorders. Since mass media popularity has grown so has the percentage of people who are unacceptable of themselves. If our generation realized the percentage of the unrealistic media we see, we would not have so many problems with what goes on in this generation. Less money needs to go to broadcasting this false information and to help solve the problems created from this information. Is it really worth jeopardizing the lives and mental state of others?