What's going on?

It's everywhere. Teens and young adults drinking or getting high. It's in movies and tv shows that are part of today's pop culture. This gives the impression to society, especially teens and young adults, that it's okay to get drunk and black out. These actions, although it feels good at the time, are actually detrimental in the long run. It can lead to liver failure and the need for dialysis. Are we teaching our kids that it's okay to be unhealthy or die at a young age?

Distance Learning

New technologies make learning virtually possible from anywhere in the world. With the implement of online classes it is easier for someone to get a degree especially if they do not have the time to attend regular classes because of work or other reasons. You have the capability of doing things on your own time. You are given a time window when assignments are due, so you can get them done in advance or right when they are due. Online courses have made it possible for more people to earn a degree than ever before. There are various strictly online colleges for those who do not have time to attend regular classes or online courses from regular colleges for students who maybe want to take an extra course but do not have the time to attend class.

Positive Media Effects

-On Adolescents

Although the media have negative connotations attached, there are many positives the media promotes especially among adolescents. Disney plays a big part in the positive side of the media. With their “Friends for Change” campaign they try to teach children how to be green by recycling and conserving. Also their short television spot called “Pass the Plate” promotes diversity as well as unity describing how different cultures use the same foods. “The Magic of Healthy Living”, another Disney campaign featuring the First Lady Michelle Obama, teaches kids how to be healthy including how to eat right and exercise.  More information about these campaigns can be found at http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/passtheplate/index.html , http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/friendsforchange/ , and http://disney.go.com/magic-of-healthy-living/ncds/ .

A new campaign that has just started is “Delete Digital Drama”, a campaign against cyber-bullying spear headed by ABC Family with help from Seventeen Magazine. Many of ABC Family’s stars have taken part in this campaign to promote diversity and acceptance. More about this campaign can be found at http://abcfamily.com , http://www.seventeen.com or http://stompoutbullying.org 

Nickelodeon also has their own news show for kids titled “Nick News” which is hosted by news anchor Linda Ellerbee. It keeps kids informed as well as reports news involving amazing children such as an 11 year old saving a man’s life and children protesting for change in schools and communities. These stories and more can be found at http://news.nick.com/.

The media can also be a good influence on children. With many shows like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, Sesame Street, Barney & Friends, and many others, and programs like Baby Einstein children can start learning even before they attend school. They can learn to read and count, learn right from wrong, and learn everyday social norms for kids.

-On everyone

As much as the media can make us pessimists in life, it can also make us optimists. Inspirational news stories or movies that move us to make a difference or to change the way we are, to be better people, are always broadcasted by the media but are overshadowed sometimes by the stories that make us pessimistic.

The media can help us to stay informed on what is going around the world ranging from natural disasters to economic downturns. With one click of a button or the use of a search engine, we can stay informed on the condition of many things around the world. The media also helps us learn new things about places we have never been to or about new discoveries being made in the medical or science fields. We can learn about new technologies, ways to help the environment, or how to be healthy.

Sexual Exposure

 Humans are sexual beings in nature. Being exposed to sexual behavior while doing normal everyday things like watching television makes us more highly to be very sexual in nature. For some people being exposed to sexual behavior early can lead to early involvement in sexual activities, but it is not true for everyone.  Being exposed isn’t the only factor that leads to early involvement, the environment and way you are exposed to it affects how early or late a person starts participating is sexual activities.

 The side of sexual behavior we as a society are mostly exposed to through television, movies, and music is the easy, no consequence side. We are exposed to couples falling in love and consummating their love through sex, or young adults participating in casual sex or one night stands.  Being exposed to these things so frequently makes is socially acceptable in society more so than it’s ever been.  We are also exposed to the notion that participating in sexual activities can get us basically anything we want, and mostly teenagers being naïve, see this as a good thing; girls maybe to get a guy to fall in love with them, and guys just to become popular among their friends about how many girls they have had sex with.  

 You may ask the question, why is there so much exposure to sexual behavior? For ages society has been exposed to sexual behavior, but in the past it was done with more discretion with underground whore houses and brothels. Now we as a society have a want for this material, it entices us, that’s why television and movies companies always have at least one scene where there is some sort of sexual activity being portrayed.  At least two shows on every channel, every night show some sort of sexual behavior and at least three movies that open every month also have some sort of sexual activity prevalent.

 There is still a whole another side to participating in sexual activities, the side that includes unplanned pregnancies (including teenage and single parent pregnancies) and the contraction of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). Though there are movies and television shows about the down sides to promiscuous behavior, no one really wants to see it that’s why it is not as popular. People like to be optimistic, not worrying about the down side until it’s too late to anything about it.

We are also not exposed to the emotional side of being sexually active. Casual sex or friends with benefits eventually leave a mark on the person participating in it and sometimes is can give them a skewed view of the world.

Violence in the Media

 We all know children of all ages are impressionable, whether it’s young kids trying to be like their parents or teenagers trying to act like their friends. This is why adults try to monitor what children are exposed to with maturity ratings things like television shows, movies, music, and video games. These ratings do not only apply to children, they apply to everyone depending on their mental capacity.

 People learn what is good and bad through experience or through Albert Bandura’s Social Learning theory. If we go by the Social Learning theory, if a person sees a consequence happen for a certain action, like someone getting hurt, that person will try to stay away from that action, or if we see a reward for a certain action we are more likely to repeat the action. If we do not see a consequence or a reward for an action we do not know if the action is good or bad, especially for a child who hasn’t fully grasped the concept of right and wrong. As I stated earlier, children are impressionable because of their developing brains and using the Social Learning theory, which states we learn by observing the behaviors of other, we see why violence can be bad.

 We’ve seen countless news stories where deaths of children by the hands of other children are blamed on media content. For example the case where Lionel Tate, a 12 year old boy, wanted to try out wrestling moves on his 6 year old cousin because he thought that she would walk away unharmed like the professional wrestlers on television do.  At the time 12 year old Tate weighed 170 pounds where his little cousin only weighed 48. Tate was later convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. More can be read about the story at the following link:   

 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/03/09/national/main277536.shtml

  Using the above story as an example, if a child sees an action that normally carries harmful consequences performed without resulting in said consequence than they immediately will think that it is okay for them to try it out.  So when actors or wrestlers perform violent stunts that are normally dangerous without getting hurt, then the children will think they will not get hurt either if they decided to try it out. If an actor, though, does perform a violent stunt where they do get hurt, a child will more than likely stay away from that action because the one things children dislike as much as getting told no when they want something, is getting hurt.