Television 's Impact On Teenagers Today

“Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.” (Peter). There was a time when all children wanted to do was to run, play, explore, and be adventurous. As time evolved, children have found more interest in television. Statistics show that a child spends 900 hours per year in school,and they spend 1,200 hours per year watching television. When asked to choose between watching T.V. and spending time with their families fifty-four percent of four to six year olds voted they would prefer to watch television. Television has changed the mindset of children over the years it has been proven that the more programs they watch, the more harmful it is to their brain development. T.V.

M-rated video games, which are not recommended for children younger than 17-years-old, are frequently advertised in movie theaters, video game magazines, and publications with high youth readership. Young people see 45% more beer ads and 27% more ads for hard liquor in teen magazines than adults to in their magazines. An increasing number of web sites try to get teens to make direct sales. More than 100 commercial websites promote alcohol products. Most advertisers use techniques that children and teens are more vulnerable to, like product placement in movies and TV shows, action figures, kid’s clubs, and celebrity endorsements. Sex is used in commercials to sell almost anything now. American ads constantly use thin female models, which contribute to the development of self-esteem issues in young girls.

The effects of watching Television on adolescents are tremendous. It has grown with us humans and has help up grow as humans all of these years. From my point of view, all I see is nothing more than improvement and success with the more years to come we have with our evolving knowledge with

In the article “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he addresses the issue of how TV has a negative influence on children. McCall states that young children and toddler’s cognitive ability do not develop as well when they have a television in the background while they are playing and interacting. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teenage pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to large amounts of television and video games become socially awkward and have issues interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly, which is leading to shows that should be restricted by a V-chip being watched by children, rendering the restricting system null and void.

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.

In the articles "The Box That Changed America" and "Television Transformed," the author elaborates on how the television has impacted American culture over time. One article directly gives information on how the TV impacts American children, and Americans. "The Box That Changed America" states that "Kids weren't playing outside as often. Commercials for cigarettes and junk food encouraged bad habits" (Tarshis 21). This shows that American's were becoming more attached to their televisions, leaving less time for other things, such as reading. It also shows that commercials could lead people into doing such things they wouldn't do normally. In the other article, the author writes about how new technology changes how Americans watch TV, and

Television has increasingly become the quintessential epicenter of communication, since its invention, in 1927. At any moment in time 2.5 billion people are viewing some form of television broadcast (Ballard). Modern society has introduced various categories of television. These variations range from educational to violent. This broad spectrum makes it hard to generalize the effects it has had on American youth; however, television seems to have increased moral and intellectual degradation. Through violent shows and monotonous news broadcasts, American youths have become desensitized to the poverties, and hardships of the world. This desensitization has had several, and moreover negative, moral impacts on the youths of America. Nevertheless,

In today’s society, is the media mirroring our behavior, or are we mirroring the media’s portrayal of us? That question was posed in the documentary “The Merchants of Cool”, narrated by Douglas Rushkoff. This program examined the teenage culture and how the media is used to manipulate and portray our generation. With examples from Sprite, MTV, WB, and other massive media outlets, evidence is shown that our media-teenager relationship is tainted with sex, music, rebellion and a broad image of what it is to be “cool”. Most of the images portrayed of teenagers aren’t the best. With TV shows such as “MTV Spring Cruise”, teenagers are shown as sex-driven, reckless kids. TV corruption is just one of many examples of the blurred line between reality and perception in media and advertising.

The Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) reported that teenagers rank entertainment media as a key source of information about sexuality and sexual health. The target audience for music television ranges in age from 12 to 34, and sexual imagery in music videos has increased over the years. On a daily basis, 65% of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 listen to hip-hop over any other

Teens behave from what is portrayed on TV, especially television shows such as Teen Mom, Real World and the infamous Jersey Shore. While there are parental controls that block children from watching these shows, teens always find a way to watch. Teens from 13-17 watch these shows which are highly inappropriate for their age group. In the beginning of Jersey Shore, it states “parental vision advised, and that should be a warning to the parents that this isn’t a show for a child watch. Looking at Jersey Shore, an evaluation on whether the content from the Jersey Shore is good or bad for the age group 13- 17 to watch considering the language used, the sexual and violent content, and whether they pick up these behaviors from Jersey Shore. The content

Youth in Television have been portrayed in many different lights, anywhere from the criminal to the young at heart. With their resistance to the dominant culture, many studies have been done concerning the meaning of the political challenges to the social formation involving investigating cultural objects and media artifacts. Historically young people have fallen into distinct but dependent categories: youth-as-fun and youth-as-trouble. One might ask why any of this is pertinent to the study of television. However in the 1950's consumer boom, youth-as-fun became a major advertising strategy. Once advertisers identified teenagers as a valuable consumer, more and more positive images of youth became evident

It is not a surprise that television media affects adolescents. There are several programs geared toward young people that give a negative view on what it is like to be a teenager/emerging adult. These shows are geared toward a younger audience, but have more mature content that is not suitable for children under a certain age. Some of these shows deal with teen pregnancies, drug use, and relational issues – all of which are important to talk about – but the manner in which they are shown, is not suitable for a younger audience.

Like previous generations today's youth are greatly influenced by what they see and hear. Outside of parents or legal guardians, the big screen, television, music, and peers have the greatest influence over young people today. What is being communicated to our youth falls short on doses of old-fashioned morals and values.

The media is a huge part in everyone's lives and they have a great influence on the actions we partake in on a daily basis. Though adults don't usualy fall into the pressure of the media, young children and teenagers ae highly sussestable to what the media is telling them to do and what's 'cool'. A major action glorified by the media is smoking and it pressures minors to take up the horrible habit as an attempt to be happy or some how be like their favorite celebrity. Media and holly wood especially have both contributed to an era of people smoking and are a direct cause for the increase of youth smoking today.

Teenagers are one of the major groups targeted by mass-media, more specifically video game companies, moviemakers and television programs. They are old enough to understand double innuendos and underlying concepts yet young enough to appreciate animated and younger films. This makes them a prime audience for most media outlets.