Media Effects

Alaina Woods

Professor Kelly Warren

ENC1102

9 April 2013

As a high school teen, I must agree that the media may have negative effects, and nobody is immune to it. Whether it’s the image that one is given from the media, or the image that one takes; the media often has negative effects and doesn’t seem to get any better. The media especially has a negative effect on teens: mostly on violence, body image, and sexuality.

Though all issues are equally important in the effects of media, violence is one that is constantly brought up. It’s very entertaining to many people, and may have an influence on them; whether positive or negative. Violence is usually viewed in television, video games, and books. This enables a wide variety of access to these things, and in turn gives people a clear view of violence. There have also been experiments ran to see just how much of an effect violence can have on minors. One popular experiment is the “Bobo Doll Experiment”, created by Albert Bandura. This experiment involves children watching a video clip of the Bobo Doll being punched repeatedly. After the video is viewed, the child will be left in the room alone with the doll. The majority of the children would “replicate the behavior” (Johnson, “What Effect Does the Media Have on Teen Violence”) they see in the video, which is beating the doll. This proves that viewing violence can sometimes increase the amount of violence. Teens and children only repeat what they see. Since access to media that includes violence is so common, it seems as if violence only increases with time.

The next issue that effects teens within the media is body image. Many models, actors, and actresses seen on television seem to be perfect, and this influences teens to change their bodies so they can look perfect as well. Teens want to be accepted, and because celebrities are accepted because of their looks that’s who they follow. This often results in “destructive eating habits” (Kelly, “Negative Effects”) for girls, and boys try very hard to get lean to resemble celebrities. It looks as if the media influences teens to lose an excessive amount of weight; however there seems to be more obese teens due to the amount of media available. Teens spend an “average of five hours” (Kelly, “Negative Effects”) on different sources of media such as computers, television, and cell phones. This causes a huge amount of laziness so teens usually just resort to unhealthy snacks during this time period. Body image is very important to teens, and is also important to the health of teens and the media has a huge influence on it.

Lastly, the media has a drastic effect on teens and their sexuality. The media depicts sex as “acceptable and normal” (Kelly, “Negative Effects”) so of course teens soon feel tempted to try it. Also, the internet seems to be a reliable source for teens to search for information that involves “sexuality and sexual health” (Kelly, Negative Effects). Unfortunately, most of these sites are discreetly encouraging sex, by making it seem normal. The media seems to have a negative effect on a teen’s outlook on sex. The things seen on TV seem to encourage teens to have sex, and never encourages the right kind of sex. “Less than 1% of teen media focuses on sexual health, contraception, and consequences.”(Warren, “The Media & Teen Sexuality”) The frequent exposure to sexual social media is 2.2 times more likely to encourage a teen to have sex than a teen who hasn’t been exposed to this form of media. Media does not seem to have a positive effect on teen sexuality.

The media is a very dangerous thing, especially when it comes to teens. Speaking from experience, I’ve seen how the media can change one’s views on looks, violence, and sexuality. The numbers in violence seem to increase every day, and the things seen on television or the internet influence it in a large way. Body image is another thing that has such a huge effect on teens in the media. By seeing celebrities and their flawless bodies, teens have the urge to go to drastic measures to have their bodies look the same way. As well as influencing teens to change their bodies to look better, the media will also cause a teen to gain weight, and become obese. One of the last effects that the media has on teens is influencing sex or exaggerating sexuality. The internet and TV displays sex to teens, but not in the most beneficial ways. The effects of media go a long way, and range from all different types of dangers.