Adoelscents And The Media
Submitted by freefortermpapers on 06/24/2008 03:00 PM
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Adoelscents And The Media
Final Project
There are numerous sources of influence for adolescents. Two influences are family and peers. These are the people adolescents surround themselves with on a daily basis and are the ones who provide the framework for an individual's morals and values. Another influential factor, which has received a lot of attention lately, is the media. The media (perhaps more so than family and peers) provides adolescents with ideals to strive for (in areas like fashion or attitude) and can also be a source which adolescents can identify with at a time in their lives when they feel they are not being heard or understood.
Some of the many different forms of media include novels, magazines, television, movies, and music. One form of media that ties a number of these different forms together and is especially influential to adolescents of today is the music video. Television viewing is at an all-time high with the youth of today. One of the most popular stations adolescents watch is the Music Television channel (MTV). By watching these music videos, adolescents identify with the attitudes and behaviors of the people in these videos (most of which portray violence, gender stereotypes, and a negative image of sexuality).
A study conducted by Johnson, Adams, Ashburn and Reed (1995) looked at how music videos affected adolescents' aggressive thinking and attitudes. Researchers randomly assigned African-American adolescents into two different groups: one viewed nonviolent rap music videos containing sexually subordinate images of women and the other did not watch any music videos. When asked about their attitudes regarding women, participants who saw the music videos reported more acceptances towards the mistreatment of women, specifically teen-dating violence.
Another study, sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, was conducted in order to look at the messages that young women (ages 10 to 17) were receiving from the media. Six...
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