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    Media Influences On Adolescents

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    liliana_puchea
    This document discusses the influence of mass media on adolescents. It argues that the media can negatively portray unrealistic body images and violence which can be harmful to viewers, especially young people. The media is a major part of culture but can also influence adolescents' identities and behaviors by acting as a substitute for other social institutions. In particular, the narrow beauty standards portrayed in media can lead teens to feel pressure to attain an ultra-thin body image and sometimes develop eating disorders in an unhealthy attempt to fit the ideal promoted by society and media. While entertainment is the goal, the media's messages can sometimes have unintended negative consequences for youth that warrant public awareness.

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    Media Influences On Adolescents

    Uploaded by

    liliana_puchea
    57 views2 pages
    This document discusses the influence of mass media on adolescents. It argues that the media can negatively portray unrealistic body images and violence which can be harmful to viewers, especially young people. The media is a major part of culture but can also influence adolescents' identities and behaviors by acting as a substitute for other social institutions. In particular, the narrow beauty standards portrayed in media can lead teens to feel pressure to attain an ultra-thin body image and sometimes develop eating disorders in an unhealthy attempt to fit the ideal promoted by society and media. While entertainment is the goal, the media's messages can sometimes have unintended negative consequences for youth that warrant public awareness.

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    Media Influences on Adolescents

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    Media Influences on Adolescents

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    This document discusses the influence of mass media on adolescents. It argues that the media can negatively portray unrealistic body images and violence which can be harmful to viewers, especially young people. The media is a major part of culture but can also influence adolescents' identities and behaviors by acting as a substitute for other social institutions. In particular, the narrow beauty standards portrayed in media can lead teens to feel pressure to attain an ultra-thin body image and sometimes develop eating disorders in an unhealthy attempt to fit the ideal promoted by society and media. While entertainment is the goal, the media's messages can sometimes have unintended negative consequences for youth that warrant public awareness.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    57 views2 pages

    Media Influences On Adolescents

    Uploaded by

    liliana_puchea
    This document discusses the influence of mass media on adolescents. It argues that the media can negatively portray unrealistic body images and violence which can be harmful to viewers, especially young people. The media is a major part of culture but can also influence adolescents' identities and behaviors by acting as a substitute for other social institutions. In particular, the narrow beauty standards portrayed in media can lead teens to feel pressure to attain an ultra-thin body image and sometimes develop eating disorders in an unhealthy attempt to fit the ideal promoted by society and media. While entertainment is the goal, the media's messages can sometimes have unintended negative consequences for youth that warrant public awareness.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
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    Media Influe nces on Adoles cents

    By: Victoria Barbera This paper is to inform readers about the influence that the mass media has on its viewers, particularly the young generation. Also, it attempts to show examples of media/television influences and focuses on how body image can be damaging to it s viewers through the influence of the mass media. The public needs to become more aware of the negative images that the media can portray on it s viewers, such as violence and unrealistic body images. This large entertainment industry is stated to be here for people!s en"oyment, yet it can cause harm to its viewers in a number of ways. The mass media is a big part of our culture in terms of entertainment, yet it can also be a helper, adviser and teacher to our young generation. The mass media affects the lives of our young by acting as a substitute for a number of institutions and social contacts, by providing information and entertainment, by creating and mediating art, etc. The time spent in front of the television screen is usually at the expense of leisure: there is less time for games, amusement and rest. #ost often children loo$ upon television as a certain $ind of socially beneficial instrument, an open door into the world of the imagination. Attracted by what is happening on the screen, children not only imitate what they see but directly identify themselves with different characters. Another large societal concern on our young generation inflicted by the media, is body image. %xternal forces can influence body image positively or negatively. &or one, societal and cultural norms and mass media mar$eting impact our concepts of beauty. 'n the mass media, the images of standardi(ed beauty fill maga(ines and newspapers, beam from our televisions and entertain us at the movies. %ven in advertising, the mass media plays upon accepted cultural values of thinness and fitness for commercial gain. )oung adults are presented with a narrowly defined standard of attractiveness, an ideal that carries unrealistic physical expectations. Both boys and girls are told that they should loo$ li$e a model, but only one in forty* thousand people, naturally have a model!s body shape. This is a problem because adolescence is a time when young adults begin to separate from their parents and identify their own identities. Acceptance by their peers is of utmost importance. This can ma$e teens vulnerable to ideals embraced by our culture and reflected in the media. To obtain the fashionable, ultra thin loo$, many young men and women restrict their food inta$e. +ometimes, men or women will result to drastic measures to fit the

    image they want to be, or the image that they feel society will accept them. 'n doing so, disorders can develop, such as Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa. The mass media can affect children!s thin$ing and behaviors. &or many young people, the world on the television screen is a more fre,uent topic of conversation than events and unpleasant moments in school or at wor$, than the opposite sex, and what friends are doing, etc. -ompared with television, the other mass communication media form a substantially smaller part of the daily topics of conversation. Also, television watchers can be influenced positively or negatively by what they see on the screen and can go out into the world, imitating these acts. Also, the media portrays an unrealistic body image for adolescents and all of society. This struggle to be accepted by society can lead to feelings of depression, anger, and anxiety and even direct to eating disorders. 'n closing, the media should be of great concern to our society. .hat our youth see and view, is what they feel society wants from them. /elivering wrong messages and unrealistic images by the media can only cause problems and trouble for our youth. Although the sole purpose of the media is en"oyment for society, the public should be aware that it could sometimes cause negative effects on its viewers.

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