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Teenagers in the media
Are teenagers represented fairly in the media?
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23rd January 2008

‘Young people’ you hear about them a lot in the media. Either portrayed as anti-social yobs that all drink, smoke and have sexual intercourse on a daily basis. Or else they are portrayed as victimised and the future of the world we live in. Both are true, to some extent. But which of the two is the most correct?

The controversial law of ASBOs was passed in order to attempt to control teenagers and prevent anti-social behaviour in the streets. I’ll be the first to admit that this problem is not mere fabrication, however it is as if teenagers are the only ones ever to be caught relieving themselves on the street. There are plenty of adults who go out and get drunk on a Friday night. I don’t see why teenagers should be blamed for all drunken conduct and vandalism. There are certainly a percentage that are exactly as the media portrays them, however I think that these numbers are much less than most people think. There are certain individuals who lead these groups and if they were to be removed there would be a lot less drunken disorderly conduct among teenagers.

There has also been a lot of complaining about the latter view of teenagers in the media. Many adults protest that ‘children are the future’ and that they are being misrepresented. This is hardly true. What is shown in the media is correct, entirely correct in most cases. There are plenty of teenagers who act in exactly the way the media portrays them. However, this is not to say that all of them do. There are also plenty who are intelligent and care about other people and the world around them. Normal people, really, who just happen to be teenagers. These people are obviously not shown in the media because there is nothing to report about them. They don’t do anything news worthy particularly. Getting an A* in English is not what the media is interested in, they’d much rather a drunken fight or date rape.

While we’re on the subject I’d like to thank the patronising person that started calling teenagers ‘young people’. ‘Teenagers’ is just fine, thanks. We know that is what we are; we don’t need ‘euphemisms’. We’re not about to start calling toddlers and babies ‘new people’ instead, are we? That may sound ridiculous but there’s this wide spread political correctness surrounding sensitive issues that almost merits censorship. How are we ever going to get to the bottom of things when we are too afraid of offending anyone? You offend everyone that you disagree with. I could be offending someone with this article, but I can’t bring myself to care because it’s my view and it’s their problem if they don’t like it.

To be fair, the media are not misrepresenting teenagers, they are merely reporting the bad side of them. This is obviously the most interesting side of what teenagers are up to, and of course the media thrives on scandal. It is simply important for older people to know that this is not the whole story and that not all teenagers are this way. Thankfully, I think most adults are sensible enough to see this however there are always a few who will believe what they read in the newspapers. It is human nature to thrive on the scandal.



Key Point ------->.To be fair, the media are not misrepresenting teenagers, they are merely reporting the bad side of them. Will enter this viewpoint into my documentary.