Teens and Media
We live in a culture that is saturated with media—music, television, video games, books, magazines, social media. All of it is available instantaneously on palm-sized machines without regard to our physical locations. Numerous research studies have been conducted and replicated throughout recent years pertaining to the effects of media on our children and adolescents. These studies have found that media profoundly impacts attitudes, beliefs, and actions—typically in a negative manner. What are the predominant lessons being taught? Violence is acceptable. Females are objects. Profanity and verbal put-downs are the norm. Our bodies (both male and female) aren’t good enough unless they conform to an unrealistic set of parameters that define “perfection.” Some might say that the way to combat the negative messages is to just turn it off or to limit the access. While these strategies sound like common sense, they are extremely difficult to enforce given how media-saturated our soc...