Teenagers In The Media

I believe that in the media teenagers are portrayed in a number of different ways. I believe that every subculture of teenagers has its own way of being portrayed in the media. Not every portrayal of the subcultures is just or fair, but then again not many are about the culture in general. I think that with so many subcultures of teenagers, it is impossible to choose one accurate portrayal of the teenager.

Firstly I believe that since the teenager is such a widely portrayed stereotype that it isn't fair to those who do not fall into that category. The stereotypical portrayal of a teenager is summed up as a delinquent. They steal, the fight, they vandalise, that is how we are portrayed because thats all anyone ever pays attention to is the bad. This is not a fair portrayal because teenagers do a ton of good stuff, but it just never gets recognized. when i walk into a store sometimes the clerk will follow me around to make sure I'm not stealing anything. This is a rediculous stereotype that is unjust because they just assume I'm a bad kid, based on what the media tells them. This is a sign that people need to stop letting the media take over their life. The media is teaching humans as a species not to trust anyone.

Secondly I think that the subcultures of teenagers are being exposed for the worst possible side to be shown. For example, metalheads. People who are catagorized by the type of music they listen to. this is a problem because good kids who just like the music are getting negative stereotypes surrounding them. people as a community and a society judge people way too much, looks, the type of music people listen to, everything is under constant scrutany. This makes it virtually impossible for anyone to express themself or be individual, and that is where i believe most of the stereotypes start. But it's not always the case, people judge people by how they look, and thats not right. I like metal music and people aren't calling me a freak because of it, just because I don't look like some of the other people who like that same music.

Thirdly I believe that it's the human nature to pay attention to the negatives more than the positives that gives teenagers a bad reputation. Imagine there is a group of five teenagers walking down the street. one of them is smoking. now because one of them is smoking, the other four are now categorized into the same group as him, not matter what the kids are doing. people are automatically attracted to the bad side of everything, nothing gets as much publicity as the bad. people dont walk down the street going "Oh this boy looks nice, I think I'll say hello.", people automatically, based on the bad they hear about teenagers are thinking, "Oh no a teenager, I hope he doesn't try to steal from me, or pull a knife out on me." It's just rediculous how these stereotypes have been escalated to the point where people who have never met me before think I'm going to kill them.

For the most part in the media teenagers are portrayed poorly through stereotypes and negativity. It's not all bad though. There are some accurate portrayals of certain groups of teenagers, but there are so many subcultures of teenagers that it makes it impossible to categorize any one teenager into any one specific portrayal.