What Type Of Messages Are The Youth Receiving From The Mass Media? (804 hits)

Hip huggers, cleavage, pants sagging down to the knees and belly buttons seem to be the most popular happening trends as it pertains to the images shown on the most popular television shows that our youth are engaged in on the everyday basis. But has anyone taken the time to evaluate the age group of those who so famously wear this type of attire and the effect that it has on the mindsets of the youth who are wearing the s*xually explicit attire? Well according to Cory a 16 year old who attends a far South side school in Chicago in which he prefers not to mention says "Seeing a girl with her cleavage out puts me in the mood for s*xually relations." Cory is being raised in a house hold with a mother, a father and two sisters and adds "I believe when girls dress in a way that shows off their body parts, they have low self esteem but it does grab my attention." "My parents won't allow my two younger sisters to dress that way and even if they did, I don't think that they would want to dress that way."

Promiscuity doesn't deem wrong in the contemporary world that we live in especially as the media constantly promotes the moto of "s*x Sells," continuously pressuring the youth to "Get down or not be found," into fame and fortune. From the cartoon characters to the "Supposedly" youth oriented sitcoms we see a wide variety of cleavage, hip huggers, thungs and pants hanging down to the knees of the young men and women who are wearing them. It's as if the young men only feel worthy if they criminalize themselves and the young women feel that the only way that they will fit in is if they are promiscuous and showing every sacred part of their bodies that they can. But why are the youth so promiscuous and with out care of how they present themselves as young men and women? Tonnetta a 15 year old young lady on the far South side of Chicago says "It's nothing wrong with showing off what you got, if you got it flaunt it." "Me and my mom wear the same clothes, she don't say nothing about the way I dress, we dress the same way." Tonnetta is being raised in a single family home by her grandmother. Her mother is a single mother, who just got out of a drug rehab and has been diagnosed with HIV two years ago. Tonnetta says "My mom is 30 years old but I don't live with her, I live with my grand-mom, my grand-mom is the one who complains about the way I dress, probably because she old and she can't wear it herself, she just jealous."

Could you imagine the mindset? A child feels that her grandmother is jealous of her because she is looking out for the well being of the child. This is the effect that much of the media has on the mindsets of the youth. But how is one to re-direct a child who feels that education is not important but she or he can get through life by way of s*xing and thugging? How are we to change the new pattern of babies having babies, teen HIV cases, irresponsible s*xual relations of the youth and the criminalizing mindsets of young males in inner cities nation wide? Are we to sensor the television programs, are we to connect with the FCC in order to have them shut down the programming that is causing our communities to rot or continue to go deeper into a bottomless pit that will spawn havoc into our world as time goes on?

Concerned mother Barbara Reed on the North side of Chicago says "It's time for change, a positive change." "We have to go back to the times where it took a village to raise a child, we all have to look out for one another and do it together." Barbara has a PhD in child psychology, is a stay at home mother and home schools her two young children Sears who is 7 years old and Neji who is 12 years old. They have both been home schooled for the last 3 years. Neji use to go to the local public school, but Mr and Mrs. Reed pulled him out of traditional school when Neji came home one day talking about "Blasting anyone who crossed him." Mrs. Reed said after my husband and I heard these words come out of my sons mouth we realized how much of an effect that Neji's friends and the media had on our kids, so we decided to pull Neji from traditional schooling, sensor the television programs that he watches and the children that he be-friends. We make sure that we are acquainted with their parents and because of this we have seen a major change in Neji's behavior." But why is it that a parent has to go through such extremes to make sure that their child is receiving the right education and as well are not being exposed to the wrong things.

In the 80's the Brady Bunch's mother and father getting in bed with one another was quite explicit, in the 90's Anna Nichols' train wreck of a show caused people to say "Uhhh, Ahhh" and wonder what the 21st century would bring us, currently it is the broken family with babies having babies, breast out, killing, dealing, criminalization and just plain old what ever. How have things gotten so horrifying and where do we go from here, how do we stop the cycle of open s*xuality, promiscuity, criminalization, killing and dealing amongst a society of youth that are quickly dying with a major influence from media? To contact the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) log on to http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm or call toll-free at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)

According to George Gerbner's Cultivation Theory, watching television has a major long term effect on it's viewer. The effect may come gradual and indirect but is certainly cumulative and significant. Is your child effected by the mean world syndrome or is he or she able to cope without any of the media's life disturbing distractions? The village is the means to raising the children based upon morals and values. Let's go back to the basics so that our children are raised to uplift the integrity of education.

For more information on George Gerbner's Cultivation Theory log on to
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issue...
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzic...

To contact the Federal Communications Commission log on to http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm or call toll-free at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)

To help your child stay away from media violence log on to http://www.pamv.net/

Let's strive for a brighter and positive future in media! Posted By: Talibah Bakhit
Monday, May 24th 2010 at 7:34AM
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