Brainwashed
BRAINWASHED
The values today, for “generation Y”, are much different from the values of their parents’ and grandparents’ values. The current generation seems to be a group of materialized and corrupted individuals where the only ‘physical’ game they know of is “follow-the-leader”. I say ‘physical’ game because kids only know video games, cyber games, and mind-games. Society needs to recognize that our children will be the ones to shape the future for their children and by not having strong moral values, the future will not be a bright one. Don’t get me wrong, there are means where popular media addresses good morality and promotes well being, but that’s not what’s attracting the children. Kids are more likely to learn from what they see on television and hear on the radio, than what their parents are teaching them because television and music is entertainment to their eyes and ears. Twenty-first-century Americans are immense consumers of mass media, and according to Graber, “The average high school graduate has spent more time watching televised broadcast than in school.” Most of those hours spent were during the preschool and elementary school days. Over the period of one week, The average American adult will spend more than seven hours a day being exposed to some form of mass media news and or entertainment (Graber 2). From an early age, children of the United States are being influenced and controlled by media. What they see is what they know, and according to Graber, the media teaches young people behavior models as well as what elements produce desirable outcomes (Graber 10). Thus, superficial values are being passed from mass media to the minds of many children, manipulating their thoughts and destroying their diversity. Look at how women, even girls portrayed on television, in relation to the alpha male, women play the submissive role, doing as her master demands. She is also seen as a sex symbol, wearing a
The values today, for “generation Y”, are much different from the values of their parents’ and grandparents’ values. The current generation seems to be a group of materialized and corrupted individuals where the only ‘physical’ game they know of is “follow-the-leader”. I say ‘physical’ game because kids only know video games, cyber games, and mind-games. Society needs to recognize that our children will be the ones to shape the future for their children and by not having strong moral values, the future will not be a bright one. Don’t get me wrong, there are means where popular media addresses good morality and promotes well being, but that’s not what’s attracting the children. Kids are more likely to learn from what they see on television and hear on the radio, than what their parents are teaching them because television and music is entertainment to their eyes and ears. Twenty-first-century Americans are immense consumers of mass media, and according to Graber, “The average high school graduate has spent more time watching televised broadcast than in school.” Most of those hours spent were during the preschool and elementary school days. Over the period of one week, The average American adult will spend more than seven hours a day being exposed to some form of mass media news and or entertainment (Graber 2). From an early age, children of the United States are being influenced and controlled by media. What they see is what they know, and according to Graber, the media teaches young people behavior models as well as what elements produce desirable outcomes (Graber 10). Thus, superficial values are being passed from mass media to the minds of many children, manipulating their thoughts and destroying their diversity. Look at how women, even girls portrayed on television, in relation to the alpha male, women play the submissive role, doing as her master demands. She is also seen as a sex symbol, wearing a
References: Definition of beauty - appearance, attribute and device. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved October 29, 2012, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/beauty?region=us&q=beauty Graber, Doris A. (2010). Mass Media American Politics. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc. "Media Stereotypes." Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2001. Credo Reference. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. . Mendalman, J. )2011, December) From Jay-Z-to-Kanye-West.policymic. Retrieved October 20, 2012 from http://www.policymic.com/articles/3001/from-Jay-Z-to-kanye-west-does-rap-music-promote-bad-values The "Broken Heart" and "The Trouble with the Truth": Understanding Clichés in Country Music Astrid Franke.Poetics Today Vol. 18, No. 3 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 397-412 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1773132