Teens Portrayed negatively in the Media

Teens Portrayed Negatively in the Media There have been many a discussion on why teens are portrayed badly in the media, and what needs to be done to fix this. Many adults look down their noses at teens, as if they are nothing more than the annoying piece of gum stuck to the sole of their shoe,the annoying fly buzzing at the window,or the pothole that caused them to spill their morning coffee on their way to work. In many ways, teenagers are books. They should never be judged from their outside, for all we know a bright, plastic, happy face may house shadowy chapters of resentment, victimizing and self harming. Frayed edges, tattered and dog eared. These are the qualities mentally and physically scarred teens share with an overused library book. Naturally, if a teen has done something wrong, adults will pin the blame fully on the teenager which is understandable as they will feel let down and embarrassed about their sons and daughters. However, adults share some of the blame as science has shown that if you want someone to change then you must nurture and care for them, encouraging them to do the right thing. Statistically, nine out of ten teenagers are portrayed negatively, on the internet, and in newspapers such as the Sun, the Guardian, and the Daily Mail. For example; sources taken from local newspapers have shown that thirty four percent of boys and thirty eight percent of girls have had sex before the age of sixteen. These statistics are not even true, in fact, it is about 15% for both boys and girls. As a child, Harry Enfield played a child called kevin. He was happy and lively. However, when his thirteenth birthday came to pass he started convulsing; he started to lose the use of his arms, he became slouched. He became short tempered and violent. This portrayal is stereotypical as very few teens actually behave in this way. Media hotspots such as newspapers like the Sun will say “they have brought it upon
themselves”