Hello, I'm currently conducting an investigation on whether or not people feel that the media encourage teenagers to act violently. Do you have any thoughts, views or experiences to back up or disprove this idea? Any reply would be well received.

Really, any reply at all would be very welcome!

Perhaps you know of someone who knows of this subject?

Anything at all would be great to hear about

Teenagers encourage violent behaviour in teenagers.

Kids are stupid and the less they learn from each other the better.

quote:

Originally posted by A-D:
Teenagers encourage violent behaviour in teenagers.

Kids are stupid and the less they learn from each other the better.

.. and they don't improve any when they grow up.

I think it depends on the nature of the media....

I don't think cartoons are such a problem, or anything else that is totally unrealistic.
I do think realistic violence (e.g. most TV and movies etc) can be detrimental to certain types of people.

I think the problem is not the violence itself necessarily, but the way it is often portrayed as either normal and acceptable, or cool.

Hope that makes sense.

quote:

Originally posted by welfarist:
I think it depends on the nature of the media....

I don't think cartoons are such a problem, or anything else that is totally unrealistic.
I do think realistic violence (e.g. most TV and movies etc) can be detrimental to certain types of people.

I think the problem is not the violence itself necessarily, but the way it is often portrayed as either normal and acceptable, or cool.

Hope that makes sense.

I caught a programme on television last week, about some youngers (younger than teenagers) that were out of control. One little boy was very interesting. He had been fending his mother off with a corkscrew, and the trainer advised taking all sharp implements out the house until they had him under control. But he almost seemed to be mimic-ing characters from television. One moment, he was boxing his mother, and talking and acting like a boxer. The next, he was acting kind of like a gangster. And so on. And, yet, when they were drawing up a list of things that he shouldn't do, for a reward system I think, he sounded so sincere and pleasant, only to revert within a few seconds. He seemed to be a lad that took on characters, and, in his case, I would say that violent television programmes would definitely have an effect. I felt really sorry for his mum, who appeared to be quite under threat.

oops, for youngers read youngsters!