firefly_HotaruChan

We recently discussed this in school. They were claiming the media is the biggest factor in teenage crime/pregnancy/drug abuse/sucide in the US today.


Do you agree with this?


I dont. I believe the problem is not the media. The problem lies within the person. If the person is not mentally stable enough to act on their own without relying on the guidance of movies or song lyrics that is the person's fault....not the singer or actors.

An argument over this topic was that many murderers were avid violent video game players and often listen to ICP and other violent influential music. So many people play these games and have no problems.

The problem lies within the person, but that doesn't mean the media is innocent. The media eggs thier emotionally unstable minds on. ICP and Eminem dont care about this....so they continue with violent lyrics. This continues eroding thier minds until they have no common sense to go on.

The media definitely screws up the minds of teens when it comes to Sex, Drugs, and Suicide. The madia tends to glorify these things, causing teens to believe that they're cool. But, in the end, if the teens are not equipped with the common sense to take these influences in stride then that's not the madias fault.


I'm new at debate. Sorry if this sucked.

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everybody...everything....I lost them somewhere....

HolderOfTheDarkChalice

i agree because i have had a few freind's
that were a few brick's short of a truck load
to begine with the game or music just helped them
along over the edge but basicly they were lost sheep
going by what they interacted with wich is sad.
but it ultametly there own fault.

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firefly_HotaruChan

exactly. The viewer/listener ultimately decides what to do with the information they've gathered.

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everybody...everything....I lost them somewhere....

Dark.

alright, now let me take this on the other side. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, if you are young, you are impressionable, I don't give a damn who you are. If kids are influenced in a bad way too young, it's going to effect them for life, or at least most of it. The media can come to a child in so many different ways these days, that sometimes not even the parents can do an adequate job of screening it all from them. However, the parents' many focus shouldn't be censoring everything from their kids, but teaching them what's right and wrong. It is a mix of the parents and the media that ultimately effects kids these days...

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Shu

pretty good summary, couldnt have said it better.

firefly_HotaruChan

Thats very true. CHildren are impressionable and cant help what they see sometimes. But this is mainly focusing on teenagers, who are equipped to choose between right and wrong and are able to sort out the truth from the lies.

__________________

everybody...everything....I lost them somewhere....

Dark.

are you trying to say teens aren't young? Teens are just as impressionable, if not more than younger children, again, I don't care who you are. You make the mistake of thinking just because you know more, you can't get a sway of opinion.

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Shu

well, in the case of teens, yes i think the media is a big problem. for example, if they see a actress who is "hot", they will try to lose weight, even if it means throwing up their food. if a boy sees a muscular football player, he wants to be just like him and takes steroids. what the media does for us is shows us what teens think people should look like, act like, etc. and generally teens will go to great lengths to duplicate it. what they dont realise is that every person is an unique individual(see gay marriage thread)

Miroku4444

Are you serious??

Teens minds are more developed than say an 8 year olds. So they're a little less impressionable. It don't mean there not impressionable, just not to the degree as a young child.

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Dark.

yes, but then again, there is more than one way to get to a person. I'm not saying they're swayed in the same way by any means, but have you ever seriously looked at some people? It's hard for me to believe some teens are teens by their poor behavior, if you tell some teens that an opinional situation is a fact, or lead them on into thinking what's an opinion is fact, you'd be suprised how gullibule people can be. I've seen people who have changed completely from middle school to high school, you can't say that's not a factor. You can't forget the power of peer pressure.

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firefly_HotaruChan

Teens can be swayed but they have the mental strength to control thier own minds, so if they are swayed, it's their own fault.

__________________

everybody...everything....I lost them somewhere....