Mass Media's Impact on Teens

The Mass Media according to the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2000

is defined as the primary means by which information and entertainment

are delivered to the public. The term is usually used to refer to

newspaper, television, radio and Internet sources.

The Mass Media is perceived by many to have a great impact on

teenagers but it is not always verifiable whether this impact is one

that enhances or negates the total development of teenagers.

The researcher is specifically narrowing this focus however on the

teenagers in Southfield with the hope of seeing the extent to which

the Mass Media impacts on these teenagers, the nature of this impact

(if it exists), the different media forms which have an effect on them

and ways in which these media forms can further facilitate their

development.

SOURCES AND DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION GATHERED

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The sources from which information was gathered for this research were

the Internet, Encyclopaedia, a survey and an interview.

According to the website Student Central: Media Effects on Adolescent

Development 2002, for over twodecades, the mass media including

television, music, Internet sources and print media has consumed the

majorityof adolescents' waking hours.

The writer indicates that the direct effects of the mass media are

seen to influence teenagers' actions greatly. The idea is that they

see some things in the media such as the movies created and it

directly influences them to do something like committing crimes. By

the time they graduate from high school, the article states that

teenagers will have spent more hours watching television, and fewer

hours spent in the classroom. It is also stated that a lack of

established sexuality education programmes in schools and limited

parent-child communications have allowed the media to become one of

the nation's leading sexuality educators.

According toMicrosoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2000, violence in the

media is of particular concern as it is seen to directly influence

people's actions. There have been a large number of studies to see if

there is a relationship between television viewing and behaviour.