The Positive Influence of Television Programs on Our Youth

The Positive Influence of Television Programs on Our Youth

One Friday afternoon I was sitting in the crowded lobby of my doctor's office, waiting to be

called in to be seen. Sneezes, coughs, and children's conversations could be heard throughout the

office. The young girl sitting next to me, who I assumed was about 15 years old, was very

impatient as to waiting to be called in by a nurse. She kindly asked me what time it was and that's

when our conversation sparked. I learned that her name was Ashley and that she was 17 years

old. When Ashley was only 4 years old her father walked out of her and her mother's life. Ever

since then things have been unstable in her life. Later when she was 10 years old her mother

re-married the man who is now her "mean" step father. She claims that most of the problems

arose when her step father's job required the family to relocate from Sacramento, California to the

Rio Grande Valley. She was required to move schools and make new friends.

Unfortunately these new friends were not at all the best influence on her and peer pressure

pressed forward. In Junior High she and her friends were known as the trouble makers, the group

of boys and girls who just went to school to make fun of the other students. She claims that these

three years were the hardest for her. Her younger half-brother was always sick and required a lot

of attention from her mother therefore her mother wasn't always available to her when she needed

advice. At the age of 13 began to be involved in drugs, she said that her first incident with

cocaine nearly sent her to the grave. Ashley didn't learn by that incident, she kept on using drugs

and over time built up to the stronger ones. It wasn't l...

... middle of paper ...

...duct just as

their roll model does and the celebrity receives the fame and a check in the mail.

I could list hundreds of wrong things a youngsters could be doing, but I'm sure you'll

agree with me that the television industry has definitely grasped the attention of the young minds

and at the same time helped our community to succeed. Now Ashley is 20 years old attending a

local community college. She is living proof that television programming does help today's youth

deal with the problems encountered while growing up. Personally I give the television industry

two thumbs up for the fabulous work they have achieved. Our television programming is

jam-packed with programs targeted on our youth's problems. It helps them understand what they

are going through and lets them know that many teen-agers all over the country are facing the

same issues.