Media Panics

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A media panic or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused for many conclusions regarding media panics and the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non willingly now under surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or perception. What authors and researchers continue to imply is that there is a direct correlation to what youth today see on different forms of media and their behaviours. However, it is important to remember that children are humans as well and do have a mind of their owns. Our society cannot assume that these media panics ultimately take away their ability to think on their own and develop into mature individuals. The first media panic I will discuses is how video games have developed a relationship with violence amongst our children. The second media panic is the sexual objectification of young women online.

First, it is important we define what is meant by media panics. Danish media scholar Kirsten Drotner (1999) defines it as “emotionally charged reactions on the appearance of new media” (p. 593). She continues to explain media panics as a power struggle between adults and how they push to control the media choices of youths. These media panics develop because people fear their children will only learn through technology and not thr...

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... girls being seen as sex objects and put on display online. However, it is important to approach these panics with a degree of skepticism because we must not forget that the young generation do have a mind of their own. If adults feels the pressure to monitor and restrict children from learning using new media, it could effect the way they learn and prove to be problematic.

Works Cited

Drotner, K. (1999). Dangerous media? Panic discourses and dilemmas of modernity.
Paedagogica Historica, 35(3), 593-619.

Fredrickson, Barbara L., and Tomi-Ann Roberts. (1997). "Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women's Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks." Psychology of Women Quarterly. 21: 173- 206. Print.
Kline, S. (1999). Moral panics and video games. In Research in Childhood, Sociology, Culture and History Conference, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.

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