Rosalind Wiseman is an internationally recognized author and educator on children, teens, parenting, education and social justice. Her work aims to help parents, educators and young people successfully navigate the social challenges of young adulthood.
Rosalind Wiseman
creating cultures of dignity
Are Teens Portrayed Positively in the Media? You Decide.
I have been blessed with a great new opportunity! I was recently asked to serve on the advisory board for Best Buy’s @15 initiative. @15 is a new platform to connect teens, give voice to their perspectives, and a chance for Best Buy to invest its resources to turn teens ideas into action and support their efforts to lead social change. Best Buy launched its “Teen Voice 2009″ Study at this meeting, which explores the importance of teen motivation and engagement in civic life. Amazing information here! I strongly encourage you to view the website www.at15.com because teens can earn points which can then be turned into dollars to invest in and change their communities! Seriously, you have to check out the website, sign up and start earning points!
At our first board meeting I was surrounded by fascinating people while also contributing my vast knowledge of teens. Everyone at the meeting connected with youth in some aspect and we all have a passion for teens, especially in creating places where teens are important and their voices are heard. (You can check out my fellow advisory board members here.) We had lively discussions, which for adults means when we disagreed with anyone, it was politely and with a smile. I mean, what can one expect? It was our first meeting.
One thing that stuck out for me (besides the fact that the president of Taylor Swift’s record company said data and statistics are old as soon as they’re created so what’s the point in paying attention to them) was that a statement was made about how negatively teens are portrayed in the media. My opinion is slightly different unless we were going to talk specifically about race, class, socioeconomics etc. But since we didn’t go there and the meeting was referencing teens “in general”, I personally think teens are portrayed in a positive, strong way and that adults are the ones who look dumb and seem to lack knowledge, especially on television. (Check out my colleague, Candace Nuzzo’s recent blog on this subject.)
So what do you think? Focusing first on commercials and television shows, are teens (ages 12-16) portrayed negatively by the media? If so, would you mind giving examples?
2 Responses to “Are Teens Portrayed Positively in the Media? You Decide.”
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June 22nd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Tyler, that’s pretty much what I was thinking. I guess I think teens seem pretty savvy in the media, especially when I think of television commercials. IMO, most commercials portray teens or pre-teens as having the answers to whatever it is the family is trying to figure out, whether it’s the fragrance in the house or the best chicken nuggets. I also think with so many teens having their own television shows or they’re the focus of the show (and I’m not just thinking of Disney or Nickelodeon), that that exposure gives teens a more positive light in the media as well.
Now I’m not sure teens are portrayed poorly in music, I think since most teens are spending the most money, artists would want to make sure they portray teens in a positive light. I do agree that some adults feel that teens are going to imitate the behavior teens see from entertainers. But, some adults, not all! I have to write more about this but thank you for your comment.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:44 am
I don’t know, I don’t really think teens are portrayed bad in the media. Maybe in music. But mostly I htink its that celebrity teens look bad in the media. The only thing that I notice is that I think adults think that all teens want to be like the celebrities their age but thats not true at all. I can like someones music or moveis or whatever and not want to be like them. I know the difference.