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“40,000 teens facing failure”, “Upset teens deny killing their mother”, “Youth killed in Bayshore stabbing, Teen to serve 17 months for gang attacks”
Is this all you’ve been reading in the newspaper, seeing on the television, or hearing on the radio lately? Criminal activities committed by youths and teens? Do you know why the media shines a negative light on youth? If you don’t, it’s all right, because not many people know exactly why. Youths have gotten many bad images from adults and the media such as criminals, thieves, villains, etc. They might have earned those titles from a long time ago, but definitely not now. According to Statistics Canada, cases in youth criminal courts have been decreasing. The media only tells adults about how much trouble youths cause and how bad they are. Not many of us know where youths got the idea of creating criminal activities. The media thinks that if we are portrayed as troublemakers we will not have the power to speak out and change the image the media has created. The media also needs youths, because youths are the largest market consumers and the media survives on us. It is ironic because youths feed the media, while they can also be the largest threat to them because youths can help change society. Through the eyes of the media, youths are just a bunch of troublemakers that can be sold on almost anything.
The statistics from “Cases in Youth Criminal Court” in Statistics Canada show that homicide, attempted murder, robbery, theft, breaking and entering, and many other cases in youth criminal court have decreased over the past five years. Some of these cases have decreased by as much as a few thousand in cases such as theft, and breaking and entering. The media have no right to still be shining that negative light on youths after all these years of decreasing youth criminal activities, but they do! When will the media get the idea that enough is enough? Do you know where youth find out about violence or criminal activities? The media. When you watch Saturday morning cartoons, do you ever notice how much violence there is? On almost every show, you’ll see someone or something being hit, thrown, or even killed! If every child’s weekend starts with some violence-filled cartoons, they’ll learn a thing or two about crimes and violence. The media might say that the people that create the cartoons have nothing to do with them, but they do. Of course they do, they work for the media! They are there to fill those hours of violent cartoons on your television on Saturdays. Why? The reason is simple. It’s just that violence-filled cartoons get audiences. These days, kids actually prefer cartoons with violence in them, because it’s more exciting. So, the media have to choose between violence or less viewers, which I might add, means less money, and that’s a very easy choice for the media, don’t you think?
The media has always denied that watching violence-filled cartoons lead to youth violence, and all of this might still have been brought down by the youths themselves. In the past, criminal activities by youths had been increasing until about 1995, when it decreased. The media portraying youth as criminals, is kind of true, because many youths committed at least one crime, but it is definitely wrong for the media to shine a negative light on all youths, especially now since youth crime rates are decreasing.
Overall, most people don’t like youths, because they think that they are all criminals. Even though in the past, youths have committed numerous crimes, the rates are decreasing. And though not all youths are criminals, some are and it is okay for the media to say that some youths are criminals, but they should report on the youths that actually do some good. Through the eyes of the media, youths are just a bunch of troublemakers that can be sold almost anything. However, this can be changed if all youths came together and did something good to earn back a good reputation to replace the bad one we’ve been portrayed with. So, what do you say we start earning that good reputation right now to change the media?
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Helen
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Comments
hot issu Gopi krishna Bhattarai | Feb 20th, 2004
i read ur article that nice. it is hot issue that u wrote. keep on writing .
gopi krishna bhattarai
hot issu Gopi krishna Bhattarai | Feb 20th, 2004
i read ur article that nice. it is hot issue that u wrote. keep on writing .
gopi krishna bhattarai
Hey Carly T | Mar 8th, 2004
Kewl article Helen. It's me Carmen. Didn't you do this for your speech?
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