Morals And The Media
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Children today are growing up much too soon, or at least thats what we are frequently told and the media seem to getting blamed for this. I cant say that I disagree with this argument either. Young people seem to be maturing physically – showing an interest in sex, and physical violence – at an earlier age. Even young children appear to be about the details of sexual behavior. Young people frequently encounter sexual material in the media. Young people learn about sex and relationships from the media, but this is not a straightforward or reliable process. Young people value the media as a source of information relative to other sources, such as parents or the school. The media has too big of a negative impact on youth.
The fact that young people seem to be maturing physically, sometimes mentally at an ever earlier age is due to the media. They seem to base their whole lives on television, what was seen on a rerun of some smut show, and music videos. Most of the music young people listen to lyrics is based on sex. All the mature content seen on the television and heard on the radio makes having sex and shooting a gun look like a cool thing. Young people sometimes find it difficult to identify the messages about TV and real life that were shown. The modern media offers mixed messages and require them to make up their own minds about violent and sexual issues.
Children are not as naive or as incompetent as they are frequently assumed to be. They use many different skills and perspectives when they interpret sexual content; this also goes for the violent content they experience through the media. The introduction of new media technologies has made it easy for young people to gain access to sexually explicit material. The media is now used as an opportunity to learn.
Young people value the media as a source of valid information relative to other sources, such as parents or the school. One reason they feel this way, is