How does Media Affect Teenage Girls
August 1, 2016
By Lian Kim
Media makes girls swamped. Media provides the same information to all generations of viewers. The programs are both educational and sensational, including sexual images within shows. Among various viewers, teenage girls are easily affected by media. Teens may not be sufficiently and cognitively developed enough to discern and critique messages from media. They react sensitively to external stimulations, especially when they are maturing sexually. Considering these points, concern about the impact that media has on girls is emerging. Generally, people can acquire important news and informative knowledge through the media. However, there are harmful impacts from media on teenage girls.
First of all, there is a negative impact from the media on adolescents’ physical health. A study done by the University of Washington (2009) states that, “The popular media (television, movies, magazines, etc.) have, since World War II, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body image as the ideal for women.” Thus, when teens watch the television or look at magazines or other media, they inevitably see thin girls. According to Spurr (2013), thin ladies on media make teens feel unhappy about their body. As a result, young girls attempt to stop eating or eat much less to get the ideal image portrayed by media, although they need the balanced diet for developing their healthy body. Most of the teenagers who try multiple different diets and work out excessively fail to give themselves enough downtime, and they just keep trying to lose weight. Because of unbalanced diet and restlessness, some teens get eating disorders and weakening physical conditions.
Second, the exposure to sexual content in the media affects teens’ sexual behaviors. Gruber and Grube (2000) indicate that teenage viewers see one hundred and forty-five incidents of sexual behavior through the television at prime time every week. Most of the programs show many sexual activities occurring between unmarried partners, enhancing the potential risks of unprotected sexual intercourse and adverse consequences. According to Gruber and Grube (2000), more than 80% of adolescents report that their peers find out some or a lot about sex, drugs, and violence from television shows, movies, and other entertainment media. According to Grant (2003), because their sexual curiosity and impulses get higher, approximately a half of all high school students have had sexual intercourse with or without protection. Young girls who have been affected by the content which depicts women as sexual objects or prizes, tend to have multiple partners and frequently have sex. Gruber and Grube (2000) state that among teenage girls in United States aged between 15 and 16 years, 7.5% of the age group becomes pregnant each year. Most of them do not have the ability to take care of children. Overall, 25% of sexually active teenagers and 13% of all adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 become infected with sexually transmitted diseases each year, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). (Gruber & Grube, 2000).
Lastly, large amounts of time watching television leads to low grades in school due to attention difficulties. According to Wile (2015), teens who watched one hour a day of television or greater were less likely to complete homework and more likely to have poor grades, a negative outlook toward school and poor prospects for long-term academic success. Another aspect is multitasking, which is to do homework while using social network services. This makes the efficiency of doing assignments low. According to the article by Wallace (2015), students think that their multi-taking does not affect their homework. However, there are dramatic differences in cognitive control and the ability to process information between media multi-taskers and people who just study. It is obvious that students can not multitask and be as effective and competent.
Although media provides various programs, media may have vital effects on adolescent girls. There are destructive impacts for teen girls: lack of eating due to dissatisfaction with their body, teen pregnancy, and STDs (Sexually transmitted diseases) by changing sexual behaviors, and academic struggle because of the attention difficulty. Because adolescence is the foundation of one’s life, it is a very important time. Some media programs damage teen girls’ behaviors. In this study, we examined dangerous impacts of media on female adolescents. It is imperative for media producers, teens’ parents, teachers and teenage girls to pay attention to media choices, and help girls consume content safely.
References
Grant, C. (2003). Teens, sex and the media: Is there a connection? Paediatr Child Health.
Gruber, E. & Grube, J. W. (2000). Adolescent sexuality and the media. West J Med.
Spurr, S. et al. (2013). Exploring Adolescent Views of Body Image: The Influence of Media.
Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing.
University of Washington. (2009). Body Image & Nutrition. Teen Health and the Media.
Wallace, K. (2015). Teens spend a 'mind-boggling' 9 hours a day using media, report says.
CNN.
Wile, E. (2015). How TV Can Affect a Teen's Grades. LIVE STRONG.COM
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