Technology has a big impact on our youth. Nowadays you see fewer kids go outside and play or do activities out of the house. Most kids would rather be inside playing video games such as Play Station or other gaming consoles. Media is one of the important things that have potential to generate both positive and negative effects. In study done by Nola Mokeyne, proves that the impact of TV on youth’s society can increase the level of IQ. This study also demonstrates how TV has positive effects on our society and certain shows that can be beneficial.
There are TV shows that can be helpful, however researched illustrates that negative effect of TV are exposure to violence, inappropriate sexuality, and offensive language. Media is one of the most popular broadcasting in society. Social networking websites connect countries together. Kids know about internet and social websites like Facebook. Millions of people use this website daily to communicate and many other are business users and make profits with them.
Various are as media use has positive effects connected to education and obtaining basic information of the world; on the other hand there are negative and positive effects connected to media use related to physical problems and mental problems. The term news media refers to the groups that communicate information and news to would be impossible to gather all the news to people. Most Americans get their information about government from the news media because it increasing reliance of Americans on television and the internet by making the news even more readily available to people.
There are main types of news media: print media, broadcast media, and the internet. Technology plays a big role in a teenager’s life in our society. They use it in their everyday life from doing their school work, communication with friends, looking for future school and careers. It is not possible for us to have our youth to stay away from it because in today’s society if they are familiar with the technology, they will have a tough time fitting in. technology should be available to be our youth, however we need parent supervision.
Parents play an important role in the youth life especially with the technology because they the ones who give the access to their kids. We can look at the positive effects of the media too. The raising children network says that “teens can be benefit from media exposure by developing cultural and political awareness” (Cruz). For example, TV, films, magazines, and social media can offer diverse display of different culture and ethic group such as Asian, Latino, Samoan, Black, and etc.
There are many news channels such as CNN, FOX News, and BBC, which provides teens with an opportunity to develop the political stance and know what is going on in the world that they are living in. Another benefit about media is social media or networking. Media allows teens to find new friends, which helps to have access to bigger networks and provides more social opportunities. Media also expands skills, which direct them to modern and technological field. There are many positive reasons for the impact of the media on the youth such as cultural and political awareness, and social skills development.
Television, films, magazines and social media sites expose teens – which many otherwise be limited to interactions with people from their own cultural and ethnic background – to an array of different people. ” (Johnson). News channels such as CNN or FOX news provide information to the youth and give them an opportunity to have their own thoughts and opinions regarding the certain topic. Next we have the positive effects of media on the youth’s social skills and development. “Social media also allows teens to cultivate new friendship, which brings them access to wider networks and provides even greater learning and social opportunities. Johnson) this also brings social confidence.
Social media expands teen’s social skills and it which it helps the get through the everyday life teen. For this subject an interview was done Marjan Soltani, psychology major student in Fresno State University asking for her opinion on media. She is working on her master degree. I asked her “what is your opinion on the technology in general? ” Soltani stated “In my opinion technology has helped our society so much. We have access to many things that were not available to us and we can gain knowledge.
Technology has brought the world together and we can access information that is on the other side of the world. We can have communication with other that live far away from us, or get news from anywhere instantly. However there are some bad things that technology has mostly on our younger generation. ” There are many different opinions regarding the subject on the media’s effect on the youth. Media could be both good and bad for the youth. The percentage of health risks rises when the individual is exposed to music, movies, or TV.
Some health risks that come with the high exposure rate to the media and technology is obesity. There are also unhealthy lifestyles. Eating habits of the youth have a very big impact on the future of the individuals. Media can change the eating habits of the youth very quickly and very easily. “there’s no one advertising the benefits of eating fresh fruit every day, no one’s promoting drinking 8 glasses of water daily” (Cruz). The commercials that are being mostly displayed are the fast food ads. Because the lack of commercials that promotes eating healthy, the youth has adopted many unhealthy eating habits.
The media makes people lefWhen it comes to one of the biggest influential cultures in America, the hip hop culture has a huge impact on today’s youth. Once limited to urban music and dance, hip hop is not just entertainment, for many it’s a way of life and a form of communication listened to by today’s youth widespread across America. As a cultural movement, hip hop manages to get labeled as both a positive and negative influence on young people, especially on Black and Latino youth. On one hand, there are African American activists, artists and entrepreneurs, who seek to build a progressive movement among young hip hop fans.
Heavily active in the movement to help influence youth with trending fashion, socializing, freedom of speech, and showing that one can make something of him or herself coming from poverty. On the other hand, there is no shortage of critics who denounce the negative portrayals of Black people, especially women. Hip hop is known for bombarding the youth with graphic sexual images of females in videos. As well as, the very noticeable promotion of drugs and violence through lyrical and visual content which reflects the violent lifestyles of inner city American Black and Latino youths.
Hip hop the culture formed during the 1970s, when block parties became popular among African American and Latino youth residing in the Bronx area of New York City. Considered the founding father of hip hop, a Jamaican native, Dj Kool Herc observed how the crowds would react to different parts of whatever record he happened to be playing. Those moments tended to occur at the drum break the moments in a record when the vocals and other instruments would drop out completely for a measure or two of pure rhythm. By the summer of 1973, DJ Kool Herc had been using and refining his break-beat style for the better part of a year.
On his sister’s birthday party on August 11, put him before his biggest crowd ever and with the most powerful sound system he had ever worked. It was the success of that party that would begin a grassroots musical revolution six years before the term “hip hop” even entered the popular vocabulary. In those days, young party goers at first recited popular phrases and used the slang of the time which formed rap. Rap caught on because it offered young urban New Yorkers an outlet to freely express themselves. Often talking about the poor conditions that exist within their communities it served as a form of art available to anyone.
People didn’t need a lot of money or expensive resources to rhyme. Over the time, hip hop started to trend throughout the nation becoming more popular as it grew. Hip hop during the 1990s, began to leak into the mainstream music business creating lucrative career opportunities for those who rap. By that time, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging such as West coast, Midwest, and Southern rap. These versatile styles of rap vary depending on the lyrical content and the location of the artist, the content can range from sex, drugs, race, religion, social issues, partying, crime, love and loss.
Rap is often recognizable by the location, which plays a huge part in the beats and rhythm of the music. After a while the style of rap music transformed into what people call today gangster rap. Once gangster rap formed the negative influences of hip hop started to flourish. Negative complaints and tough criticism has always been an issue for the hip hop genre of music. Some of these accusations include how hip hop influences the youth to become more sexist towards women by showering the youth with explicit content, such as sexist lyrics in the music.
Portraying that sexism and other forms of oppression are acceptable to society. As well as, the promotion of drugs and violence which hip hop artist glamorize the lifestyle of drug dealing and usage claiming that their just telling the story of the life they once lived. Taking the rights of expression and push those to the extreme outer limits, teenagers and preteens are well known to sing along to those songs and even recite particularly lines from a song and use it as their own personal motto to live by.
According to Danielle Ligocki, “all genres of music have questionable lyrics in many of their songs, but hip hop tends to be saturated with lyrics regarding sex, drugs and alcohol consumption. For example, in the week of April 23rd, 2012, the top 10 songs on WGCI, a popular hip hop radio station in Chicago, had references to either casual sex, drugs or alcohol use in 90% of the songs” (Ligocki, The Effects of Hip Hop on Informal Education). There have been many studies suggesting that hip hop has a negative effect on the youth.
Some of the studies even go as far to say that there is a “correlation between rap music and increased criminal behavior, sexual activity and drug use” (Killion, 2005). One of the many studies includes Ralph DiClemente and his colleagues at Emory University at Atlanta, who “studied 522 randomly selected African-American females from the same area between the ages of 14 and 18” (Killion, 2005). Interested in how being exposed to rap or Hip hop music affected teenage African American females.
The females were split into two groups; a high exposure group and an average to low exposure group. Their findings suggested that there was indeed some sort of connection. The researchers found that after a year of constant exposure to Hip hop music, the subjects behavior and habits did not change and those in the high exposure group were more likely to be sexually active and were less likely to use a condom. The subjects were “also more likely to have sexually-transmitted diseases, be binge drinkers and use more drugs” (Killion, 2005).
In more recent times; politicians, law authorities, and a handful of journalists have been connecting the increased social negativity with rap music. One writer for the Seattle Times states, “Rap music is not pretty. It’s loud, boastful, crude, threatening, angry, sexist and violent” (Macdonald). Another writer for the Los Angeles Times says, “There was violence in the black community long before rapping and hip-hop. Black-on-black crime has always been high, gangs have existed for decades, and it’s sad but many lyrics are simply expressing what is going on in our “ghettos” by day and night” (Dymally).
Although there has been many studies suggesting that hip hop music has a negative effect on the youth, there has also been many people to say that h4ip hop has many positive aspects to it. Rap and hip hop have changed society and though the negative influences are very visible. Rap music has had numerous, positive influences on the American nation. One of these positive effects is that it has acted as a great unifier of diverse populations. It may have begun as a subculture among African American communities but it is now a phenomenon of global culture.
The ethnic and racial diversity of hip hop’s fan base helps to break down cultural barriers both in the U. S. and abroad. Many people from all over the world have been introduced to this type of music and since it is such a relatable type of music, all different races and colors of people have been able to have something in common. Hip hop has bridged the culture gap and bring people together. It has given young people a way to understand their world, whether they are from the suburbs or the city.
Another important role hip hop has played in America, is that it has brought issues of poverty suffering neighborhoods into the lime light of the media mainstream, when before this issue was ignored for the most part. Rap music provided a generation with another means of artistic expression. It can be considered urban storytelling and allows youth to tell stories in another way, so that they may be heard. When listening to rap lyrics you can hear examples of simile, metaphor and rhyme scheme which are poetic elements taught in most English classes.
Rap lyrics can be used to teach and reach out to the youth. Differing from the stereotypical images often associated with rap music such as sex, drugs, and violence there are artists who contribute lyrically in a positive manner such as Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Common, Nas and Mos-def are just a few whose lyrical content promotes pride and social consciousness. Many of those rappers rap about poverty and their struggles in inner-city America while coming from a background of poverty in the ghettos. Once they achieve success, they talk about overcoming obstacles and rising to the top.
This message can give hope to many youths across America who live in similar circumstances. Letting the youth know that one can make it in life by single mindedly going after their dreams acts as a source of great motivation. There are numerous careers in the hip hop industry that can all serve as lessons for young people. Some of these positions are of producers, song writers, publicists, club owners among others. For example, when a rapper raps about his challenged childhood or about succeeding despite living in a drug infested neighborhood, a teenager in a similar situation may believe that he can get through his struggles.
Organizations such as Grassroots like the few rappers mentioned have been trying to use the hip hop culture and rap music to decrease youth violence in the United States. In Tucson, Arizona, Usiel Barrios a member of the organization has created “Elementary Hip Hop Skool”, which aims to use hip hop to get young people involved in community building. This program goals are to empower young people with leadership skills, encourage positive self-expression, and promote community involvement through hip hop. Another Grassroots organization that has been created in recent years is, “Project Spitfire”.
This organization was founded by Henry Mann and its goals are to pair young musicians with professional producers who help them record songs and videos. Spitfire also provides artists with a $100 signing bonus, photo shoots, and publicity. Spitfire reach out to young artists who speak of change and alternatives. Their goal is to sign artists who can teach the youth that there are alternatives to gangs and violence. Mann wants to give young rappers an avenue to tell their stories and past lived experiences in hope that it will instill change in the youth culture.
Hip hop is a great form of music and is rich in culture. Although hip hop recently has been a topic of controversy and harsh criticism, hip hop music nevertheless has a bright future with many future legends and positive young artists. While there have been many studies done on how hip hop music has an effect on the youth, there has been no solid evidence suggesting that hip hop music is neither negative nor positive. I believe that Hip hop music is so controversial because, it is considered by many to be a new art form or genre of music and people have never been too good with change.
Being an active hip hop fan I also think that rap music has its pros and cons, but it is on the listeners to take the good with the good and leave the bad with bad. Famous civil rights leader Al Sharpton was asked on what he believed on this particular issue and said, “The hip hop culture is just like electricity, it can be used negatively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you. is the misuse of hip hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip hop culture.
We are all influenced by the hip hop generation. ” out. “It is often seen that young girls and boys imitate celebrities blindly” (Nola Mokeyane). Teens all over the world see something on the media regarding health or fitness and then wonder why they cannot be like that. Media makes the society “judged a book by its cover” instead of going in depth and realizing who a person is. Negative facts about the effects of the media are promoting and unhealthy lifestyle, moral changes, and addiction. Negativity is a common problem found in the youth due to the media.
An early exposure to bolt or violent films, books publishing adult content and news portraying ugly social practices has a deep impact on young minds” (Cruz). The “young minds” could and will be greatly affected by the portrayed advertisement. What the individuals see could leave scars in the mind of the youths which will permanently affect the. It is right that there should be graphic information and intent in the media, but not to the extent that is can have a permanent effect on the minds of youth. Many different outlooks have been taken to the media as well.
The changes in the behavior and outlook of people towards life are attributable to the negative psychological effects of media” (Cruz). The youth questioned their morals and many of their understanding in a negative way due to the media. Many people believe exactly what the states and accept that it is the truth and there are no other truths. Finally there is addiction which is the worst of all problems. “The negative effects of media on children are manifested in term of their changing mental setup and the declining quality of their lifestyle” (Oak).
The youth’s precious time is being wasted due to the alluring media. Besides reading a book or reading or playing in the outdoors, majority of the youth are hooked on the media and lack of physical and mental activity which is very important in the youth future. Because of the mass expose of the media the youth may interpret the information that they are receiving wrongly. I asked Soltani, “What are some advantages to the technology? ” she stated “There are many advantages to technology that we use every day in our life.
For example in my everyday life I use my IPhone, Ipad, Laptop, and many other technologies to get thing done. Most of my school work is done via Internet so I need to have access to technology to get my work done. I believe that technology helps everyone to gain knowledge in what they are interested in. many times I have gone on the internet and looked up things I was not sure about however not everything on the Internet is true because many people just put their opinion and it is not for fact that it is true.
I usually go to trusted websites because I know for the fact that their information is reliable. ” Formerly I asked, “Do you think it is ok for younger generation to have so much access to the technology? ” Soltani responded saying, “In my opinion we should have limit for everything. Using technology at such a young age is not bad, because it can help our kids’ future and even help them to get more knowledge at a young age. Then I asked her, “What are some disadvantages to the technology’soltani responded, “I believe that technology does not have many disadvantages.
However there are some things that we should all be concerned about when it comes to the technology. Many times people use social networking websites and make their personal life public which can be very dangerous. When it comes to using the media we should be very smart and know that what are doing is not harming anyone. I have seen people put the address and numbers available on the Internet which can be very dangerous especially if they are under age. Media has many advantages that cancel out the disadvantages, yet we need to be very careful because the disadvantages can become very harmful.
However I think the parents should control what their kids do if they are too young”. And finally I asked her, “Anything you want to add to this interview? ” she said, I just have to say that the technology can be really helpful in our life and it can really make things easier. If we use it correctly we can all be safe and not have to worry about the dangerous factors of the media. ” Media is something that everyone accesses in their everyday life and it should not just be accessible to older generation.
If we start using technology at the younger age in the right way and we can make the world a better place. We should look at the half full of the glass and see the advantages the media can bring in our life. In my opinion media has more advantages than disadvantages. Different type of media such as TV, Radio, and Internet can help us find out what is going on around us in the world. It also has a bad effect too like addiction to media which is one of the main things that parents are worried about. The media can be useful for our society, but if we over use it, it can cause us really big problems.
