How the Media Influences Our Lives
Macina 1
Marissa Macina
Dr. Lori Maida
Intro to Sociology Telecourse
May 2, 2009
How Our Media Today Influences Our Lives, Socially Acceptable or Not
High-risk behaviors in adolescence often experience multiple
difficulties, often socialized in economically stressed families and
communities. Adolescent delinquent behaviors such as drug and alcohol
abuse, failing in or dropping out of school, and unprotected sex are interrelated.
An involvement in one problem is generally a sign of some participation in
other socially undesirable actions, which are most likely underlined by a
common factor. There are many factors that can influence an adolescent to go
the wrong way, such as society, family life, the media, magazines, movies, and
the internet. The media, magazines and movies tend to focus on the bad,
lower-class, and typical stereotypes of youth and young adults, and violence.
Nothing sells like violence, depicted in a serious or comical way.
Television seems to draw the most attention, since it is found in 98.2
percent of American family homes and is the primary media source
immediately accessible to youth on a day-to-day basis. For television is free,
on 24/7, it is in the privacy of your own home, and acts like an electronic baby-
Macina 2
sitter for parents who are too busy or too preoccupied to spend time with there
children. Since television is so obviously the most influential media, I chose
movies. Movies are one step beyond reality. Production companies spend
millions on taking a social norm and kicking it up a notch. Showing our
delinquent youth in movies, such as Boyz n’ the Hood, only lessens the impact
of hardship and true misfortune that the inner-city youth have to deal with on a
day-to-day basis.
Throughout movie history there has always been movies
detailing the cruel reality that African
Marissa Macina
Dr. Lori Maida
Intro to Sociology Telecourse
May 2, 2009
How Our Media Today Influences Our Lives, Socially Acceptable or Not
High-risk behaviors in adolescence often experience multiple
difficulties, often socialized in economically stressed families and
communities. Adolescent delinquent behaviors such as drug and alcohol
abuse, failing in or dropping out of school, and unprotected sex are interrelated.
An involvement in one problem is generally a sign of some participation in
other socially undesirable actions, which are most likely underlined by a
common factor. There are many factors that can influence an adolescent to go
the wrong way, such as society, family life, the media, magazines, movies, and
the internet. The media, magazines and movies tend to focus on the bad,
lower-class, and typical stereotypes of youth and young adults, and violence.
Nothing sells like violence, depicted in a serious or comical way.
Television seems to draw the most attention, since it is found in 98.2
percent of American family homes and is the primary media source
immediately accessible to youth on a day-to-day basis. For television is free,
on 24/7, it is in the privacy of your own home, and acts like an electronic baby-
Macina 2
sitter for parents who are too busy or too preoccupied to spend time with there
children. Since television is so obviously the most influential media, I chose
movies. Movies are one step beyond reality. Production companies spend
millions on taking a social norm and kicking it up a notch. Showing our
delinquent youth in movies, such as Boyz n’ the Hood, only lessens the impact
of hardship and true misfortune that the inner-city youth have to deal with on a
day-to-day basis.
Throughout movie history there has always been movies
detailing the cruel reality that African