The Influence of Pop Culture on Teenagers

The Influence of Pop Culture on Teenagers Pop culture has existed and influenced people since the beginning of time. It has affected teenagers the most. In the time people are figuring out who they are and what they wish to do for the rest of their life they are very vulnerable. They can be easily influenced by the music they listen to, the television they watch, and the celebrities they see. In today’s society, pop culture’s influence on teenagers is mostly negative. Some of the music teenagers listen to today can be atrocious. Some songs explain how the artist misused and abused drugs and alcohol. If teenagers look up to the artist, they will want to abuse and misuse the drugs and alcohol. Another thing many artists do that teenagers may pick up on is devalue women or talk about being violent towards women. In a Stanford report on Rock and Roll influencing teenagers’ behavior, Kathleen O’Toole stated, “In several studies, researchers have found that music videos laced with violent images made youthful male viewers more antagonistic in their orientation toward women and more likely to condone violence in themselves and others.” Music also glamorizes promiscuity and relations with multiple people at once. Researchers have found that “the more time adolescents spend listening to music with sexually degrading lyrics, the more likely they are to initiate intercourse and other sexual activities.” Another thing music influences teenagers to do is challenge authority. This can get teenagers in trouble with the law and trouble in other areas in life. Teenagers are greatly influenced by television. Reality shows and movies about people who are obnoxious but much liked by their peers can influence a teen to want to be like that person so they could be liked too. This can make teenagers have bad attitudes and rude behavior. Shows and movies with lots of violence can influence a teenager to become violent, too. A journal of the Association for Psychological Science about the influence of media violence on the youth states, “Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts.” People in reality shows can influence teenagers to produce more drama because of all the drama that is produced on the show. Drama causes attention and teenagers want attention. Television also shows lots of sex, which influences teenagers to want to have sex earlier. Television shows like Teen Mom can make teenagers believe that it is okay to get pregnant at a young age. Celebrities may be the biggest influence on teenagers in today’s society. Teenagers see the people they wish to be in the future with the fame, fortune, and popularity and act as these celebrities influence them to. Celebrities influence teenagers view on themselves by the way that the celebrities look. Teenagers believe that they must look like the celebrities do because they’re rich and famous. Celebrities also influence teenagers fashion choices. Teenagers think that because celebrities wear something specific, they should too. The value of materialistic things such as clothes, cars, and jewelry are also influenced on teenagers. Because these celebrities sport these materialistic things, teenagers want them too. Divorce and other relationship problems come up a lot with celebrities. These problems like cheating on your spouse come up in magazines about these celebrities that teenagers admire and look up to. Seeing their role models’ relationship problems can influence teenagers to cause the same problems in their relationships. In conclusion, today’s pop culture influences teenagers’ actions and behaviors in a negative way. The music they listen to makes them want to glamorize the abuse of drugs and alcohol, devalue women and act violently towards them, be promiscuous, and challenge authority. The television they watch makes them have rude behavior, act violently, produce unnecessary drama, and have sex. The celebrities they follow make them worry about their self image, worry about their fashion choices, value materialistic things, and make poor relationship choices. Teenagers are vulnerable and can be influenced easily by the media.