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Becca Pugh English 200 Christine Olding December 1, 2013

The Entertainment Industry and Medias Effects on Teens Actions

Over the past decade or so, the fame and entertainment industry has become more open and less cautious about their display and communication of sexual content, substance abuse and violence. Through movies, song lyrics, live performances, public displays of personal actions and outfits, music videos, etc., the display of sexuality, sexual references, substance abuse, and physical acts of violence and sexual activity no longer come as a surprise, are commonly seen, and are continuously pushing the now not-so-stiff boundaries. Children and young adults look up to celebrities in the public eye and many use them as role models and try to copy their looks and actions. Teenagers and young adults going through transitional phases in their life see the attention that these celebrities and well-known athletes receive and try to mimic their roles in hopes of receiving the same kind of special attention and treatment. The rise in display of sexual exploration, substance abuse, and violent activity among celebrities in the entertainment industry and the media over the last decade is a large contributor to the rise of the same dangerous and harmful behaviors portrayed in young adults and teenagers. One of the common day to day struggles for any teenager is facing peer pressure. Whether its about sex, drugs, violence, alcohol, etc, teens are forced to make decisions on whether to give in to the pressures of society or not. Almost half of 15-17 year old teens have

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had sex; one-fifth notice issues with drugs, alcohol, and pregnancy as an issue with their friends, and one-fifth know of a student who has brought a gun to school (Bostrom 1). These statistics show that acts of sex, substance abuse, and violence are not uncommon activities among teenagers. It has also been studied that if a young adult has performed any of these activities, their risk for performing the others increases (Little 705). Often times there are public portrayals of club and bar scenes in the media or on television that show twenty-somethings having the time of their life. There are adult beverages seen in several hands and even some smoking of unknown substances surrounding the party that is easily seen nowadays in the upcoming popular so-called reality shows. It is said that both teens and parents say that drugs and substance abuse is the biggest problem that teenagers are facing today. This includes drinking alcohol, smoking, and purchasing or use of any type of recreational drug (Bostrom 21). The most commonly abused drug by teens is alcohol, followed by marijuana, and other sorts of stimulants. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, young adults under the age of twenty on account for 11.4% of all alcohol consumed in the United States (Teen Help). When parents were asked what they thought were contributing influences on teens substance abuse, 63% of those surveyed said the entertainment industry, including television, movies and music (Bostrom 21). It can be seen at any school, on any playground, in any sporting event that kids let their emotions get to them. Many dont know how to deal with such a surprising feeling of anger or jealousy and often get caught up in the moment and begin to take it out on someone or something else. It is not uncommon these days to see shoving on the playground or kids pushing and throwing punches at each other during a high school sporting event. A turning point for looking at the issue of teen violence can be seen in the school shooting at Columbine High School in

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1999. Several students were shot and killed, with several more obtaining injuries from the shooting as well. Another story that was happening in the news at the same time of the shooting was the White House summit on preventing youth violence (Bostrom 24). The combination of these two stories can be seen as a not-so-subtle indicator that violence among teenagers was becoming an issue. After the shooting incident in Littleton, parents were asked what they blame for causing incidents such as the school shooting. Forty nine percent of those asked said they give a great deal of blame to television programs, movies and music while forty three percent said social pressures on youth are to blame (Bostrom 24). Since the Columbine school shooting, there have been dozens more shootings and even more threats from teens saying they are going to bring harm to their school. Many young boys and girls try to act older than they really to feel more mature and try to fit in. Young teenage boys can be seen in the gym performing strict lifting regimens to buff up while young teenage girls are seen out in the public in more risqu clothing that often tightly hugs their curves and shows cleavage or their midriff. Teenagers acting this way often times feel more confident in themselves because looking or dressing a certain way often makes them feel sexy because of the attention they get from it. Today, the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of the industrialized world. The majority of these pregnancies are unplanned and between two people who are not married. In the United States alone, about 820,000 teens become pregnant every year, which means that thirty four percent of teenagers encounter at least one pregnancy before they reach the age of twenty (Teen Help). In a survey, parents were asked at what age they thought young people had sex for the first time. Fifty-three percent said they thought teens were having sex for the first time between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. The most substantial rise to the teen pregnancy rate comes from girls who are getting pregnant under

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the age of fifteen. The same group was then asked what they thought contributed to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among teens, and fifty-five percent of people surveyed said that too much casual sex in the movies and on TV contributes a lot (Bostrom 19). The media is a very subtle yet powerful and influential source. Substance abuse, violence, and sexual activity can all easily be found somewhere in the media and it concerns many parents. In a survey, the most concerned about situation is violence on television, while over two-thirds of the public that were asked say they think violence in entertainment contributes to teens acting more violently. The concern of sexual situations on television comes in second among the parents surveyed, followed by the use of profane language (Bostrom 30). Parents are concerned about the messages that all media portrays, but mostly with what is put on television. In the world today, almost every home has a television or a computer, even homes that dont have the highest income. This means that the majority of children and teenagers have access to anything online or on television unless the parents manage to put an access restriction on them. When surveyed, only ten percent of parents with children age twelve to seventeen have a positive view on television. Almost three-quarters of the public agree that there should be something done to reduce such things as violence in music and on television. Nearly half of those people think that it is part of the entertainment industrys job to work to reduce such things. The top three categories of entertainment that parents think need to make major changes to help better the situations are the movie industry, the television industry, and manufacturers in the computer game industry. The public certainly sees a direct correlation between the media and the American culture.

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The media often portrays actions of famous celebrities. One of the most notable celebrities whose actions can be seen as influencing the world of young adults is Miley Cyrus. She first came into the public eye because of her well-known country singing father, Billy Ray Cyrus. From there, a show was created on Disney Channel that had the spotlight on her called Hannah Montana. The show focused on Mileys character of being a normal teenager in dayto-day life and while hiding the secret that she was also a famous pop singer. The show was extremely relatable for young teens that were facing the same everyday problems of acne, school bullies, and keeping secrets and even gave solutions on how to deal with them. After the show was cancelled, Miley become more well-known for her singing career. Many young teenage girls looked up to her for her success, beauty, and long-time relationship with actor Liam Hensworth (Miley Cyrus Biography 1). She came across as a great role-model for young women to follow, but then came what many see as a downfall. Miley and her now ex-fianc called it quits after four years together and the pop star completely changed her look. She chopped of all of her hair and began to dress more edgy, usually leaving much skin exposed by her clothes. Her look didnt do any harm in regards to the girls who looked up to her, but many say her new performances certainly did. Along with the leaked pictures of her smoking marijuana with friends, at the Video Music Awards Show, Miley had a live performance in which she wore a nude, skin tight leotard that allowed much of her back side to be exposed. She also had a foam finger prop that she thrust upon numerous times, used explicitly in between her legs, and used to touch performing partner Rob Thicke in the area of his genitals. Her performance was all over the news and talked about for weeks following the incident. She also came out with her new music video Wrecking Ball in which she swings back and forth on an actual wrecking ball in the nude and is seen making out with a sledgehammer.

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The recent acts of Miley Cyrus have caused roars of outrage and controversy around her personal actions. Many see it as her losing it and performing desperate acts for attention, others see it as artistic expression. No matter what the case may be thousands if not millions of young adults saw her performances and videos, many of which have probably looked up to her since the Hannah Montana days. Many of these girls and boys will see what she did and the reaction that the public had to it and think that they will also get attention if they act and dress in a similar manner without thinking about the consequences they may endure or the future actions that the attention might cause them to make. Savanna Speessen is currently an expecting teenage mother. She found out she was pregnant this past July when she was just nineteen. Her pregnancy was not an expected one and she is also not married to the father. In a personal interview with her, she talks about how her perspective has changed since she became a mommy-to-be. She says, Since Ive been pregnant, Im already thinking about what needs to happen so that my child has the best life he or she can, and it changes your perspective on everything. I dont want my kid growing up and seeing things that have sex and alcohol all around it. There are so many other things that kids should learn about before they are introduced to those kinds of activities. She said she would not let her kid watch or see any of the recent performances of celebrities such as Miley Cyrus. Even though they arent here yet, I dont want my kid seeing the wrong message. Whether it was meant as an emotional expression or a plea for attention well never know. But the way she (Miley) portrays herself comes across as careless and inappropriate whether she meant it that way or not (Speessen). Savanna also thinks that messages from the media affected her babys father, who dated her for over a year before they broke up. When we first found out that we were pregnant we were in shock, Savanna said. But we were gonna get through it together. But after the first

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month or two he started hanging out with bad people and listening to a bunch of rap music, and that wasnt usual for him. Pretty soon he started smoking marijuana and drinking to the point of being drunk every night. It got to the point where he was a completely different person than the guy I had met and it wasnt safe for me or our baby to be around him. I had to make a decision, so I broke up with him, he got arrested, and he legally isnt allowed in mine or our babys life for a long time. Savanna says that the music Jeremy started heavily listening to was full of explicit terms and always talked about getting messed up with either alcohol or drugs. The same situation goes for Ericka Powell. Ericka got pregnant during her junior year of high school when she was just sixteen years old. Talking about her sons father she says He just lost control. He had always listened to rap music, but then he started talking like they do in the songs with all the slang. He got really into drugs and I wasnt going to allow that around my son. I didnt want my son seeing that and growing up to be the same kind of person and make the same mistakes that he did (Powell). Erickas son Carson is now two years old and only sees his father once a month. Ericka said He stills needs to know who his father is, I just dont want him living with him and being around bad things all the time (Powell). Every day people of all ages see and go through things that influence their thoughts or actions. Some learn from seeing other peoples mistakes and some have to go through them themselves to learn a lesson. There are several sources of power that influence peoples actions, but one of the most widespread and seen is the power of the media. Famous musicians, actors and actresses, and athletes lives are put in the public eye every day. Because there are so few people who are considered celebrities, it is looked at as an extraordinary thing to be a part of and many people wish they could reach that level. Kids are especially vulnerable to this and look up to celebrities in awe, wish they could be just like them, and often times try to imitate their looks

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and actions. Unfortunately because of what stories our news stations decide to portray, we often see the more risqu and bad behavior of the celebrity world. That is why the display of sex, violence, and substance abuse portrayed in the media and entertainment industry contributes to the rise of the same types of actions we continuously see coming from young adults and teenagers.