An Unfair Image
In today’s society, the media plays a massive role in everybody’s lives. It can influence the way in which people act, think and how they live their lives.
With having such a massive influence on people through television, newspapers and radio, the way in which groups of people are portrayed is very important.
As a young person, I feel that the way in which young people are portrayed in the media is unfair. In recent years, young people have become negatively stereotyped. We are no longer seen as young people. Instead we are seen as ‘hoodies’ and ‘yobs.’
This negative image of young people could be seen as largely down to the media and the way that it shows young people. Every day we see stories in the news that negatively depict young people. I believe 88% of all articles in the media about young people are negative. These stories are reporting the actions of a few individuals who choose to cause trouble, to torment other people and to disobey the law.
But why should the actions of these individuals affect the image of all young people? We, as young people, do not want to be judged solely on the actions of others. Instead, we want to be judged on who we are. In a survey done by the British Youth Council, they found that 98% of young people feel that they are unfairly portrayed by the media. A young person who took part in the survey said:
“We do not want to be judged solely on the actions of a few troublemaking individuals.”
They also found that 80% of young people feel that the older generations do not show them enough respect. This lack of respect is not because young people do not deserve respect or because they have not done enough to earn respect. It is because many older people already have an image of what a younger person is like before they have even met them.
The media has caused people to believe that every young person carries a knife, takes drugs, smokes and drinks alcohol. Anyone wearing a hood is no longer keeping themselves warm, instead they are trying to hide their identity and trying to hide from the law. In today’s society, young people have become feared. The word youth is now automatically associated with crime and antisocial behaviour. This is an unfair and inaccurate label to be given to all young people.
The stories that we see in the media are very real and some cases can be very serious. There are young people who make people’s lives a misery, who do cause many problems, but the actions of these individuals should not affect the image of all young people. The Prince’s Trust completed a survey that showed that it is less than 10% of young people who carry knifes, take drugs or join gangs. Young people today are also twice as likely to stay in school after the age of 16 as they were 35 years ago.
The press has a right and duty to report the news and keep us informed with the events that occur in the country. However, unfortunately a consequence of this is that the image of all young people is affected. When people read these negative stories every day it gives them a misrepresentation of what all young people are like. They start to create an opinion of what all young people are like just from what they see in the media. As more and more stories are published about young people who choose to cause problems, all other young people suffer.
We as young people have to prove the media wrong. It seems that we are only interesting while we are breaking the law. We need to show the media that we are very different from how they portray us.
As well as those who choose to break the law, there are many young people who do not fit into the negative stereotype that has been given to them. There are many schemes around the United Kingdom that are trying to change the perception of young people. An example of one of these is the See the Good Behind the Hood campaign in Birmingham. This scheme aims to promote positive images of young people.
These schemes alone are not enough to change the negative stereotype that has been created by the media. Today’s media is full of negative images that cause people to judge us without knowing who we really are. To the media, every young person goes around in a hood, takes drugs, drinks and smokes. But in reality, it is not like that. Behind the negative images there are those who are different from the label that we have been given. The majority of young people are quite the opposite of how they are portrayed: we are hard working people who do not want to be judged by our age. There are many young people who are in sports teams, youth clubs, choirs, school councils and those who do many other things to help the communities that they live in.
Many young people want to be seen not as youths, but instead, as young adults. Many want to be involved in the decisions that affect our lives. We want to be able to take on the responsibilities, to be seen as mature and to be able to earn the respect that many young people deserve.
The media should also report more on the achievements of young people and not just on the negative side. Every young person should not be punished because of the actions of individuals. I feel that more should be done to improve the perception of young people so that the selfish actions of a few individuals do not affect the image of us all.
Related Links:
WalesOnline: Goodies in Hoodies aim to change perception of young people
3 Comments – Post a comment
Commented 74 months ago - 21st August 2010 - 01:34am
My favourite line from this article:
"It seems that we are only interesting while we are breaking the law."
It's so true. If a young person murders somebody it gets on the news, but I can't honestly say I've seen a news item on "young person arrives on time for school, is nice to people and makes friends."
Commented 74 months ago - 31st August 2010 - 15:39pm
great article! - a recent study in Germany came to the conclusion that older people enjoy reading negative stories about young, whereas young people enjoy positive stories about young people! - interesting stuff !
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38921404/ns/today-entertainment/
National Editor
Commented 73 months ago - 9th September 2010 - 11:40am
The media, ultimately, just want to pull in the punters. A newspaper just wants to sell newspapers. Negative stories sell, because they are a ready-made angle into what many of us will take an interest in.
Contrary to popular belief, the media will run with positive studies of young people, as long as they are a case study we can admire and relate to. How many times do we read stories about a local pensioner who is a war veteran? We all like to celebrate a hero.
They also need to be a bit unique. A young person passing their exams is great, but will the public want to read about it? Not likely, so is there a unique angle that journalists will pick up on about the story?
We also need to show these case studies to the right journalists. Many articles in print and online now have the journalist's email address, so drop them a line and tell them you are someone they can contact about young people in your area, for a comment or advice.
Hope this helps!