I found chapter 7 of our book to be very interesting. The media basically implies that today's teenagers are killing more people, having more unprotected sex, and using drugs more and more. Because of the coverage teenage crimes get in the media, most Americans think that teenagers are violent creatures, with no regard for others. All in all, the media seems to be inflating facts about a group of people and stereotyping them all. Many groups of people are stereotyped (minorities, gays, etc) and these stereotypes are generally seen negatively in the eye of the media. However, the media often creates these stereotpyes by covering certain stories while not paying attention to others. It's important for us as educators to make our students aware of the bias look the media and many other age groups have against teenagers.
I found the section on "poverty violence" intriguing. First of all, I cannot stand racist people and think that anyone who thinks less of a person because of the color of their skin is very ignorant. Obviously there are other factors at play when a certain group has a problem not commiting crimes. That reminds me of a movie, "American History X," in which a Neo-Nazi is discussing the amount of Africn-American men incarcerated and says that they're genetically predetermined to commit crimes. People like this are so filled with hate that they don't look at the social inequalities that often place certain groups in a tough situation. Poverty is extremely tough for many people yet it doesn't mean all in poverty are murdering drug dealers. The media can often portray this yet we must warn our students about how the media can put a spin on things to show a side of something
Charlie
16 years ago
2 comments:
I agree with your point that the media implies today's teenagers are killing lots of people, having unprotected sex and using drugs. I think this is an outrage in a society that is a democracy and supposed to support equality for all!
Who knows why the media is skewed towards teens, but I think the most important thing we as educators can do is try to fight such stereotypes. I think it is not enough to teach a curriculum based on cherishing diversity and acceptance. In addition, we as teachers should attempt to show our students the dangers of bias and try to connect to their lives. For instance, in a current events social studies class showing teenagers newspaper clippings about how they are portrayed in the media and then do some research on the truth! In a history class information about how teenagers are unfairly portrayed could be connected to the discrimination that African Americans face.
The bottom line is that it is our responsibility as teachers to prepare productive and informed students to function in society! Teachers need to do this by attempting to eliminate the bias presented in the media. Students need to realize that they or not always told the truth or the full story. They need to learn to use resources to decide what information to believe and what not to believe. If students do not learn about the bias, society does not learn from its mistakes (like discrimination) and continues to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
I also think that this says something about how our classrooms should be run; not only should we have diversity in our curriculum, I also think that we need to give adolescents more freedom in what they learn--let them think for themselves. The school that I am placed at is run like a prison. Students only get two minutes for passing periods and have silent lunch where the principal sits on a microphone basically saying "eat, eat, eat; faster, faster." No wonder they feel stifled and resort to droping out. If they don't feel like they have a voice somewhere in their lives, how are we to make them feel like their opinions matter?
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