1.
Source: [7]
MEDIA
AND
TV
INFLUENCE
IN
ADOLESCENCE
Arantxa
Domínguez
Acevedo
CHLD
2
Child
Development
&
Growth:
Middle-­‐childhood
to
adolescence.
Professor:
Bharti
Dave
Date:
06/12/2016

2. 1.
Introduction.
“On
a
Friday
night
in
suburban
Seattle,
after
a
Skyline
High
School
football
game,
15-­‐years-­‐old
Melvin
lee
marinated
his
shirt
in
rubbing
alcohol
in
a
zipper-­‐lock
bag,
donned
the
shirt,
and
set
himself
on
fire.
His
friends
videotaped
the
experience
in
hopes
of
selling
the
video
and
making
a
lot
of
money.
Lee
wasn’t
depressed
or
even
particularly
odd…
He
was
simply
imitating
a
stunt
he’d
seen
on
the
popular
television
show
Jackass.
…
He
didn’t
dance
around
gleefully
afterwards,
and
he
and
his
friends
didn’t
make
a
lot
of
money”
From
the
book
“The
Elephant
in
the
living
room”
[1].
This
is
an
example
of
how
some
TV
shows
and
peers
influence
teens.
This
shocked
me
and
I
decided
that
I
wanted
to
research
about
Media
and
specifically
how
TV
influence
in
adolescence.
Source:
http://innovagreek.com/?p=1728
Generation
Z
–
young
people
born
after
1995-­‐,
are
the
teens
of
today.
They
are
the
sons
and
daughters
of
Generation
X.
It
is
the
generation
who
has
grown
up
with
media
and
technology
surrounding
them.
In
their
characteristics,
there
are
a
lot
of
tech
references
such
as:

3. multi-­‐tasking,
demand
interactivity
(touch
screens),
expect
things
now
and
demand
connectivity
(Wi-­‐Fi).
Adolescence
is
the
period
of
life
between
11
to
25
years
and
it
is
characterized
by
the
maturation
of
the
brain
and
the
body.
It
is
also
a
crucial
period
to
develop
self-­‐identity,
develop
and
maintain
meaningful
relationships
and
explore
sexuality.
Teens
are
vulnerable
to
influence
so,
as
a
parent,
I
have
to
learn
how
media
–as
a
socialization
agent-­‐
affects
my
children
development.
2.
Research.
Teens
are
more
susceptible
to
the
influence
of
peers
and
other
agents
because
their
brains
are
still
immature
in
regions
that
govern
the
decision-­‐making
process,
risk
taking
and
sensation-­‐seeking.
This
means
that
the
second
decade
of
life
is
a
period
of
great
activity
and
changes
in
the
brain,
both
in
structure
and
connections,
especially
in
regions
that
control
the
response
inhibition,
the
calibration
risk
and
the
emotion
regulation
[8],[9].
Researchers
have
found
that
some
areas
of
the
brain
correlate
with
those
functions,
i.e.
frontal
and
parietal
regions
and
also
the
amygdala
[2].
Furthermore,
there
are
two
more
issues
involved
in
this
growing
and
maturing
process:
the
myelination
and
the
increase
of
the
grey
matter
in
the
cortex.
The
myelination
helps
axons
to
get
better
connections
by
recovering
them
with
a
fatty
substance.

4.
Source:
http://clearga.org/marijuana-­‐and-­‐teen-­‐brains/
Adolescence
is
also
the
time
for
seeking
and
building
their
own
identity
and
egocentrism.
David
Elking
(1978)
suggests
that
Adolescent
egocentrism
has
two
types
of
social
thinking:
imaginary
audience
and
personal
fable.
Imaginary
audience
'involves
feeling
one
is
the
center
of
everyone's
attention
and
sensing
that
one
is
on
a
stage'
[8].
The
other
concept:
personal
fable
'is
the
adolescent's
feeling
of
uniqueness
and
invincibility'
[8].
Both
concepts
are
crucial
to
understand
the
peers’
influence.
The
story
of
Melvin
Lee
from
the
introduction
is
a
clear
example
of
the
effect
of
the
imaginary
audience.
Some
studies
have
proved
that
the
audience,
or
echo
chamber,
triggers
and
amplifies
the
ideas
and
actions
in
teens.

5. As
we
see,
immaturity
in
both
cognition
and
social
aspects,
leads
adolescents
to
be
more
vulnerable
to
some
influences.
In
following
sections
I
will
review
the
impact
of
the
TV
and
solutions
to
minimize
them.
3.
Impact.
Because
teens
are
still
growing
and
transitioning,
they
are
more
susceptible
to
the
influence
of
the
socialization
agents.
Media
and
TV
are
a
very
powerful
agent
of
socialization.
Actually,
some
authors
have
categorized
media
as
a
super-­‐peer
that
refers
to
“the
beautiful,
all-­‐
knowing,
ultracool
friend
who
is,
at
the
same
time,
always
inviting
and
always
available”
[1].
Use
of
TV
in
adolescence.
The
key
factor
of
how
deep
is
the
influence
of
Media
and
TV
in
our
adolescents
is
the
time
of
exposition.
The
more
they
are
exposed,
the
more
TV
influences
them.
Some
researches
have
found
a
correlation
with
sexual
initiation
and
drugs
use
with
the
TV
time
exposition.
Teens
that
see
sexual
content
and
drug
use
scenes
in
TV,
movies
and
music
videos,
are
more
likely
to
be
involve
in
sexual
activity
and
drug
use
[1].
Furthermore,
TV
teaches
them
about
attitudes
toward
sex
and
drugs.
Other
researches
have
found
that
children
need
just
7
min
watching
aggressive
content
scenes
to
be
more
likely
to
be
involved
in
aggressions
and
violence
[1].

6.
Source:
[7]
The
above
picture
explains
that
the
average
time
of
media
use
has
increased
in
more
than
one
hour
in
the
past
10
years.
On
the
other
side,
the
time
adolescents
spend
in
reading
has
decreased
in
15min
a
day.
We
might
conclude
that
today’s
adolescents
are
more
digital
and
connected
than
the
generation
before.
Furthermore,
those
traits
correlate
with
Generation
Z.
Effects
of
TV
in
building
attitudes
and
behaviors.
Researchers
have
found
that
children
who
are
heavy
media
users
are
more
likely
to
have
poor
grades
(C’s
and
lower)
[7].
It
is
also
correlated
with
self-­‐esteem.
Indeed,
children
who
are
less
content,
are
more
likely
to
spend
more
time
using
media
[7].

7. TV
is
also
teaching
teens
how
to
dress
and
how
to
behave.
Series,
movies
and
famous
singers
play
a
key
role
in
the
formation
of
social
scripts
[1].
Teens
imitate
peers
and
surely,
they
copy
the
“super-­‐peer”.
Because
teens
are
still
developing
the
social
scripts,
TV
could
lead
them
through
a
large
variety
of
social
interaction
and
relationship
situations.
Rebecca
Collings,
from
Rand
Corporation,
found
another
shocking
fact:
she
found
that
adolescents
that
were
exposed
to
sex-­‐related
TV/movies
where
twice
as
likely
to
begin
sex
intercourse
during
the
following
year
[1].
Attitudes
toward
alcohol.
Been
more
specific,
some
studies
have
suggested
the
existence
of
a
link
between
seeing
adolescents
drinking
in
movies
and
being
adolescents
who
drink.
The
study
showed
that
teens
who
have
been
exposed
to
alcohol
scenes
were
more
likely
to
have
started
drinking
after
18
months
from
the
exposure
[1].
TV
is
teaching
our
teens
the
script
that
alcohol
is
relaxing
when
hanging
out
with
friends.
It
is
teaching
them
how
to
behave
in
specific
social
situations.
Furthermore,
alcohols
is
usually
linked
with
romance
and
sex
scenes
in
movies.
Experts
have
found
that
having
an
open
communication
with
our
children
about
controversial
and
taboo
issues
could
decrease
the
effect
of
drinking
behaviors.
Attitudes
toward
sexuality.
A
study
from
1999
exposed
that
29%
of
the
teens
interviewed
learnt
about
sex
from
TV
and
just
7%
from
parents
[1].
This
is
a
scary
number.
Sexual
scenes
at
movies
and
TV
in
general
are
not
real,
those
do
not
usually
expose
safe
sex
and
contraceptive
options,
or
romanticism

8. and
love.
As
we
have
said,
teens
are
learning
from
TV
and
making
their
own
scripts
about
sex
–
with
whom,
when
and
how
should
happen-­‐
and
this
is
not
the
reality.
Furthermore,
other
study
has
found
that
63%
of
high
school
teens
have
seen
X-­‐rated
movies.
Those
are
the
worst
example
because
women
are
usually
treated
as
instruments,
the
use
of
prophylactics
is
anecdotic
and
the
intercourse
is
for
pleasure
making
and
not
for
because
of
love
[1].
4. Solution.
How
can
we,
as
a
parents
and
teachers,
prevent
the
bad
effects
of
TV
as
a
super-­‐peer?
There
is
not
a
correct
or
unique
answer
for
this
issue.
Some
researchers
have
found
that
on
families
with
an
open
communication
style,
the
effects
of
TV
on
attitudes
toward
sexuality
were
cero
[1].
Other
researchers
suggest
that
parental
control
over
our
children’s
TV
and
media
activity
might
lead
to
prevent
Internet
predators
and
dangerous
content
[10].
Several
apps
and
software
exist
in
the
market
to
do
this
task.
As
parents
we
can
install
software
to
cut
access
to
some
dangerous
websites
and
also
have
a
report
of
how
and
what
is
seen
by
our
children.
Different
researches
have
found
that
been
critic
with
what
we
are
watching
at
TV
helps
to
minimize
the
effect
of
the
influence.
It
is
a
new
way
of
watching
television.
This
new
current
suggests
that
both
parents
and
children
have
to
become
mindful
viewers
of
television
and
have
a
critic
and
active
eye
on
what
TV
and
movies
present.
Studies
have
suggested
that
the
more
we
are
exposed
to
violent
or
sexual
scenes,
the
more
normal
those
scenes
become,
and
this
is
not
true
in
some
cases.
For
example,
the
more
we
see
teenagers
get
drunk,
the
more
normal
that
becomes.
This
is
not
true!
Scenes
of
drinking
adolescents
are
not
normal,
despite
their
frequency
in
TV
and
movies.

9. Another
good
idea
in
order
to
review
how,
when
and
what
our
children
are
watching
is
to
create
a
Media
Day
Diary.
As
you
can
imagine,
this
kind
of
diary
might
help
both
parents
and
children
to
create
an
overview
of
behaviors
and
habits
toward
Media.
Following
there
is
a
sample
of
media
day
diary:

10.
Sample
of
Media
Day
Diary.
Source:
[7]

11.
Sample
of
Media
Day
Diary.
Source:
[7]

12. 5. Conclusion.
After
reviewing
some
articles
and
information
about
the
issue,
I
cannot
deny
that
Media
and
TV
in
particular
have
a
profound
impact
in
our
children.
Teenagers
in
particular
are
even
more
vulnerable
because
they
are
seeking
for
scripts
to
learn
social
and
emotional
behavior
and
attitudes.
Teens
are
also
building
their
identity
and
certain
scenes
on
TV
and
movies
can
model
their
personality.
As
we
have
seen,
peers
and
the
super-­‐peer
model
also
attitudes
towards
controversial
issues
such
as
a
sex,
drugs
and
violence.
On
this
paper
I
have
also
reviewed
some
strategies
and
actions
to
minimize
the
influence
of
peers
and
the
super-­‐peer.
As
parents
and
teachers,
we
should
also
provide
our
children
good
examples
and
scripts
to
work
with.
If
I
had
to
choose
two
key
concepts
from
this
paper
to
work
with
I
would
choose
mindful
watcher
and
open
communication.
I
think
those
are
crucial
to
build
a
trustful
and
confident
teenager
with
strong
believes
and
attitudes
toward
sexuality
and
drug
use.
6.
References.
[1]
Christakis,
D.,
&
Zimmerman,
F.
J.
(2006).
The
elephant
in
the
living
room:
make
television
work
for
your
kids.
Rodale.
[2]
Choudhury,
S.,
Blakemore,
S.
J.,
&
Charman,
T.
(2006).
Social
cognitive
development
during
adolescence.
Social
cognitive
and
affective
neuroscience,1(3),
165-­‐174.
[3]
Dishion,
T.
J.,
&
Tipsord,
J.
M.
(2011).
Peer
contagion
in
child
and
adolescent
social
and
emotional
development.
Annual
review
of
psychology,
62,
189.
[4]
Garaigordobil,
M.
(2004).
Effects
of
a
psychological
intervention
on
factors
of
emotional
development
during
adolescence.
European
Journal
of
Psychological
Assessment,
20(1),
66.

13.
[5]
Helsen,
M.,
Vollebergh,
W.,
&
Meeus,
W.
(2000).
Social
support
from
parents
and
friends
and
emotional
problems
in
adolescence.
Journal
of
Youth
and
Adolescence,
29(3),
319-­‐335.
[6]
Paus,
T.
(2005).
Mapping
brain
maturation
and
cognitive
development
during
adolescence.
Trends
in
cognitive
sciences,
9(2),
60-­‐68.
[7]
Rideout,
V.
J.,
Foehr,
U.
G.,
&
Roberts,
D.
F.
(2010).
Generation
M
[superscript
2]:
Media
in
the
Lives
of
8-­‐to
18-­‐Year-­‐Olds.
Henry
J.
Kaiser
Family
Foundation.
[8]
Santrock,
John
W.
Children.
12th
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New
York,
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McGraw-­‐Hill,
2013.
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[9]
Steinberg,
L.
(2005).
Cognitive
and
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in
adolescence.
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69-­‐74.
6.1.
Video
[10]
Growing
up
online.