The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

According to Erik Erikson, young people form a "schema". They

bring together a set of ideas that they believe what the norm is.

Adolescents figure out the status quo of groups they are members of

and groups they want to (or think they should be) members of. In the

process of finding a group to enter, teens are confronted by the fit (or

lack of fit) between their personal needs and the norms and values of

relevant social groups in the environment (Newman, and Newman,

2009). Most of these groups so many teens aspire to be a part of are

influenced by the media. The media influences everything. Those who

personally influence our opinions must get their ideas from some

source, and often their sources are the media (Meyers, 2008).So even

though a teenager may want to be a part of the athletic clique at their

school, those members are influenced by singers like Pitbull and

shows like the Jersey Shore. A teen starts the process of self

evaluation to see if they if they are up to par with the members of

these groups. Most of the time a teenage boy wont be buff, tan and

wear designer clothes, but there are those select few teens that will

do whatever it takes to obtain that image. Not every boy is going to

have the funds, the time, the genetics or the will power to work out

two hours day, drink protein shakes or tan. As a result, they may feel

rejected and their self esteem may plummet.

It is important for parents to be aware of this media influence. It

is nearly impossible to filter out 100% of the media from the eyes and

ears of our youth. Can you imagine telling a teenager they can't

watch Mtv? That would be a scary conversation to witness. Therefore

it is important to explain to adolescents that what they see on

television, movies, advertisements and hear in songs are unrealistic

messages. If you wear a certain cologne you won't necessarily get a

supermodel girlfriend. You don't need to have a six pack and orange

skin to be the "best". You don't need to use demanding pick up lines

and be overly sexual or macho in order to win a girl over. Being

yourself and having casual conversation is all a teen really needs.