Teenagers are often seen by society as trouble makers, alcohol lovers and unstable. This representation is not particularly helped by the media as most news stories about young people focus on gang violence, drinking and mental health. By glancing through some of the news stories online that have been published by the Guardian and the Independent, most stories focus on negative subjects. This can be further proved by Clark et al’s study who found that most young people feel the media represents them as ‘antisocial and a group to be feared’ (2008). Through analysing some of the most recent headlines from news outlets, the representation of young people can be seen as problematic.
Headline 1 – Antidepressants are risky and ineffective – So why are we prescribing them to children?(The Independent, 2019).
Headline 2 – Teenage suicides in England and Wales rise 67% since 2010(The Independent, 2019)
Focusing on headlines 1 and 2 it is clear to see that the media tends to focus on the mental health of teenagers and some of the shocking statistics that reveal an increase in suicides. The article continues to say that social media and the increase of tuition fees may be to blame but more often than not it is the lack of support provided by mental health services, says the article. Chapman et al, found that 26% of news articles involving young peoples’ mental illnesses were portrayed negatively whilst positive themes were significantly less frequent for young people compared to adults.
Headline 3 – County lines drugs blamed for Kent’s big rise in knife crime(Guardian, 2019).
This is just one example of a negative headline published surrounding young people and crime. With mentions of ‘gangs’, ‘bruised’ and ‘youths’ in the article the overall tone is negative with increasing worries about numbers of knife crime incidents among young people. Although important issues need to be documented, this is a small minority of young people committing these crimes and not the majority, as news outlets often insinuate.
Headline 4 – How do your porn habits compare with young people across Britain?(BBC News, 2019).
Finally, porn is a regularly documented topic and young people are often pulled into the articles and headlines. Within headline 4, young people are presented as ‘other’ and their viewing of porn is seen to be regular and unhealthy. It is obvious to say that a lot of adults are addicted to porn yet headlines such as this would never be presented in the same way.
Osgerby and Pearson found that ‘the demonization of young people in the United Kingdom dates back at least to the 18thcentury’, proving that ‘the construction of young people as a “problem” is certainly not new’ (Henderson, et al., 2008: 1). More headlines need to focus on the successes, of teens such as protesting for what they believe in, achievements in exam results and their open-minded ability to accept people for who they are.
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Reference List:
Clark, C., Ghosh, A., Green, E. and Shariff., Naushin (2008) ‘Media Portrayl of Young People – Impact and Influences’ Young Researcher Network [online] 1-34.
Henderson, L., Murray, C., Petley, J. and Wayne, M. (2008) ‘Television News and the Symbolic Criminalization of Young People’ Journalism Studies [online]9 (1): 75-90.
McLean, M., (2019) ‘How do your Porn Habits Compare with Young People Across Britain?’ BBC News Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/bb79a2ce-0de4-4965-98f0-9ebbcfcc2a60[Acessed on 17thMarch 2019].
Howkick, J., (2018) ‘Antidepressants are Risky and Ineffective – So Why are we Prescribing them to Children?’ Independent [online] Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/depression-antidepressants-children-medication-mental-health-exercise-young-people-suicide-a8489281.html[Accessed on 17th March 2019].
Khan, S., (2018) ‘Teenage Suicides in England and Wales Rise 67% Since 2010’Independent [online] Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/teenage-suicides-england-and-wales-2010-ons-a8522331.html[Accessed on 17th March 2019].
Quinn, B., (2019) ‘County Lines Drugs Blamed for Kent’s Big Rise in Knife Crime’ The Guardian [online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/10/county-lines-drugs-kent-knife-crime-rise-cuts[Accessed on 17th March 2019].
Language and the Media Blog 