Youth Essay draft and information

Youth

How does the British media stereotype young people?

Who creates the media?

Midhurst white middle-aged upper class.

Who is the target audience of the media?

The people shown in the media.

Why are the stereotypes the way they are?

Because youth have made this stereotypes. And because youth are not in control with the media and are not represented.

Do the media represent what is actually happening or do young people copy what the media says?

The media are telling partly the truth but are making it worse than it really is and youth then start to copy these representations.

What impact do the stereotypes have on older people and youths?

It gives older people this negative view of youth meanwhile it gives youth also this sense of negativity.

What theorise should you use?

Osgerby 1998 argues that the portrayal of ‘youth’ in the media has not really altered much in the last 100 years  

Stanley Hall 1904 argues:

1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.

2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 & 24.

3. Young people are extreme and need excitement.

Hebdige 1988-said youth are represented as either  “fun or trouble”.

Media simply represents collective identity how does one affect the other?

 1940's 

As Osgerby 1998 said the portrayal of youth has not changed not changed much in the last 100 years apart from around world war 2 where the media showed youth as good happy people meanwhile around the rest of the last one hundred years youth have been seen as trouble and as people with the common stat/mood of depression (Stanley Hall).

The only time as I pervious said when youth where portrayed in a positive way was around the period of war as you can be seen by this quote from the daily mail 1940 “British troops taking a well earned rest from a grooling mornings training somewhere in Frances. This quote shows a positive view of youth as it shows that are working hard. Another positive representation which can also be found in The Daily Mail but a little earlier which is 1940 which sates “Recruits poured in for the new volunteer defense corpses, for A>R>P and the A.F>S and for the vitally important nursing service”. This just shows how youth are willing to fight for there country. Also the Sunday pictorial said in 1944 “if you are over 17 half and under 19, you are needed now for vital work.” This portrays another positive view of youth because it shows how much youth are needed and how important they are.

The newspapers where not the only type of media with this positive view of the youth. As films such as In which We Serve (1942) and The Way Ahead (1944) shows youth as very important also as films of Britain were very poplar at the time (as people wanted to watch films of use winning the war) it meant a lot more people would see how important youth are in are society.

1950's

1960’s

1964 BBC:  “Mods and Rockers jailed after seaside riots”.

Daily Sketch 1964: “Breach crowds take cover from battling Mods and Rockers wildest ones yet”.

In the 1960’s there was the moon landing and the birth control pill was introduced however focusing more on youth there were three main groups Hippies, Mods and Rockers and though the 60’s youth were portrayed very negatively this is because violence’s was a big thing as you had the Mods and Rockers which went outside to just pick a fight in the BBC 1964 which said  “Mods and Rockers jailed after seaside riots”. Another pieces of the media, which also covered this, were the Daily Stretch 1964 which said “Breach crowds take cover from battling Mods and Rockers wildest ones yet”. This also shows youth as trouble however the Beatles helped present youth in more of a positive light however in there film A hard Day’s Night directed by Richard Lester showed how different youth are as seen at the beginning of the film when they are in a train and a man says I fought in the war for you this links to what Medhurst said ‘They are awful because they are not like us”. This just shows how youth are treated as less people. However later in the film one of the beetle members is asked what are you Mod or Rocker and he answers with a combination of both this just shows youth in a positive light as it does not limit youth in the 60's to one of this two groups. In conclusion I believe youth are playing up to the stereotypes by the media this is shown though the Mods and Rockers which is just playing up to the stereotypes.