In the past, teenagers used to be the forgotten group in society; the ones stuck between being “cute kids” and “responsible adults.” However all that has been changed over the last 20 years or so; the media realises that teens are slowly getting their voices heard in today’s society. The media: first things that come to mind are: T.V, politics and of course, football! The media is of paramount importance to our modern society. It highly influences the behaviour of teenagers.
Superficially, the media portrays teenagers in a negative stereotypical way. Tabloid newspapers such as your own tend to over-exaggerate negative views of teenagers by using pessimistic headlines and content which I personally find inappropriate. In the case of your article, the title itself has struck negative connotations to the reader. Is this true regarding all teens?
Your article states that “there is also bullying, teenage pregnancies and young girls caked with makeup.” Every day, advertisements on T.V show the complications with teenagers: bullying is just one of many iniquitous cases. Research conducted by www.beatbullying.org show that 69% of children of all ages report being bullied. The BBC has concluded that teenage pregnancies were highest on 2011 (34,633 to be exact); the numbers do speak for themselves. Nevertheless, this does not give you the right to brand all teenagers as anti- social yobs that drink, smoke and have sexual intercourse!
This article has convinced me that in this case, the teachers should be responsible for the lack of behaviour and academic achievements in Passmores School. I quote that “childish behaviour by the teachers” set “a very bad example to the pupils.” Mr Drew is a prime example of unprofessionalism; he remarks on the name “Koch” whilst conducting his history class. Mr Drew then says that “Without wishing to sound flippant about it, a teacher has to entertain.” Entertain? What kind of humour is this? Then there is Mr Goddard, the headmaster of Passmores; he defended his two fingered gesture, saying: “Mates muck around.” These constant excuses from the behavioural issues of teachers support that teachers are the reason that Passmores is underachieving! To solve these complications, I strongly believe that teachers and students should be educated adequately to improve their school. This aligns with “The Campaign for Real education” as they wish to instil firmer discipline.
I myself had recently come to the end of watching the unfortunate series of “Educating Essex.”This may be revealing the “so-called” truth in one of thousands of schools in the UK. What can be said for every other school in the UK? This show mainly focuses on negative portrayals of teens in the media. I personally believe that the whole point of “Educating Essex” was to push forward that teenagers are like bad dreams, constantly making many paranoid! This is wrong!
I am a prime example of teenagers in the 21st century; I pride myself in the work I do and the school I go to. My school, Wimbledon College delivers fantastic results at GCSE, A’s, etc. Wimbledon College was given a satisfactory by Ofsted in 2011 yet Passmores School received the top rating of “outstanding!” It is truly flabbergasting that Passmores can achieve this! Furthermore, the spokesman, Nick Seaton said “If this is an outstanding school then it doesn’t say much for the rest.” He adds that, “This sort of behaviour shouldn’t be allowed and there is extremely childish behaviour by teachers, who are setting a very bad example for the pupils.” I couldn’t agree more.
I am deeply offended about the media’s negative portrayals of teens in our society. Conversely, the media portrays teenagers positively; a BBC show named “Young Apprentice” is a classic example of showing confident, enthusiastic and passionate young adults. Mark Zuckerberg, the inventor of Facebook sets a prime example for creative thinking and entrepreneurism. The media should portray teenagers as the next step onto our future.
Finally, by portraying teens negatively the media lowers their self- esteem and confidence. We should highlight the brighter sides of teens today. The media is mistaken to believe that teenagers are scumbags and poor excuses of getting hold of headlines. I hope that I have persuaded you on my opinion and I hope my words are meaningful enough to see teenagers as big bright stars.
Yours Sincerely,
Jason Perera.