Many teens today spend hours in front of the television, and as a result they see many ads. TV is full of programs and commercials that depict risky behaviors such as sex and substance abuse as cool, fun, and exciting. And often, there's no discussion about the consequences of drinking alcohol, doing drugs, smoking cigarettes, and having premarital sex.
Some people may try and argue that many children don't see the ads on tv, but according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF):
1. two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch a screen an average of 2 hours a day
2. kids under age 6 watch an average of about 2 hours of screen media a day, primarily TV and videos or DVDs
3. kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games
Big corporations that make their money from ads that help sell their products, should take into consideration the effects their ads could have. Yes, it may be considered good marketing and make their company big bucks, but is the money worth the long term effects it could have on the young children in our world?
The youth of today make up our future society now, better yet, they are a major part of our society. If they weren't people wouldn't study young teens and children like we saw in the movie "The Merchant of Cool."
Yes--some ads are good. Lately, there have been many ads about smoking, trying to get the message out there that smoking kills and is very deadly. But, what about all the sexual images our children are seeing? Such as Victoria Secret ads telling out girls what sexy is? That to be beautiful they must promote their body to the word.
Before we say what is accceptable to be shown through ads, let us stop and think beyond our personal desires--and think about the effetcs it could have on the world we live in as a whole.
We are living in a society that scream "bigger is better!" Everyone wants to have the newest house, nicest car, and more of the new "toys" than their friends. Not only do we compare ourselves to our neighbors, compare ourselves to models and actresses, now we compare the actresses and models amound themselves.
Go to StyleWatchPollon "People" magzine wedsite, people.com, and you can vote on who wears an outfit better!
"Who wears it better? 26%The model 74%The celeb"
In this photo, the celeb won over the model in this fashion battle!
The fact that we feel the need to have "fashion battles," where we vote who looks better in a piece of clothing, says something about our culture. Material possessions, such as clothing, are no longer about looking good for ourselves, but looking good in comparison to others. The media feeds this idea to us through ways such as voting who looks the best. This tells us we need to buy clothes in competition for those around us.
"Who wears it better?" 67%Ashley Tisdale 33%Miley Cyrus
We compare actresses against eachother-- its no wonder our daughters of America go to school and compare themselves to other girls around them, or to the skinny perfect actresses they see.
Next time you go to vote on who looks better in a dress, stop to think about why we feel the need to compare actresses and they effects it could be having on our culture.
Sex is a BIG part of the entertainment media. Whether on TV and movies, music and videos, or magazines and books, sex will make you stop what you're doing and look. And maybe, if you stop and if you look for long enough you'll want to buy something because sex sells.
So, what's the big deal?
Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Janet Jackson's outfit and exposed her bare breast to millions who were watching the Super Bowl. During the halftime show, Janet and Justin seductively danced and sang together until OOPS - Justin tore off her costume and showed us her private part. Some people think it was a terrible thing to do, especially since children and teenagers were watching the game. Parents were angry at the head of CBS network for letting it happen. What do you think?
What they did doesn't seem so bad when you think about the sexy talk and action that happens all day and night on TV. Sure, there aren't many bare nipples on your TV screen, but turn on a soap opera when you get home from school, and there's a good chance that you will see two people passionately kissing, or even in bed together. Surf to MTV and you'll probably see a beautiful, sexy woman dancing in her underwear.
According to an article by City Journal, between 8 pm and 9 pm is the "family hour" on television. Shows are supposed to be "appropriate" for kids to watch with their parents. During that hour, you and your parents can tune in to Friends - a show about six sexy singles looking for love, or Survivor -- a reality show featuring people in bathing suits talking trash about each other.
Does TV make kids want to have sex? Well, maybe. A study was released in the November issue of Pediatrics. It involved 2,003 12- to 17-year-old girls and boys nationwide questioned by telephone about their TV viewing habits in 2001. "Teens were re-interviewed twice, the last time in 2004, and asked about pregnancy. Among girls, 58 became pregnant during the follow-up, and among boys, 33 said they had gotten a girl pregnant.Participants were asked how often they watched any of more than 20 TV shows popular among teens at the time or which were found to have lots of sexual content... Pregnancies were twice as common among those who said they watched such shows regularly, compared with teens who said they hardly ever saw them. There were more pregnancies among the oldest teens interviewed, but the rate of pregnancy remained consistent across all age groups among those who watched the racy programs."
The most frustrating thing about sex in the media is that it usually doesn't have any real consequences. Actors finish their work and then they go home. They don't get pregnant. They don't get sexually transmitted infections (STIs). They don't really get their hearts broken. Tv is making young girls think it is ok to dress like the 25-year-old sexy actresses they see. Media shows images that make people believe its reality, whether it is what to look like or what to do.
Type in "facebook" into your search engine and the description facebook gives you before you go into the site says,
"Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet."
According to an article on cnnmoney.com titled "How facebook is taking over our lives," facebook has 175 million members, and it growing at a rate of 5 million members a week! It seems facebook is the only thing growing in this economy...
Truth is, facebook has grown quicker than any other form is technology for communiation this world has ever seen. The picture to the right, from Portio Reasearch, shows us how quickly facebook has grown in comparison to phones, Tv, ect,.
In December 2008, Facebook also released new engagement stats about the way users interact with different features on the site. A few are... 13 million users update their statuses at least once each day 2.5 million users become fans of Pages each day 700 million photos are uploaded to the site each month 4 million videos are uploaded each month 15 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each month 2 million events created each month 19 million active groups exist on the site
Facebook is taking over! Literally-- this is no imaginary alien invasion, facebook is here to stay.
The show "Friends" was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman in 1994. According to an interview done by MSN. The idea for the series was conceived when Crane and Kauffman began thinking about the time when they had finished college and started living by themselves in New York; a time when like was a "question mark." They found the concept to be interesting, as they believed "everybody knows that feeling", and because it was also how they felt about their own lives at the time. Since those years, when you are young and life is fresh, are so vibrant in people's memorie, they thought of making a show about it.
The first season was shot on Stage 5 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. At first the NBC executives worried that the coffee house setting was too "hip", but eventually consented to the coffee house concept.
The first season was filmed in a fountain at the Warner Bros. Ranch at 4:00 am, while it was particularly cold for a Burbank morning. At the beginning of the second season, production moved to the larger Stage 24, which was renamed "The Friends Stage" after the series finale.
Filming for the series began in the summer of 1994 in front of a live audience, who were given a summary of the series to familiarize themselves with the six main characters; a hired comedian entertained the studio audience between takes. Each 22-minute episode took six hours to film—twice the length of most sitcom tapings—mainly due to the several retakes and rewrites of the script.
During ing in interview with Ken Bright, one of the original executive producers, by USA Today, Ken Bright explained that although the producers always wanted to find the right stories to take advantage of being on location, Friends was never shot in New York. Bright felt that filming outside the studio made episodes less funny, even when shooting on the lot outside, and that the live audience was an integral part of the series.
When the series was criticized for incorrectly depicting New York, with the financially struggling group of friends being able to afford huge apartments, Bright noted that the set had to be big enough for the cameras, lighting, and "for the audience to be able to see what's going on"; the apartments also needed to provide a place for the actors to execute the funny scenes. The fourth season finale was shot on location in London because the producers knew of the country's large fanbase.The scenes were shot in a studio with three audiences of 500 each, the show's largest audiences throughout its run. Although most people thought the fifth season finale was filmed on location in Las Vegas, the episode was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios.
Within the first year it started airing on TV, it became the 4th most watched television show in history.
"Friends" became such a popular show because each episod is packed full of comedy. The show had a moderate commitment; although the characters develop over time, throughout the seasons, it isn't necessary to watch every show to follow the story or be entertained. It's a great show to watch after a long day of work or if you just want to veg. The show is full of comedy from real life situations, events that could happen within any group of friends, making the show appealing.
According to a summary of the relationships of the "Friends" character, Rachel Green and Monica Gellar were best friends in high school, and after Rachel ran out on her wedding with Barry, she moved in with Monica. Monica Gellar and Ross Gellar are brother and sister, so Ross and Rachel became acquainted in high school. Ross Gellar and Chandler Bing met in college and became best friends,and Chandler met Rachel and Monica when Ross brought him home on Thanksgiving. Pheobe Buffay was Monica's old roomate before the show started and Joey Tribiani came into the picture when he moved in with Chandler, also before the show started.
