Media’s Positive and Negative Influence on TeenagersVocabulary and Expressions

游客2023-12-29  26

问题 Media’s Positive and Negative Influence on Teenagers
Vocabulary and Expressions
permeate       glorify       stance
brunette        perpetuate    astute
Media’s Positive and Negative Influence on Teenagers
   Media is a vast form of communication that permeates nearly every aspect of modern culture. Teenagers are exposed to all sorts of media outlets, from television, movies and advertising to social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Media isn’t inherently positive or negative; however, teens should have a healthy balance between exposure to media and other, intellectually and physically stimulating activities, says the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
   Image and Beauty Standards: Negative
   It’s no secret that media has had an increasingly negative impact on the way teenage girls measure their personal image and beauty standards. The sizes of supermodels and actresses often influence teenage girls —who are actively seeking to find an identity —to believe they have to be thin to exemplify beauty. Magazine advertisements encourage teenage girls to think their hair needs to be long or short, red, blond or brunette —whatever the flavor of the month— in order to be considered beautiful. In order to minimize the effect of these messages, Boise State University psychology professor, Mary Pritchard, writing for " The Huffington Post," praises parents who limit their teens’ exposure to various media outlets. Teens should be taught to value their own definitions of beauty above all else.
   Glorifying Negative Behaviors: Negative
   Movies and television programs often show characters using drugs and alcohol and engaging in violent behaviors. At a developmental stage when teens seek greater freedom and independence, the glorification of drugs, alcohol, risky sexual and violent behaviors in the media make it challenging for teens to make responsible behavioral choices. Still, media cannot solely be blamed for teens’ consumption of drugs and alcohol, or involvement in sexual activities; ultimately it’s up to parents to teach their teens about the negative consequences associated with risky behaviors, and the false images often perpetuated in the media for financial gain. Palo Alto Medical Foundation suggests that teens learn to use their critical thinking skills —and parents can help them in this area — by distinguishing fantasy from reality, and analyzing the agendas and target audiences of various advertisements.
   Cultural and Political Awareness: Positive
   The Raising Children Network says that teens can benefit from media exposure by developing cultural and political awareness. Television, films, magazines and social media sites expose teens—who may otherwise be limited to interactions with people from their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds — to an array of different people. While family members and peers may perpetuate stereotypes of different cultural groups, media outlets can offer a diverse display of cultural or ethnic groups —such as Asian, Latino and Black Americans — that encourage teens to think critically and question cultural stereotypes. News outlets, such as CNN, Fox News and Al-Jazeera English, provide teens with an opportunity to develop a political stance. Exposure to news and information about events occurring around the world also allow teens to participate in charitable acts or consider other ways to engage in benevolent deeds.
   Social Skills Development: Positive
   Teens can learn to enhance social interactions with their peers through involvement in social media, says the Raising Children Network. Quite often, friendships on social media sites are merely offline extensions of existing, face-to-face relationships. Social media also allows teens to cultivate new friendships, which brings them access to wider networks and provides even greater learning and social opportunities. Other benefits for teens engaged in social media include increased social confidence, more social support and heightened media literacy. Social media diversifies teens’ social skills, which will help them navigate through a technologically astute society.

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答案    Media, a vast form of communication, is everywhere. Though it isn’t inherently positive or negative, teens should make a healthy balance between exposure to it and other activities. Following are media’s positive and negative influence on teenagers respectively. First, negative impact is on the way teenage girls measure their personal image and beauty standards, for supermodels, actresses and magazine advertisements all encourage teens to follow certain trends. Therefore, teens should be taught to value their own definitions of beauty above all else. Second, negative impact is the glorification of drugs, alcohol, risky sexual and violent behaviors, which makes it challenging for teens to make responsible behavioral choices. Though media is not solely blamed for, ultimately it’s up to parents to help teens to use critical thinking skills and to know about the negative consequences. The first positive impact is to help teens to develop cultural and political awareness. A diverse display of cultural or ethnic groups in media encourage teens to think critically and question cultural stereotypes, and to develop a political stance as well as benevolent deeds. The second positive impact is to help teens to enhance social interactions, to cultivate new friendships, and to diversify social skills.

解析    全篇文章采用了“总-分”式结构。文章开篇谈到媒体无处不在,青少年因之接触到形形色色的媒体。虽然媒体自身无所谓好坏,但是青少年有必要平衡好媒体与其他活动的关系。接下来,作者以分论点的形式就媒体对青少年的积极和消极影响分别谈到了两点:1)消极影响:媒体影响了青少年衡量个人形象的方式以及美的标准;2)消极影响:媒体美化了毒品、酒、以及冒险行为,对青少年的行为选择提出挑战;3)积极影响:媒体有助于青少年提升文化和政治意识;4)积极影响:媒体增加青少年的社会交往,促进新的友谊,使他们的社会技能多样化。
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