Youth, frightening?!

It is no surprising to observe that many adolescents had been the victims of unfair judgment by others; gratified to the media and the way it portrays young people these days. Media focuses on youth drug addiction, vandalism, conjointly with many other negative issues, in constructing the general public to view young people as stereotypes and gross generalizations.

Taking the media coverage of the 2004 student protests against increasing HECS fees as an example,

Capsicum spray used as students storm Chancellery in fees protest

Deliberately and entirely, the Sydney Morning Herald negatively focus on the minority who acted violently and wrongfully, ignoring the fact that majority of the young protestors staged in a peaceful manner.

Adolescents are in a stage of life where the preoccupation centres on finding their identities, and thus the surrounding environment becomes a significant factor in forming affirmation (Wren and Mendoza, 2004). Such process is continuing to develop throughout life; hence encouragements are requisite from all surrounding parties in order for the best outcomes. In spite of this, the media has incessantly focusing on creating a moral panic where young people being portrayed as violent and out-of-control criminals.

As asserted by Marsh and Melville in the Week 8 readings, media have played a crucial role in the construction of ‘problem youth’. Produced by media sensationalism and distortion, youth crimes have been illustrated as rapid increase in quantity and youth violence as increasing in severity. A great misrepresentation of youth crime invaded media coverage and these stereotypes had already deeply rooted in the public opinion.

Last month, Today Tonight deliberately puts to air fallaciously edited stories about home grown gangs of kids terrorizing neighbourhoods, purposely to scare the living daylights out of its viewers. Such program was late on being criticized by Media Watch:

Tweed Tales on TT

Why is such misrepresentation became a dilemma?

Media plays an important role in creating policy and laws other than informing the public to raise awareness and create opinion. Misrepresentation of young people imposes a danger that policies implemented may not address what is needed. Youth violence is framed as a growing crisis, both in size and in geography. Implications of negative media stereotypes to young people themselves and the society as a whole are beyond our expectations.

The way media constructed had raised moral panic among the society, advocating politicians and policy makers on a journey in searching for explanations in order to produce effectual solutions. Inevitably youth crime is sensationalized, simplified and decontextualized, and that youth violence is over-represented. What was reported by the media foster a climate of fear in which crime control is the only and last approach of choice, instead of making contribution in terms of helpful solutions for addressing the issues.

Young populations are the leaders of our future. Instead of being discriminated against or treated apprehensively, adolescents should be embraced by the community not alienated by it. The media is encouraged to shift the focus on negative and controversial issues concerning young people, to the accomplishments and positive contribution made by them. To be fair, both youth and the media have a responsibility to ensure that such progression maintains with the intention of precise and positive stories about young people being told.