Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girls, One Tree Hill, Dawsons Creek, The OC, Life of an American Teenager, Etc. all popular shows that may be giving teenagers the wrong impression of what is right and wrong. All of the shows listed above, plus some, show things such as sex at a young age, drugs, alcohol, etc. Of course all of these problems are what keeps the show going, but is it the cause of the growing rate of teen pregnancy, drug abuse and over dosing, running away, fighting with parents, and wild parting? I’m not saying that these types of shows are the only reason there is this growing rate. Yes, people make these decisions themselves, but I think these shows are influencing teens to make these types of decisions. It is almost as if society follows the lead of these teen dramas. These shows are getting closer and closer to stepping over the line of human morals. It is almost impossible to turn on the T.V and find a family based show with no sex, drugs, or alcohol. (It’s like what Louis sings at the opening of Family Guy.) I mean, the ABC Family Channel has the word family in it, and that is one of the many channels that shows these teen dramas. (which by the way these shows are NOT family friendly) I’m not going to lie and say that I have never sat down and watched these shows, but there is a difference between being entertained and beginning to model the behavior shown. Just watching the examples of the three trailers below that I pulled off of youtube, you can get the basic idea of what the show is about. In all three trailers the focus is on the sexual relationships of young teenagers. It just seems wrong to me not only that the focus of the show is about sex, but the focus of the trailers are about sex too. I’m not sure how happy I would be if I was sitting next to one of the kids I babysit while one of these commercials came on.
Besides the fact that these shows are influencing teens to make the wrong decisions, they are also making teens so obsessed with the show, they focus more on what will happen next, and who is going to hook up with who, rather than focusing on things like homework and spending time with their family. Most of the time they become so into the show they get frustrated when it doesn’t turn out they way they expected it too. In that case it ruins the rest of their week, because they are so focused on what will happen in the next episode that they can’t concentrate on much else.
I know that what I am saying makes it sound like I think all teen shows should be taken off air. However, thats not what I am getting at. I think instead of teaching teenagers about irresponsibility’s, we need to teach them to stay away from those types of things. And, instead of focusing on the show so much, they need to realize that there are more important things in this world than a stupid drama. Plus, almost everyone has DVR now-a-days. You can always tape them and watch them at another time.
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megrachelle49 Said:
on September 21, 2009 at 1:38 am
I completely agree with you when you say that all these ABC Family shows are not really “family” shows at all. I would never let a child under 16 watch most of them. I for one, am obsessed with One Tree Hill, which is one of the shows you mentioned. I love the drama and the crazy high school stuff that happens in the show. I agree with you that it does focus a lot on sex, drugs, and alcohol but not entirely in a bad way.
Personally, I am very entertained by some of the exaggerated scenes that are filmed for the show, but I have learned a lot too. I find myself teaching my friends lessons I have learned from it because in some ways shows like that can be teachers to the viewers. I believe the main reason we all are so drawn into these shows are because they focus on relationships and love. The Dawson’s Creek video you posted I have watched about four times now because I find it very romantic and adorable, which is exactly what the producers wanted. As long as people know there is a difference between TV and real life, we can watch as much as it as we like. If only everyone knew real life and TV are not the same thing.
Sex…It’s everywhere! « Sam Szabo's Blog Said:
on October 1, 2009 at 1:59 am
[…] This is a comment on Erin’s blog, Teenage Drama’s, Are They Giving Teens Bad […]
likwidfyr26 Said:
on October 10, 2009 at 3:45 am
As a huge fan of teen dramas like One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl I do agree with some of what you are saying about teen dramas. The situations on these shows are heavily exaggerated and even though the shows are almost always about the same things (sex, violence, drugs, wild parties)the crazy plot twists and drama is what clearly makes these shows popular. I’m not sure if it has a negative effect on teens today but it does raise alot of questions about the nature of teen behavior.
Are these shows influencing teens negatively or are they just a guilty pleasure for most? Like what Meg said most people are smart enough to know the diffence between what’s real and what’s on tv but ‘most’ doesn’t mean everyone unfortunately.