task one

Compare and contrast the representation of teenagers in the two texts.

In skins the teenagers are represented to be happy whilst not being anti social, this causes a positive representation of teenagers. They are classed into sections with the two alpha males leading the pack, however opposite to the negative stereotype of black youths, the black character focused upon is portrayed to be the best behaved, and so this challenges the stereotyped previously produced. In addition, although shown to be taking drugs and being promiscuous the teenagers are shown to be having fun, but not at the expense of others in society and therefore once again this challenges that teenagers should be given a second chance as the minority of badly behaved youths in turn ensure all youths are given a bad representation within the media and society. On the whole, the characters in skins are represented to lead happy lives with their friends overcoming and difficulties together, not being violent, abusive or anti social.

On the other hand, the protagonist in Bully displays anti social behaviour and is shown to be a teenage tearaway. The game introduces a peaceful school and then introduces the ‘bully’, this creates a storyline with a peaceful equilibrium, and then when the protagonist is associated to it a disequilibrium is produced. The fact that this production emphasises that the main character uses weapons to ‘bully’ and intimidate weaker students such as slingshots and fire extinguishers connotes that the representation of male teenagers is negative. Similarly, the fact that the only female to be introduced in this production is also shown to be negative implies that the youth in American society are all disagreeable and that they should strive for constant fun and wish to not do any school work, as connoted when the protagonist is told of by the teacher and fellow students. This production clearly demonstrates that teenagers attempt to cause havoc where ever and when ever they can.



Consider the view that the current representation of teenagers is simply another ‘moral panic’.

Both texts represent teenagers negatively, however, in skins the teenagers are shown to be more mature and less anti social. In bully, the protagonist is portrayed negatively but in this instance he is out of control and through his actions it is connoted that he is a danger to society as he seems to harm other who he does not agree with.

A moral panic in terms of skins would lead the audience to think that teenagers will be stereotypically challenging and therefore may offer some attitude. In this instance the teens are shown to be a closed personal group who don’t seem to socialise with others despite binge drinking and taking drugs. With taking drugs this does explicitly show that they take part in illegal activity, but their age is on their side as stereotypically teens are shown to be experimental and so this does not pose as a moral panic. On the other hand, the fact that the teenagers are having sex may lead to a panic of under age sex and increase the panic of a higher teenage pregnancy rate within the UK. This connotes that the media industry condones this and feels that it should promote, but as the programme is targeted at 16-25 year olds it does glamorise sex and may lead to an actual moral panic for parents and carers.

Similarly, in the production of bully, the theme of bad behaviour and the glamorisation of violence are both likely to cause a moral panic for parents and carers as it emphasises the full extent of the bad behaviour of their child when left at school or in the care of others. As this behaviour is used to represent all youths in a negative manner it must cause a panic for elders and so in turn it is likely that the constant fun and adrenaline rush youths follow must be cut short. Although, this negative representation is likely to convince parents to keep their children on a tighter leash the fact that they are just youths under 18 must encourage the audience and enable them to identify when they were that age. Being just a child, bad behaviour and causing havoc is fun and therefore why should the youths not enjoys this privileged before starting adulthood?

In conclusion, both productions, whilst displaying irresponsible behaviour enforce the thought that it must be emphasised that the protagonist are just youths and therefore have plenty of time to grow up. This thought is likely to lessen the moral panic of bad behaviour and loosen the restrictions on children.



To what extent has new and digital media given younger audiences the opportunity to shape their own media representations?

New and digital media has enabled a wider consumption of media through web 2.0, television, radio and print e.g. newspapers. In turn, this means that more people have access to media and can therefore be informed of the world news. With the use of web 2.0 this has made accessing news and other easier as it means that interactivity between users can be done more.

With regards to user generated content (UGC), younger audiences have direct access to the internet and as a result can produce their own media. Although this is likely to cause moral panics for parents and others including pressure groups which promote the safety of children e.g. NSPCC. Websites such as www.youtube.com, www.facebook.com and www.bebo.com allow citizens to join at the tender age of 13. This age is questionable as it can be asked are children at this age really responsible and adult like to avoid abuse? All users can post, ‘tweet’, embed and ‘like’ whatever they produce and publish it is for the audience to judge their productions. Therefore, the user has the power to shape their stereotypes and representations, despite being naïve and uneducated about the harms of internet abusers. And so, UGC, although very helpful, is extremely dangerous for young users and can and should be blocked for the younger audience via devices parental control.

Similarly, with technology becoming cheaper and widely spread it is easier to produce your own media and therefore this leads to the remoulding of stereotypes and representations of particular groups. For example, teenagers are now producing their own videos and posting them on www.youtube.com and by doing so they are able to interact with other users. This means that the actions of the characters focused upon in the video, if bad cause moral panic and so lead to more negative stereotypes being produced. As a result, the success of UGC relies on the reaction of the audience, whether it is appreciated or heavily scrutinised. Either way internet or the use of UGC has enabled the citizens to interact and most importantly produce what they want.

On the other hand, digital media has not enabled younger audiences the opportunity to shape their own media representations as age restrictions, privacy settings and political problems have made it harder to post entirely what they wish to. For example, certain videos uploaded by users have been removed due to copyright infringement laws and the fact that certain themes mentioned, e.g. in America cannot be shown in the UK. It is for these many reasons that democracy cannot fully flourish in the world. And so, therefore this lack of support for citizens has made it difficult for citizens to produces their own media and shape representations and stereotypes.

In conclusion, new and digital media has given younger audiences the opportunity to shape their own media representations. This can be done via many websites, the main one being www.youtube.com, which can be accessed worldwide by all audiences, working as a search engine to find almost anything in the world.