Essay

The representation of young people as unruly and bad is not a new concept, after all the ridicule of the younger population is essentially a form of power which can be used to control the minds of young people but also their parents. By controlling the populaces view of one of the biggest parts of the population you gain a massive amount of power, by making everyone see young people in a bad way you prevent them from ever doing anything positive (at least in the eyes of the general public). For example in the 1950s the film 'rebel without a cause' detailed events involving Jimmy, a boy who essentially has no aim in his life. Two of the most important scenes involve showing the young people within the story as being out of control with no respect for authority, the first shows Jimmy as he is thrust into a knife fight with Buzz (Cory Allen). This entire scene emphasised an aspect of youth which was simply not true (at least not as prevalent as it appeared in the film) and it heavily damaged the reputation of young people at the time. Although it was damaging, the image of Jimmy almost gave teenagers something to base themselves on. Up until this point young people had essentially been smaller versions of their parent, even down to the way they dressed, with Jimmy they could dress differently, speak differently and act differently ultimately. But with this idea came the oppression of the media, everything associated with how the teenagers acted in the film was amplified and presented to the masses as if it was everywhere

List of helpful links

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/03/youth-representations-in-media- Guardian in reference to youth representation.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hoodies-louts-scum-how-media-demonises-teenagers-1643964.html- Statistics about young people in newspapers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5187166.stm- Demonisation of youth in the media

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=13015- The media and young people - hyping up the new folk devils

http://sqmagazine.co.uk/2013/04/yma-leads-charge-for-youth-representation-in-editors-co-de/