Within this generation of teenagers and adolescents, the media has applied more negative pressures than it has positive pressures. The issue that has quickly arisen started from commercials and magazines. Their choice of models is usually tall and skinny. Over the past few years, studies have shown a large increase in depression that has been linked to the media. Due to the amount of television watched, young girls have begun to believe that these models and actresses should be representative of real life girls. Others believe that the media has a positive influence on this generation for cultural and political awareness reasons as well as more social interaction.

There have been many studies that have shown that teenagers have agreed that the media has a heavy negative impact on them in this generation. In Botta's article, "The Relationship Between Magazine Reading and Adolescents' Body Image and Eating Disturbances", there was a study done with 400 high school and college students that help prove the negative influence that the media has on their generation. There have been special studies that have shown a progressive negative effect on teenagers that interact in the media. Social interaction is increased in the media, but it usually has a negative effect of the person using it.

The media applies limits to its audience when it comes to height, hair color, weight, hair length, etc.  In the ABC news article, Effron shares that the average height for a model is between 5'9-6' and the average weight is between 110-130, 110 being for the 5'9 models and 130 being for the 6' models. According to Disabled World's average height and weight char, the average height for a teenage girl is about 125-130 and the average height is 5'4. The teenagers who watch these shows or read these articles begin to believe that if they do not look exactly like the model or actress then they need to dye their hair, or lose 20 pounds. This ties into eating disorders and depression. If girls feel that they need to lose weight to match a model, then they will start skipping meals, or even worse, start making themselves get sick after every meal. There are studies shown in Primack's article that show a correlation between the media and an increase in depression over the past few years.

The authors of these articles are very confident that the media has so many pressures on the teenage generation that it holds way more negative effects than positive ones. They are explaining specific studies that have been done in order to help back up their claim. They are projecting their knowledge upon audiences that are both negatively affected by the media or directed towards people who just want to help. They strongly believe that the media's pressures are part of the reason of the increase of depression and eating disorders. Since the media is proven to diminish the self-esteem of young girls, these authors want their audience to understand the issue that is at hand. There are many things at stake, according to these authors. They understand that suicide prevention is increasing due to their articles. Without this awareness, society will know that teen suicides are increasing, but they would not know where to begin to decrease it.

Other authors have written articles that reflect the media and the people in it positively. Companies, such as Dove, are beginning to change the "face" of their company in order to show young girls that they do not have to be 80 pounds with long, blonde hair. These companies are turning a new leaf in this generation. They are giving mothers of depressed children hope that the media will begin to stop putting unnecessary pressures on these young girls. These companies are promoting natural beauty rather than beauty by make up and hair spray. This is a positive campaign that is in the media.

Another author discussed an actress named Jennifer Lawrence. She has become a very positive aspect of the media. She is a famous character with many lead roles that have made her an idol to many girls. Some sources of media have negatively talked about Jennifer's weight, as if she were obese. Even though these sources are still negative, some sources are promoting her "not so stick thin" body as a natural beauty campaign. Jennifer has a positive attitude about her weight and lifestyle. This gives off a positive effect on her viewers because they see that you do not always have to be a certain weight. She is an idol for many girls and that give them and their parents hope for the future.

Another author shows the positive side of media by discussing cultural and political awareness. This author believes that media has a positive influence on this young generation. This author believes that without the media, it would hurt more rather than help its viewers. She believes this because our society has become more culturally diverse than it ever would have with out the media coming about. The media gives us first hand a political side as well that is very important. Many politicians use the media to discuss their political views and it is aired on television or written about in the paper or a magazine. Without the media, politicians would have a harder time with conveying their message and their audience would have no idea what their campaign is about. The media plays a huge positive role in both culture and politics in this society according to some of these authors.

The authors that have written positively about the media are looking at it in a different light. These authors believe that the media has two different audiences. They understand that both of these audiences would be eliminated if the media was not a part of society. The audience that these authors are writing to is mostly directed towards the older generations. Older generations are the ones who really rely on the media for support around voting season. They watch politicians and read about their proposals in the media and they would not receive any of that without the media. Other authors look at the media as a positively changing source. They look at the natural beauty campaigns and believe that there is a sense of hope for future generations. These audiences understand that depression and suicides are increasing as of now, but they believe that if more companies join these campaigns then the media will change completely for the better.

There are many things that are at stake for these authors. They might attract audiences that will accuse them of being inconsiderate of the younger generations who are suffering from depression due to the media. These authors would say that they are not ignoring the statistics that prove the increase of depression, but they are just showing that the media can be used in a positive manner just as well. These natural beauty campaigns might not catch on and that would seriously hurt the media as a whole because other than politics and cultural diversity, the media does not have too many other positive efforts. The other main things at stake for this point of view all ties up with the argument that the media does more harm than good, but these authors are trying to prove this statement to be false.

The author who wrote about cultural and political diversity also wrote about negative effects that the media has, such as eating disorders and depression. This author described both sides of the issue in depth. She kept a bias view about each and described that just as each side would have in their articles. Her two negative points were image and beauty standards, and praising the bad behavior that is shown in the media. The two positive points that she portrayed were cultural and political awareness, and increase of social skills. The talks evenly about both sides and does not lean towards one or the other.

This research has made my opinion about this issue even stronger. Last semester in my psychology of women class, we discussed this topic briefly and it was extremely intriguing to me. I always wondered about the studies behind this evidence and now I have been able to finally get deeper inside this issue. I believe very strongly that the media affects society more negatively than positively even after all the research I have conducted. There have been way more studies done that proved a correlation between depression, suicide, and eating disorders and the media. The other opinions on this issue have some valid reasons as to why the media is positive, but I do not believe they are significant enough to override the negative effects.

If I were to answer my own research question, I would say that the media as affected teens and adolescents in a very negative way. I would also say that, after looking at the tests and studies that have been done in order to prove this, there is a strong correlation between the increase of depression, eating disorders, and suicides and the negative effects of the media. There are a few things that I still need to research about. One of the things is the Jennifer Lawrence topic. I need to find a few articles that show how her weight gives the media a positive look. Another piece that I need to research more on are the positive aspects of the media because I have only found one article that discusses it.
