Representation of teenagers - Mail Online/ Daily Mail

Research how teenagers are represented by the Mail Online.

• Google 'mail online teenagers' - see image above.
• Choose at least 5 different stories that cover a range of teenage issues and experiences.
• Save the images that have been used. Write about the types of images used and what they tell the audience about teenagers. Comment on how teenagers are represented in the images? 
• Read through the articles and list the positive and negative words and phrases used in each one. What do they tell us about the attitudes towards teenagers? Are these attitudes fair? What stereotypes are used? Who are the audience? How can you tell? Explain your thinking in as much detail as possible.

Teens in TV drama - Pretty Little Liars

Premise:

Set in the small suburban town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania (not far from Philadelphia), the series follows the lives of five girls: Spencer Hastings, Alison DiLaurentis, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin and Emily Fields, whose clique falls apart after the leader of the group, Alison, goes missing. One year later, the remaining estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious villain named "A" or "A.D.", who threatens and tortures them for the mistakes they have made before and after Alison was alive. At first, they think it is Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls realise that someone else is planning on ruining their lives.

Watch episode one and make notes on the following:

1. How realistic are the teenage representations in the episode?
2. What works and what seems a little far fetched?
3. What is interesting about the mise en scene?
4. What stereotypes are used?
5. Why are those stereotypes used?
6. In what ways do the representations challenge stereotypes (offer countertypes)?

News - How are teenagers represented in newspaper articles?

Click on the image above to read this article about how language used in newspaper articles creates a negative impression of teenagers and promotes the negative stereotypes about that demographic group.

Click the image of different British teenagers from around the country to read their views about the stereotypes they battle against.

But while news tends to focus on either end of the scale from the academic bright stars or the criminalised 'youths' there are some columnists who have written about this unfair portrayal. Click on the logo below to read this opinion piece about the accepted stereotypes and how they are unfounded.

Representation - Teenage stereotypes

Stereotype (brief definition):

'a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing'.

Are teenagers represented in a fair way in the media?

Find a variety of images representing the  typical teenager. Is it easy to find positive images or are most of them negative? What are the reasons for this?

Research Task:

1. Collect a range of images (at least 10) of teenagers, both positive and negative. Make a mood board or poster using these images. (use Photoshop). Print out and stick in your book.
2. Find three news articles which involve teenage stars. Copy and paste the headline and relevant text from these. Print out and stick in your book.

Using these images and articles as your evidence, answer the following questions:

• What you think the key stereotypes are that teenagers have to cope with? 
• Do you think these are fair or not? 
• In your opinion are teenagers represented accurately in the media? Give reasons for all your answers.

Extension Task:

Can you think of anywhere in the media where teenagers are presented in a really positive light. 

Add this to your work to try and balance your argument about teenage stereotyping.