Adolescence And Media Analysis

The subject of lengthening adolescence has been an increasingly major topic in the past fifteen years. Laurence Steinburg highlights the changes in American adolescents and their academics, violence, and psychological issues. In Age of Opportunity (2014, pp11-14) he states, that there has been no improvement since the 1970s in America’s educational system especially pertaining to student’s standardized test scores. Comparing the rankings of students to other countries’ students is shocking. American elementary students are the only ones who meet the bar compared to other countries. Middle school students are mediocre compared to international students. The performance of high school students, however, is America’s downfall. The high schoolers …show more content…
A hormone called kisspeptin is released during puberty, which promotes the onset of physical maturation and mental maturation. Neuroscientists have proven that the development of the brain that takes place during puberty does not end until twenty-five. Because of this discovery, it is proven that adolescent brains are highly impressionable between the ages of ten through twenty-five. Their brains and bodies are influenced by numerous objects, one of them being media. The media is everywhere from movies, TV, radio, and the internet. The message the media sends to adolescents accentuates impulsive behavior and maximizes short term reward at the expense of long term gain. Since the media sends this message everywhere and there is never really a way around it, it creates a sense of entitlement among adolescents. Other attributes that affect adolescents are: furthering education, the job market, economy, poverty, sexual attitude and practices, health care, parents and leaders not teaching adolescents to be independent. There has been a plethora of changes in society since the 1950s in science, education, and especially adolescents. The current generation is a far cry from the 1950s. It is the most entitled out of any generations before. It is a “demand and you shall receive” generation. All of these attributes have a role in the lengthening of adolescence. “Adolescence is not a deficiency, a disease, or a disability, but it is a stage of life when people are less mature than they will be when they are adults.” (Steinburg, 2014, p. 5) However society, parents, teachers, and young adults have chosen to let it lengthen, and become the misconception that it is today. The lengthening of adolescence is not a theory any more, it is a proven fact. Therefore, the age range of adolescence has been lengthened seven years since the 1950s. The