so does anyone think that society actually ENCOURAGES destructive behavior?
(such as drugs, sex, image issues, etc.?)
we see such examples all over the place and some feel they are expected to follow them.
what do you think?
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23 comments:
i do think it makes us more destructive because some people want to go against society and so all of the rules society lays out in front of them just makes them want to act out more.
I think suburbia has some effect on kids wanting to disobey societal norms. They are so forced into conformity in such a community that they feel it necessary to rebel and establish themselves as individuals.
On a different note, I do think that destructive behavior is encouraged, especially by mass media and celebrities. Kids look up to a lot of celebrities and when they see them on the news or in the tabloids or magazines advertising some drug or some product, we are influenced to buying it. Even though in news stories society tries to condemn celebrities for bad behavior, their behavior is still publicized and I think the fact that they get attention even by using drugs, alcohol, and other such destructive behaviors makes kids think that it's okay. Or at least acceptable to getting people to see you.
The biggie for me is that pregnancies out of wedlock are simply rejoiced over in Hollywood. Babies are cause for such rejoice and they really can't help the situation into which they are born, but still. Everyone fawns over the whole situation and kids think that it's okay. It's totally against my belief systems and if that's not your idea, that's okay, but I think that society still values that fact. Except when it comes to celebrities. Any baby they have comes out of the womb pre-gilded. It's rather ridiculous.
Anyway, I really think that the mass media does promote destructive behavior, if not by directly praising them, but by giving them attention not matter what terrible stunts they pull. And kids see this and follow suit. Even young adults sometimes.
yea... even in "teen movies" there are always these big house parties and kids with a cigarette and beer in one hand... condom ready in the other. and while a part of it is rebeling, i also think a big contributer is that we think it's okay and that we can get away with it. have you seen superbad? or pinnaple express? they're great movies and all... but all of a sudden it's okay to do all of the things pictured, and get away with it! and i think it kind of gets ideas into kid's heads. that getting high is cool because they saw it in (insert movie name here). Anna - i completely agree with you.
i think it actually depends on who you are calling society. I dont think there is actually a universal answer to that. Do parents count as society? Do teachers? Doctors? Nurses? Do the police count as society? Do very religious people count as society? My opinion is that they are all included in the society. i think that the society you are talking about is the people in the entertainment field, which includes movies, magazines, internet, tv etc. If that is the case, some people in these fields, including actors, are pretty bad role models. Soooo... we like to follow our role models. If our role models are the people in society that encourage destructive behavior, then yes, we will think they're cool and would love to follow them. i think we all still have the basic right to think for ourselves. Some people were born to be rebels, and some aren't. So, yes I think some of society encourages destructive behavior, like eating disorders, but it is still up to the people we are today to choose what is right for our body and what our moral standards are.
i think thinking for ourselves is the best thing too... and while choosing what is right for us does sound ideal, we are nothing more than human, and so of course the majority of us will be influenced by others... this can be anybody... or even just expectations of the general society. i know in my family - i am often expected to look a certain way... physically and with what i wear. so we can be influenced by positive and negative ideas... but it's really the negative ones that i find are prominant and which truly lead to destructive behavior.
i think thinking for ourselves is the best thing too... and while choosing what is right for us does sound ideal, we are nothing more than human, and so of course the majority of us will be influenced by others... this can be anybody... or even just expectations of the general society. i know in my family - i am often expected to look a certain way... physically and with what i wear. so we can be influenced by positive and negative ideas... but it's really the negative ones that i find are prominant and which truly lead to destructive behavior.
Society, in my opinion, is everything you named. Parents, guardians, teachers, peer, people you don't even know who live in Abilene or work on a ranch in Montana. Society, according to dictionary.com is:
1. an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.
2. a body of individuals living as members of a community; community.
3. the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community: the evolution of human society.
4. a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members: American society.
So, the way you look at society does affect your answer, but I think this blog questions more American society more than EB society, although that does somewhat encourage poor behavior as well, in my opinion. Peers can be considered a bad influence when kids want to be "cool" which entails, like Alex said, getting high, or drunk or whatever. That's more of an American society effect on EB society, so really it's all interconnected.
i agree with alex. everything influences from the very start of our lives especially by our parents. and we cant help that. we should think for ourselves but some poeple were raised to just follow and not think. or to think for themselves and have their own beliefs but not be able to follow through with what they want, or to speak for themselves or anything. and people like that got those thoughts from influences from other people and probably even tv, movies and video games. And sometimes thses things lead to destructive behavior after years of not being able to take it anymore. i know alot of people who are like that. after they got so fed up they became more agressive and rebelious.
Steph - i agree 100% with what you wrote! Now i question - how CAN WE BREAK the 'cycle' of constant influences?
I think that the media certianly influences us towards destructive behavior. It's not always direct, but honestly- you can't avoid television. Alot of channels report on sex and drugs, and the more stories- the bigger the audience in my opinion. Of course they try to report these happenings in negative terms to make us avoid coming in contact with such behavior, but it makes people curious. If people want to rebel or get attention, the media will provide them with answers.
The problem with this is that people can't judge for themselves what is right and just go with the flow. It's because these people think that it is all ok an they won't get hooked. No one has self control anymore and need something to blame it on so they don't look as bad for doing something wrong
idk... i really think people have a great deal of self - control.
it has everything to do with choice.
I think our society has a great influence on all of our behaviors. In this day and age most people, myself including, are highly influenced by their peers and the media. Many television shows especially do portray very destructive behavior but it all depends on wether people understand that it is just a show or take it literally. Its very tough now because most tv is reality or very close to. The society around us does encourage destructive behavior but that does not give kids an excuse to act the way they do, everyone should know their morals and what is right and what is wrong.
We can all have self-control when we WANT to. But, not to make any generalizations, but I know a few kids who actually do this. Anyways, kids get caught smoking DURING school hours because, in my opinion, they can't even control their cravings for 6 hours. That is not immense self-control to me. But, hey! That's just my theory on it! Maybe they do it to be bad @$$ or whatever and defy school rules! It's just a speculations, but I still stand by the fact that people only exhibit self-control when they want to. It all comes back to our need and expectation of instand gratification. If we don't want to wait, we won't. Just because we're used to our world being that way.
I definitely agree on the fact that some people can't make up their minds for themselves.
Trust me - there is a fine line between addiction and self control.
I think that somewhat society has something to do with destructive behaviors but mostly because of the media. Many movies show that using drugs, alcohol and other destructive behaviors are rated r, but does the people who hand out the tickets actually card to see how old you are? If you go in to a rated r movie, guaranteed you will find at least one person younger than age 17. Rated r movies are only for 17+. Same goes for video games, mature games are for 17+, my brother is 15 and he plays grand theft auto. Kids think that this behavior is encouraged by games, movies and also celebrities. They think that drinking, partying, using drugs and having sex is acceptable by the society at a young age because of the "teen movies", video games and celebrities. I think that this does not give the right for kids to act this way, they should know what is the difference between right from wrong by now.
I think so.
There’s video game for a start. Especially the gangster/war ones, to me they’re just training a new generation to be effective killers and/or womanizers.
I suppose you can count texting as being a destructive behavior that is encouraged. It just encourages separation and bad grammar; a poor substitute for real conversation and bonding. But everyone is doing it, and expects everyone else to as well. It’s ‘kewlio!’
Ever since the credit card came out, society has been encouraged to buy now, save later. This in itself has proven to be destructive to the lives of individuals and to larger companies. It is a perfect way to get caught up in debt.
I believe certain kinds of rap music can promote violence, misogyny, and materialism (get rich or die tryin’!), so I don’t blame anyone who wants a ban on rap.
I define society as whatever we are exposed to the MOST. For example, society in EB is different than society in other parts of America. There are many similarities, but as EB is exposed to different sources of information, our society is not the same. Therefore, our peers, the most consistent factor of our lives, influence us the most. But they are generally influenced by media, so that could be considered the best source of what we think society believes. As other bloggers mentioned, the media is not always positive.
To answer the original question, I think that society does encourage destructive behavior because movies/TV shows portray negativity in a good light. This filters to our peers, which directly impacts us.
I do think society encourages destructive behavior. From movies, music, celebrities and other stuff, kids see that drugs and sex can be taken lightly and as a joke. Like Paris Hilton got famous because she made a sex tape and now girls idolize her... does that make any sense? Because society is sending out the message that doing drugs and having sex is common, kids think it's okay.
The media doesn't encourage destructive behavior, they simply use peoples breakdowns as a means of selling their stories, or getting you to watch their programs, or log onto their website. In many ways the emdia discourages distructive behavior by dragging out and showing the world a persons problems. Still, the media needs to back off and give people their space, and people need to stop buying magazines that violate the privacy of "famous" people.
Sometimes they do encourage it, but also I see they accidently do promote it. It may be just me being blind and oblivious but I do think advertisements are taken differently by every single person
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