On “Pretty Little Liars”, four high school girls are being harassed by anonymous text messages. On “Glee”, a football player attempts suicide after being bullied for being gay. Sense a theme? Throughout all facets of the media, books, television, movies, newspapers kids and adolescents are being exposed to bullying in the media. No matter the genre or the target audience, there is someone causing conflict. Whether it’s Angelica on “Rugrats” or Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter, at least one major character is a bully. As bullying evolves with technology, it translates to television and movies. Is it art imitating life? Or the other way around? There’s no doubt that the media influences today’s youth. Shows like “Jackass” have to include a safety warning before each episode as teens were attempting the dangerous stunts at home. So what would stop viewers from imitating bullying tactics they see on a television show? No longer are bullies on TV shows just name callers and no longer does one need to be face to face. The Cyber bullying Research Center found that "despite the potential damage of cyber bullying, it is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens. According to Cyber bullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation: Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying."
Bullying is as widespread as ever. Take a look at popular songs from the past year and a half: Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, Pink’s “Perfect”, Taylor
Swift’s “Mean”. All of them have a common theme: to empower the listener and
give them a boost of confidence. If we can use the power of these media outlets to help further the cause then it is a step in the right direction. Especially with projects like It Gets Better, which contains videos sending positive messages to youth who may be currently struggling with these issues.
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