Term Paper on "Adolescent Influences and Adjustments"

Term Paper 20 pages (6386 words) Sources: 25 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Adolescent Influences and Adjustments

What are the influences in the lives of adolescents that have a direct impact on how they behave, how they see the world and how they interact within their home, school, and community environments? Which influences - of the many they encounter - have the most dramatic effect on adolescents? Why?

Among the many influences that are perhaps not discussed as thoroughly as need be are violent media - in particular, violent video games. It is not breaking any new ground to point out that many television shows and movies that adolescents are free to watch have multiple murders, misogynistic aggression, beatings, stabbings, shootings and other forms of violent behavior. Studies show that by the time a boy is in his teens, he has already witnessed tens of thousands of deaths on television and in movies - many of the deaths resulting from gratuitous violence.

VIOLENT VIDEOGAMES: But while violent images and actions from video games - that many boys play, some obsessively, addictively - have been discussed as having a potentially negative influence on adolescents, until recently, in depth, empirical research has not been published. Dr. Vincent P. Matthews, professor of radiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis released the results of his ground-breaking study on how violent video games influence youthful users at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in November, 2006.

Matthews' "brain-imaging study" - reportedly the first of its kind - revealed that "teenagers who played a violent videogame exhibited increased activity in a part of the brain that governs emotional arousal" (Springen, 2006). An article in Newsweek (published online by (www.msnbc.com) reports that Matthews "randomly assigned 44 physically and psychologically normal 13-17-year-old boys and girls (with boys outnumbering girls two-to-one)" to two separate groups. One group had a violent video game called "Medal of Honor: Frontline," to interact with for half an hour; the second group played a nonviolent videogame involving a car chase - "Need for Speed" - again, for a half an hour. While the two groups of teens were interacting with these videogames, researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to look closely at the brains of the kids.

When asked if violent video games make teens "more likely to commit violent acts" Dr. Matthews said that would be "speculation"; but he said "adolescents and young adults" who watch violent videogames "show increased aggressive behavior." Matthews went on in the interview to say in just 30 minutes, teens watching violent videogames have an "emotional arousal," and that parents should be aware that there are "...at least short-term effects" on the brain, and perhaps these episodes could "result in longer-term changes." That is a concern for some kids whose parents allow them to play for "hours and hours."

Matthews' empirical findings from the kids playing the violent videogame "showed more activation in the amygdalae" part of the brain, which is involved in emotional arousal, and "less in the prefrontal portions of the brain associated with control, focus, and concentration" (American School Board Journal, 2007).

There has been so much concern expressed recently about how violent media (especially violent videogames) influences adolescent behavior that nine states have passed laws "that make it a crime to give violent games to minors" (Decker 2007). Another state, Utah, may soon be the 10th state to pass a law protecting minors from very violent videogames. The Utah legislation (HB 50 "Material Harmful to Minors Amendment") has been put forward by Representative Scott Wyatt; it would make it unlawful to "sell, rent or give video games portraying 'inappropriate violence' to anyone under 18" (Warchol, 2007).

The word "inappropriate" is defined by the legislator as any violent game that appeals to the "...morbid interest of minors; is patently offensive; and has no literary, artistic, political or scientific value." The article by Warchol notes that many bills like this have failed to pass because they reportedly restrict "free speech."

Matthew Anderson, representing the Entertainment Software Association, told the Utah Legislature that while Wyatt's bill is well-meaning, his statistics show that "Eighty-three percent of the time parents are involved with the purchase of video games, and 89% of parents..." claim they do monitor what videogames their children play (Johnson, 2007). Meanwhile, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) assigns six letters for parents to use: "E" (everyone); "EC" (early childhood); "E 10" (everyone over 10 years); "T" (teens 13 and older); "M" (mature audiences 17 and older); and "AO" (equivalent of "X" rated movies). But in reality, do parents "really use these ratings when they buy games for their kids?" (Kalning, 2006). Some do, and some don't. Connie Brandt of Redwood City, California, told journalist Kalning that "...it's pointless" to try and keep M-rated videogames from her 15-year-old son Raymond. "...Even if I stopped him from buying certain games, he's still find a way to play them," she said.

PEER GROUP INFLUENCES (aggressive behaviors): A research article published in the journal Child Development (Espelage, et al., 2003) examines the "broader social context" of peer group pressure and aggressive behaviors (such as bullying) - taking research on these issues beyond just concepts such as "popularity" and "friendship." The study reflected in this article "systematically examined" the influences on middle school students that result from membership in aggressive peer groups. The researchers specifically looked into "social networks" to try and determine how "peer-group membership relates to aggression."

To conduct their research, the scholars surveyed 422 Middle School students "in a Midwestern town" (93% Caucasian, 1% African-American, 2% biracial, 4% other ethnicities) through two sessions, each about 45 minutes to groups ranging in size from 7 to 15 students. They were assured of confidentiality, and told there would be a drawing in each classroom session for a $10 gift certificate (to be used at a music and book store). The survey consisted of three sections: demographic questions; bullying and fighting scales; and peer-nomination tasks. In the bullying part of the survey, students were asked to list up to three students who "often tease other students."

The upshot of the research shows that while there has been ample documentation of homophily ("within-group similarity") within adolescent peer groups "with respect to delinquency and aggression," this particular study is the first such research to "systematically evaluate this hypothesis as it pertains to subtypes of aggression (bullying and fighting behavior)" among adolescent peer groups.

What does that mean for teachers and parents? The research verifies that: a) students affiliate with individuals "who bully and fight at the same frequency" not just with those who bully on certain occasions; b) peer influence "differs across subtypes of aggression"; c) males self-reported more bullying and fighting than did females; d) "peers (not the victim or bully) were involved in an astounding 85% of bully episodes... [and peers were active participants] in the episode" 30% of the time, observed the interaction 23% of the time, and intervened 12% of the time in these incidents of bullying.

PEER GROUP INFLUENCES (gifted students): In the Journal of Secondary Gifted Education (Lee, 2002) a study was described regarding the influence adolescent peer relations may have, positive or negatively, on the "development of academic and creative talents." In this research, a talented 12-year-old named Chris - and five of his peers - were studied. Four areas of academic and creative development were part of the study: competition, support, motivation and role modeling. The young man Chris plays classical guitar, is a talented artist and hockey player, and scored in the 99th percentile on the math portion of a nationally standardized achievement test. For this research, Chris choose five of his peers (four boys and a girl) as "his closest friends." The girl was considered by Chris to be an intellectual peer; there of the boys were athletic peers; the fourth boy was a musical and artistic peer to Chris.

The methods used were "semi-structured interviews, observations, and review of documents." The results, according to Lee, show that in addition to having valuable friendships with his peers, gifted student Chris, through the peer interactions, developed "future aspirations" along with present academic and creative talent.

The first phase of learning in a gifted student's talent development is of course his parents; and this research shows the enormous influence in his second phase of learning - from his peers. It was Chris's peers who introduced him to roller hockey and classical guitar, not his parents or his family or teachers. Overall, writer Lee's research showed that "adolescents develop their occupational identities through their interactions with significant peers after comparing themselves to the peer group." For a talented adolescent, peers have a significant influence on motivation, talent development, and achievement.

PEER GROUP INFLUENCES (smoking): Kimberly Kobus, a PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has written a research piece ("Peers and adolescent smoking") that delves into the processes of influence regarding adolescent smoking. Her data in the Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and other Drugs (Kobus… READ MORE

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