A June 12th 2008 article I pulled from the UK's school blog, talks about a survey they conducted and it's results may surprise you. Well, perhaps not...
What influences teenagers most?
The power of celebrities and the power of the internet is now so strong when it comes to teenage girls that (according to a survey by GirlGuiding UK) advertisers and politicians have little chance to influence their opinions and behaviour. Teachers have less power than celebrities or the media – but are way ahead of advertisers and politicians in their influence.
And although celebrities do have this influence – much of the influence they have is openly seen as negative by teenage girls.
The survey found that away from friends and family, celebrities have the biggest hold with 42% naming them as the greatest influence.
As you might guess, the top celeb is Victoria Beckham, who was nominated by 35% followed by Leona Lewis who polled 32%.
Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse came next with 29% and 23% respectively.
38% said that the media is the prime influence of their attitudes to alcohol and drugs. Teachers on the other hand were a prime influence at 30% – way above advertisers who influence 7% and politicians at 4%. 19% say the media influences their opinions about sex and relationships while teachers influence 15% and advertisers 2%.
59% say Channel 4 TV programmes like ‘Skins’ and ‘Hollyoaks’ help them understand issues affecting people their age.
44% of the girls said they could name more WAGS [footballers' wives and girlfriends] than female politicians.
However celebrities actually have a negative influence on the way girls view the world, with 59% believing they make girls their age less well-informed.
75% of the girls taking the survey said they used the internet daily, but they placed less trust in it than in newspapers or TV. The most trusted medium is television news, which was named by 90% of the girls. Although around half said they didn’t bother to stay informed about world events.
Addicted to Social Networking?
~Queens District Attorney Richard Brown~ “Every parent should take heed when their child turns on their computer and goes on an interactive social networking site,” Brown said. “The defendant used just such a website to recruit a young, emotionally vulnerable child by promising to take care of her. Instead, he physically abused her and threw her into a life of degradation in which she was required to perform sexual acts with hundreds of men for money.”
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