Written by Gianine Pantig

Drugs, crime, violence, sex, and vices. Painted as rebels and tainted with appalling tones and angsty hues. The modern youth as depicted by the media has utterly been distorted and completely mangled, the way they are visualized and flaunted only sinking further into pessimistic semblances that an unbiased outsider might think that they are being antagonized by society. If it is rooted in lousy misconception, a conscious attempt to sabotage or put the group into place, or done merely to entertain, it does not remain unnoticeable, and in fact, is even being conversed upon and divulged. 

Reality can be truly nauseating. Abysmal, so to speak. The mentioned mature themes are concurrent and inescapable within households, communities, and even countries. Yet, it is not a discussion exclusive to the youth. Involvement of people from any age group or from different statuses does occur, but to make it appear a youth-only problem, and having them embody these alarming issues as if it is their only identity not only misconceives them but also harms them.

Multiple articles, studies, reports, and research describes the portrayal of the youth as mainly negative and heavily unbalanced. Their attitudes are emphasized as lazy, dishonorable, disrespectful, immoral, erratic, and impossible to manage. To top it all off, they are also featured as if they are the huge fraction within the data of people who partake in felonious activities.

In the popular western TV series, “Euphoria”, high school teenagers were shown copiously dealing with drugs, inducing alcohol, and performing sexual activities, even going as far as committing violence, abuse, and fraudulent acts. Even though these events do happen, it exaggerates and puts teens in a dire scenario. An example of this is the sexualization of the youth, a topic which the show had been criticized for. Not only has it alarmed audiences but also its own actors and actresses, wherein one actress had to request for the director to change the script since it implies a heartbreaking motif. One was even bullied in real life because of how her character was portrayed. 

Growing up, the children and teenagers were blamed for watching shows that allegedly shape how they are as a person and how they behave, but looking into it now, it is ironic how the media is the one that improperly parades the youth and endangers their being.  

As described in multiple writings, no one wants to look at the reality of youth everywhere that actually exists: the youth who is responsible, hardworking, and mature enough to understand fairness, prejudice, racism, rights, as well as other various subjects that we should be paying attention to, the youth who has a strong sense of morality, able to stand for themselves and others while remaining humble and inclusive, and the youth who shows their care for culture and tradition through helping in its maintenance and revival, while still being open to changes and modern innovations.