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Negative Influences on Teens

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How should today’s youth combat negative moral influences?

“Come on, just take it!” the girl said while passing him the blunt. The boy hesitated before taking it, he didn’t want to smoke, but then again, he was sick of being called a coward.
“Sure why not?” he said.
This scenario was an example of a negative influence. Some other influences are video games that contain sex, profanity, and violence, negative peer pressure that can get youth into trouble, and TV and movies that emphasize sex, profanity, and gore. These influences effect teenagers and lead teens into trouble. Society needs to find alternative outlets for teens to plug into in order to avoid these negative influences.
The main negative moral influence is video games. Games rated “MA” or “T” can sometimes be too violent and may have a lot of nudity. Having young teens exposed to this kind of materials can put them in the mindset that this kind of behavior is acceptable in the real world. A few games like “Grand Theft Auto”, “Mortal Combat”, and “Call of Duty” contain violence and too much gore. What teens can do to avoid their interaction with these games is to play less video games and find other things to do such as, playing outside, go to the mall with their friends, or even join after school clubs and activities. These outlets can help teenagers become well rounded, learn more about life and themselves as an individual, and get in to less trouble.
The second negative influence is peer pressure such as smoking, drinking, or coaxing someone to do something illegal. Teens could avoid these situations by choosing to hang in the right crowd of friends that don’t do these things. They can also avoid this situation by speaking up and saying “No!” to things they think might get them into trouble and just walk away from the situation. Teens can also find positive outlets like joining the Boys and Girls Club or volunteer as a Big Brother or Big Sister and be a positive role model to younger kids. In my own situation I avoided negative peer pressure by joining a volunteer program at the Philadelphia Zoo called the the Junior Zoo Apprentice Program (JZAP). This program involved the care and husbandry of small animals. We also did community projects such as conservation and recycling. This program was an important outlet for me because it involved me in the community and it taught me about the care of animals.
Some TV shows and movies are also negative moral influences. They expose the viewers to sex, profanity, and gore. Movies like “Saw” are too gory; sex related romance movies sometimes contain too much sex . TV shows like “ True Blood” or other HBO shows have nudity and soft porn in it, which is basically saying to teens that “sex sells” and pre-marital sex is ok with just anybody. Teens should avoid shows like these by watching less television and becoming more active in their community. Reading is also a good outlet too. The Harry Potter series and Twilight series were a favorite of mine, also books by Judy Blume are good books to get their imagination and creativity going.
Negative moral influences are what get teens into trouble. Teens are exposed to these influences and most teens fall for them. There are many programs and clubs that are exclusively for teens. They keep them off the streets and out of trouble and may lead them towards a career of their choosing.

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