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Health & Fitness

What Do Palo Alto Teens REALLY watch?

Teens from the Palo Alto Area are polled on what TV shows they watch, which ones they don't, and which ones shouldn't exist.

  I recently overheard some older people talking about the shows teenagers watch. I chuckled a bit at their generalizations (MTV and BET were each name-dropped about 50 times), but the longer I listened, the more I realized that I myself could just as easily be terribly out of touch with the teen-media zeitgeist. Is MTV still corrupting our youth? Is our media cultivating a generation of Snooki-loving, gender-bending, Bravo-Gleeks? I had to know.

So as I often do, I sent the Media Center’s Youth Advisory Council (Made up of high school students from Gunn, Paly, Woodside, M/A, and Castilleja) an awkward email asking for their opinion, and from their responses learned a few things (#1 being that teens don’t think I’m funny).

 Paly junior Emily Pomeroy stepped right up to clear one major misconception. “I think it’s annoying that all adults think teens watch Jersey Shore. I don’t know anyone that watches that show, (but) I’m pretty sure my Dad secretly watches it. I’m a huge Parks and Recreation, True Blood , American Horror Story, United States of Tara, Dr. Who and Awkward fan.” Emily did make a confession though. “I also watch a lot of those stereotypical teen shows such as Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries. I’m not a big fan of game shows such as American Idol or Survivor.” She also echoed a few others in saying “I spend way more time watching Youtube videos than I do watching T.V! “

  A few of the girls that responded to me expressed a disappointment in the treatment of women on TV. “I refuse to watch shows that degrade women and/or glorify alcohol, drug abuse, or promiscuity.” said Emily Wong, a senior at Castilleja. Gracie Fang from Paly agreed with that sentiment, adding “Any type of show or movie that degrades or objectifies women should not be aired.” Along those lines, Suzie Quackenbush from Castilleja called out a few big-name reality shows. “I refuse to watch shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras and Bridalplasty. Toddlers and Tiaras is a reality show that follows moms and their toddlers as they compete in beauty pageants. In Bridalplasty, soon-to-be brides compete in a series of challenges to win different plastic surgery procedures, the winner receiving free plastic surgery for the rest of her life. I think shows like these are utterly disgusting, and only bring about more superficiality in society.”

 On the male end of the spectrum, Paul Stefanski, a junior from Paly (and budding novelist), emphasized the importance of a quality story line in shows he watches, saying his favorites are probably Psych, House, Modern Family, Lost, and Burn Notice. I refuse to watch anything targeted toward teenage girls.” Mark Gorelik, a YAC member from Gunn seemed to agree, “(I like) shows with a unique aspect or twist like Bones, Modern Family, Terra Nova.” He also said that he doesn’t like reality TV.

  I think what surprised me about this informal research is that the students seem to both watch and avoid the same shows as most of the 20-somethings I know. Parks and Rec, Modern Family, and House are just as loved by parents as they are by teens, and does anyone actually think Toddlers and Tiaras is a good idea? We need to give young people credit for their skepticism of the wide array of media that is aimed their way, and also acknowledge that when they do watch demeaning, low-brow "garbage" its probably because someone over 40 is financing it and marketing it to them.

   My favorite line of the survey came from Paul Stefanski. “What shouldn't exist? Fox News, Teen Wolf, a plethora of reality shows, and anything that's just trying to get you to buy something” (he said it, not me).

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