Interesting Powerpoint on how institutions see 'Youth' in terms of qualities and values in order to sell things to you. Flip to slide 19 to see what it says about 13-17 year olds, apparently it's all about creating an 'identity'.
Click here to find an interesting written piece on Representation in TV.
In it the author divides up representation of youth into two categories: 'youth-as-fun' and 'youth-as-trouble' which we could translate as positive and negative representations of youth.Here's where you see 'youth-as-trouble": "Images of youth-as-trouble are not only limited to news media, but can be seen in soap operas. British soap operas serve as a forum for raising important issues about social problems featuring teenagers with common problems. As keepers of normalcy and common sense, these programs serve ideological interests by bringing forms of power, i.e. the adult, to support the interests of the teenager's bodies to be against teenage sex or acting out of control. By bringing power on the problem situations, adults on the programs are able to control the dominant ideas of the ruling class by controlling teenager's actions and thoughts into acting the right way. Deviant youth are represented as answerable to institutionally sanctioned ideas."This is an interesting idea - that representations of youth-as-trouble often appear in news (as you can see in the posts on Demonisation) or in TV dramas, specifically soaps, as 'problems' that to be solved by the adults. It is through adult intervention that errant youths or problem teenagers can be shown the error of their ways and then continue on the correct path to adulthood.Youth-as-fun, however, are usually seen in advertising or music videos (which are also trying to sell us something). For instance here's the recent adidas advert:
We can all imagine a smiling, happy, white teethed youngster trying to sell us a soft drink or a pair of trainers, but as today's consumers are sophisticated readers of various texts, the stereotypical clean cut kid won't do. This is why advertisers use a third type: youth-as-trouble-as-fun. For example look at this hateful Samsung Jet advert.
Now drop Harry Brown into the universe of that advert and he'd be at them with kosh and a pair of pliers.
Again it can be argued that these representations are designed to influence youth into adhering to the establish adult culture, which in western countries is capitalism. In capitalism your role is to consume, and to work to consume, so while the image of having a warehouse party with Snoop, David and Dappy while wearing an pair of adidas original Rod Lavers may seen wild and free, you would have to have worked all week to pay for your shoes and the bus fare home.
