Rough draft letter

Dear Young students of America,

I am writing to you today that Teen’s and semi adults that see different styles in how to fit in with everybody, the peer pressure in doing something that you’re not sure of, and social media of how should we act, listen, observe from one to other people. A trend we all follow or once followed. I never allowed anyone to pressure me into something, nor a trend I follow. But Everything I do is from me liking what I see, do, hear, and try.

Born in ancient times, Hip Hop has evolved into a clean civilize trend. In fact journalist Patricia Hersch said “We are living in the gangsta generation” (649) meaning teens today wearing pants below their waste, shirts longer than your waist, hats on backwards and the language we use with profanity.  Nevertheless I semi agree on what Patricia said. I think is that if one person idolizes a gangsta trend and another person copies that trend. Either he/she wants to fit in, was born with the same trend, or is under peer pressure because of that person or persons. It is true how teens are going back to the trend that happened way back in time. The trend only occurs if a teen has friends that follow a Hip Hop trend and speaks in a profanity like language or see other people on the Internet or on a monitor. In fact I follow a lot of trends but it's my personal taste. I don't follow a trend because it's popular or is very extraordinaire.

Rushkoff discloses “five enormous companies are responsible for selling nearly all of youth culture, Rupert Murdoch’s News corp, Disney, Viacom, Universal Vivendi, and AOL/Time Warner.” (650) Companies that not only trend on young teens but adults as well. Rushkoff said “The documentary demonstrates how big corporations literally send spies to infiltrate young people’s social setting to gather intelligence on what they can induce these children to buy next.” (650). However the companies that produce their own branded clothing and/or music isn’t something a trend would take place. It’s more of a style of how they look in the clothing or how they like the sound of the music. In fact sending in spies that gather information of what teens will buy next isn’t the proper way to get an input of what a teen would buy next. A person interested in what to buy next is base off of what the person want. What they need it for. If this may be a gift for someone.

As for MTV, Rushkoff talks about how the MTV show is like a commercial that is promoting to the young teens. It’s like they are promoting something to sell to the young viewers. “In reality, the companies are creating new and lower and more shocking marketing campaigns, disguised as genuine expressions of youthful searching for identity and belonging, for the sole purpose of profiting financially from America’s children.” (Kupelian 650). However I think MTV has nothing to do with promoting to sell. MTV was once a full music with a video to match the song. Now MTV is just full of infomercials like any other TV shows with infomercial. MTV is just marketing the music for viewers to listen and/or purchase later on. MTV's goal is to build up more viewers at all cost.

When trends come into hands, kids today find gaming to be a great deal of entertainment. Researchers from Columbus, Ohio found that people who play violent games for three consecutive days has shown an increase in behavior attitude and become hostile. People that play nonviolent games remain neutral. Brad Bushman a professor of communication and psychology at the Ohio State University said “Although other experimental studies have shown that a single session of playing a violent video game increased short-term aggression, this is the first to show longer-term effects” Bushman’s theory of Video games compares with cigarette smoking. If you smoke one cigarette, you won’t get lung cancer. If you plan on smoking more a week to years to come, there’s a high risk you may get lung cancer. As for video games, if you play violent games within a period of week to years. There’s a significant change in aggression. I semi agree with Brad Bushman. When people play violent games and nonviolent games, it’s just the thrill of playing with other people or the computer game itself; people do show signs of aggression IN THE GAME, sometimes in life. It all depends how their day starts, and who acknowledges them. Violent and nonviolent games are not the cause of aggression overall.

Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services examine the effects of seven violent songs and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists to 500 volunteer college students. Those students had been instructed psychological tasks involving participants classifying words with non aggressive and aggressive meanings. Craig's A. Anders PH.D. of Iowa State University said "Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, coloring them with an aggressive tint. Such aggression-biased interpretations can, in turn, instigate a more aggressive response -verbal or physical -- than would have been emitted in a non biased state, thus provoking an aggressive escalatory spiral of antisocial exchanges." I agree with what Mr. Anders had to say about violent music. Music today has lots of meanings to life or stories. Some music are agile to violence and some are prone to be mellow and soothing. Some violent music has pertain in violence in the real world. Some people whom listen to violent music show signs of violent aggression. In the other words, some violent music has no effect on another person. Violent music and nonviolent music may change a person’s attitude or may not but not all violent music can be aggressive to someone’s minds.

In teens today, there will be peer pressure, there will be body piercings, and a trend will happen, people will follow what other people are doing. Society in teens today have evolved to what was a trend when kids wore a well suited pair of clothing with your shirt tucked in, pants up to your waist, hair comb back and played Golf, Frisbee, and Tennis. Not a lot of teens agree with a clean look, others rebel and wore leather jacks, smoke, drag race, bet, and fight. All that has changed a bit on clothing and those stereotypes of being call a square or greasers. Now teens want to party and have fun. Some fights due happen but it’s just for entertainment or showing who’s better. Overall, teens will explore on what they like and don’t. They will make mistakes and they will ascend in society from others who just want to have fun. Companies have nothing to do with America’s culture, they just want to make a profit regardless what a lot of people think. (Example the Tobacco Company) they don’t think it will kill people or harm them, they just want your money to buy their products.

Sincerely, 

Lexer M. Danganan