Response to "Killer Culture"

Today’s youth are the future of our society. It is very common for their confused young brains to get targeted by a lot of different things such as social media, peer pressure, or just the desire to fit in. David Kupelian wrote a very controversial essay about this called “Killer Culture”. His response to the problems that popular culture inflicts on kids is to keep them isolated until they are ready to go out into the world. I do not agree with Kupelian’s solution to this problem, but he does have a valid point about this issue.

                Kupelian noticed the pressure kids feel to conform when he observed his son Joshua. His son always hated body jewelry until he met and hung out with his older cousin on a vacation. After the vacation he wanted to get a choker just like the one his cousin owned, even though he previously believed men should not wear jewelry. Another example of this he states is the “gangsta generation”. Baggy sagged pants, hip-hop music, body piercings, tattoos, backwards hats, and even a different attitude are some of the things that became attractive during this time.

                Things like fashion trends and music do not spread on its own, media has a lot to do with this. Huge companies figure out what the youth wants and what is in style by sending out “culture spies”. These people make friends with the kids and pretend to care about them, but they are really just gathering information about things that they like so their products will sell. MTV is an example of this; Kupelian believes everything on MTV is a commercial whether it is a music video or a show with trendy clothes. Kupelian wonders “Is the media really reflecting the world of kids, or is it the other way around”. (653) His point is that it is hard to tell if this kind of media is being based of youth or if youth is actually following the examples on the television. In reality it is most likely just a continuous circle.

                Kupleians response to this is that it is mostly the parents fault for not censoring their children from these kinds of corruptions. He thinks children should be home schooled so parents can choose what kind of things their kids will be exposed to. By doing this we would be creating a safe “subculture” for youth. Kupelian’s intentions become very clear when he states “I believe homeschooling today represents the single most important and promising avenue for true rebirth of American Judeo-Christian culture.”(662)

                Although I do see valid points in his concerns, I do not agree at all with his solutions. First off styles of generations are ever-changing and the “Gangsta generation” will be gone as soon as it came and be replaced with another style, which is already happening. I personally believe that not everything on MTV is a commercial. MTV came out with the show 16 and Pregnant in 2009 which is a documentary of a variety of different young teenage mothers and the hardships that they go though during the pregnancy and afterwards. According to the Christian Science Monitor 82 percent of teens who watched the show said it helped them better understand the hardship of being a young mother. Statistics even show a 6 percent decrease in teen pregnancy from 2008 to 2009 and a 10 percent decrease in Hispanic teen pregnancy. I find it hard to imagine being homeschooled as a child. Going to a public school, I not only learned skills in school I also learned social skills and really important life lessons too. Censoring every aspect of a Childs life from what I have seen is not effective in most cases because rebellion is what a human does when they feel they are being repressed. I have seen firsthand that the parents who control their children too much end up with trouble maker kids because they try to break free.

                It is so difficult to solve these problems the youth faces in today’s society because it is all around them in their everyday lives. All a parent can really do is teach their children good morals, and to not always listen to what a peer or a TV show is telling them to do. Kids will be kids and they go through a lot of changes and phases. As long as they know right from wrong and what they should and should not follow I think they will turn out as decent human beings.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Jonsson, Patrik. "A Force behind the Lower Teen Birthrate: MTV's '16 and Pregnant'" The Christian      Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

 

Kupelian, David. "Killer Culture." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.