In Response to Stephen Rolfe...

"In today's media, we (this generation) seem to be drawn to those who act a fool and demonstrate less than responsible ways of life....... Do you feel that other generations role models acted this way or are we the beginning of a new look on our figure heads?"

      Although I agree with Stephen when it comes to marketing illegal activities to teens seem to be more widely accepted and portrayed on television, I don't think it was absent from television before our generation.  TV shows in the 70's-80's like Roseanne, Baywatch, Three's Company, etc. also used sex and drug experiences to gain the viewer's interest in the programs.  However, I think that in today's television it is much more glorified.

     As someone who has never really taken part in the "party" scene I still find myself interested in watching other people do it.  I've never been a fan of Jersey Shore, and I honestly don't see the appeal.  Perhaps it's my lack of interest in seeing what 6 unattractive people a few years older than me (that act many years younger) are up to this weekend.  My hope is that people don't really look to these people as role models, but the opposite.
     Shows like 16 and Pregnant however, pose more of a concern for me.  If you have ever seen the show, it tends not to show the true hardships of having a child young.  When my close friend's six year old daughter said "I can't wait until I'm 16 so I can be on this show," my concerns about what is being shown on television began.  I think that without television there will still be an interest in drugs, parties, and sex, but to have teens actually thinking it would be a good idea to get pregnant...we need to begin to worry.  Should television marketing be held to the same standards as product and service marketing?