Dubplate Drama-You Decide What Happens Next

This is a scene from 'Dubplate Drama'. This show is based on various number of themes and usually portray violence. Such as knifes, guns and brutal beatings. However this urban themed tv show lets the audience decide what happens next which is in a way gives the audience a chance to have a say in what a certain character should do based on their own opinions and morals. In a way this is a great advantage for the reason that it lets the audience think for themselves rather than just getting influenced by the storyline. However audience still have a a chance of following characters motives and actions for the reason that the storyline is not entirely based on audiences choice. As you can see from this Dubplate Drama clip, 2 youths are planing to rob a video set by using knifes to threaten their rivals. This could encourage youths and gangs to take on the the same approach in life to get what thy need, or in this case what they want.

Change of Topic-Still Deciding

This extract from the 'Sugarhouse'..British Urban Culture Film portrays teen gang culture in a very negative light. Teenagers who watch this may be influenced in various ways to act and behave in a certain way to achieve high status within their peer group. The constant talk of 'Guns' and swearing may give teenagers the thought that it is right to behave like that therefore crime will be encouraged within these sort of type of films.

Change Of Subject

I am now thinking of changing the area of subject that I have chosen to do for my 'Critical Research'. My chosen topic was Children & The Media-and i was focusing on how Media represents teenage mums through the media, which is usually portrayed as a negative image.
However....After looking further into the topic I no longer find it particularly interesting and I am considering of changing it. I don't really want to know why teenagers get pregnant and why are they portrayed in such way- It simply does not interest me..Maybe because i can not relate to it, for the reason that I am not a teen mum and I do not know any teen mothers myself. Even though Teenage Pregnancy does not seem to interest me to a high extent in oder to choose it for my Critical Research-I am not entirely sure that i will discontinue researching further into the matter.
I am now thinking of picking a topic associated with Crime and the Media. If i do decide to pick this area of study I am likely to research 'How Urban British Films such as Bullet Boy, Life & Lyrics , Kidulthood/Adulthood influence or in some terms glorify deviant behavior within the teen culture. I am also interested to find out if such films have a motive behind them or are they simply broadcast to represent the 'REAL GANG CULTURE'. Anyways I am not entirely sure if I will be changing my area of study into Crime & the Media.

Media Blamed For The Increase In Teenage Sexual Behavior

Nowadays it is easy to say that most teenagers are participating in sexual activities without the protection which leads to 'Teen Pregnancy'. Most people argue that the Media is to blame for this, there is so many media resources nowadays that promote sexual behavior. Magazines such as FHM convey a macho image. Even though it is possible to argue that 'why would these young kids from the age of 12-15 be reading such magazines', you would be surprised with the answer. The childhood of most children is now getting shorter and more and more children are pulled in to the media world which encourage such sexual behavior. "The number of children depending on the media as a source of sexual information has grown and grown," said Mr Raymond. This quote from the BBC News article shows just how dependant children are on the Media. It could be argue that childhood is getting shorter and the adulthood is taking over in the early years of a child's life. Some people say that the Media is not to blame for a child's sexual behavior and teen pregnancy, it could be simply explained as a teen peer culture. Teenage mums may be represented negatively within the Media but that is not always the case for the reason that there has been a various number of success stories. Lastly most teenage mums that do not have high educational aspirations feel that having a children as a way out. Films like Juno & Waitress glorify the idea of having a child at a very young age.

Teens Tell Al About The Media

I feel that am mature enough to make my own choices. Television is just entertainment--nothing is going to change my views and the way I act.
1
When you see teenagers on television messing around all the time and having sex, you forget what a healthy relationship is like
.2
Just because two television personalities are having sex doesn't mean that I have to or want to for that matter.

3
The first thing a guy points out is that stars in the movies don't have to wear a condom.
4
Some television shows are able to portray teen life in a realistic manner. A show like Dawson's Creek is intriguing to us because it shows what being a teenager is all about. We are faced with life, love and relationship decisions everyday. A situation like finally realizing that you've been in love with your best friend your whole life does happen. And deciding whether your ready to have sex is a real life issue. Sometimes seeing things on TV contributes to our own life decisions.
5
T.V. reinforces the 'it could never happen to me' illusion.
6
At eighteen, I am mature enough to realize that what I see on television isn't real, and that the choices characters make on T.V. aren't always the best choices for me in my life. Younger children though, may not be able to discern 'T.V.-land' from reality.
7
T.V. makes kids think that having sex before marriage is something that everybody does, and is the right thing.
8
Television portrays teenage girls as always being thin, beautiful, and sexual.
9
It makes you believe that you won't get pregnant or STDs because no one on television does.
10
I think it is stupid to blame T.V. for everything. There comes a time when people need to take responsibility for their actions. When it comes down to it, you have no choice but to look back and say 'Hey, that was my action and I knew what was wrong and what was right and I made my decision, no one else.'
11
We're [teens] not angels, but we're not as bad as we're being portrayed [in the media].
12
The media does have an impact on your life, regardless of what you say. You're going to make your own choice, but media makes it easier for you and makes you put aside your family values. You see teenage shows and people have sex on the show. It's easier for that person to go and have sex and feel more comfortable.
13[Sex has] always been there. It's always been there, since like our parents were young. It's just that now that the media is more comfortable showing it, now it's a more open issue.
14
Parents don't want to take the blame for it. They say it's the TV.
15

[Sex has] always been there. It's always been there, since like our parents were young. It's just that now that the media is more comfortable showing it, now it's a more open issue.14
Parents don't want to take the blame for it. They say it's the TV.15

Teen mums spurred on to exam success

Article history
Charlotte Savage describes getting pregnant at 16 as the 'best thing that ever happened to her'. In less than a year, she went from a school drop-out to an ambitious teenager training to become a primary school teacher.
Charlotte is not alone. While most parents would be horrified at the thought of their school-age daughter getting pregnant, a new report says it can transform the lives of disillusioned teenagers, spurring them to return to the classroom and aim higher than ever before.

Raising Expectations, by the government's Basic Skills Agency, highlights the fact that pregnancy can be the ultimate wake-up call. 'Finding out you are pregnant at 14 is a complete eye-opener,' said Carol Taylor, executive director for national development at the agency. 'It is a wake-up call - I am responsible for a person and I have got to learn a whole new world about being an adult.'

Taylor said many girls who fell pregnant initially had low expectations, but quickly became highly aspirational. The report praises projects that help to fulfil their ambitions by offering classes on parenting and basic skills.

It was a course for young mums run under the auspices of YMCA Training that helped to turn Charlotte's life around. She hated school. Boring lessons and bullying meant she went in only once a week. In the end, she left before taking her GCSEs and fell pregnant a few months later.

'I was 16 when I got pregnant and it was a bit of a shock,' she said. 'My mum was upset.' She split up with her boyfriend when their daughter, Amelia, was one month old. But the pregnancy changed her attitude to life. 'Having a baby opened up my eyes; I realised I needed a decent job to bring her up.'

Charlotte went to classes that taught her how to be a good mum, as well as helping with traditional subjects. Her attendance was perfect and she quickly got qualifications equivalent to GCSE A to C in maths and English. She is about to go to college to start on her path to becoming a teacher: 'If I had never had a baby, I would be working in retail, but now I have found something I really want to do.'

Her story is typical of many a young woman's. While it is not only those from difficult backgrounds who become pregnant teenagers, many cases involve girls who struggle at school and play truant. That aversion to school disappears quickly after they get pregnant, according to the study.

Nona Dawson, a research fellow at Bristol University and expert on teenage pregnancy, made a study of 10 local authorities in England. She found that young mothers developed a new-found 'belief' in education - not just for their own sake but also for their child's. The most successful schemes were where teenage mothers attended pupil referral units, rather than going back to school.

'These young women are generally disfranchised before they become pregnant,' she said. 'Education was not a priority. But you have a baby and you grow up. You realise there is going to be at least one person you will bring into the world.'

Dawson's work showed that attendance levels and exam results were all excellent as soon as the girls realised they were expecting.

The reality of being a teen mum
By Sue Mitchell
Producer on It's My Story


The girls enjoy motherhood
With teenage girls now choosing pregnancy as a "career option", according to a leading charity, three young mothers talk about how they dealt with the experience.

Britain has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe and they cost the country about £63m a year.

Many young girls even see having a baby as a better option than a low-paid "dead-end" job, recent research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests.

But with 40,000 teenagers giving birth in Britain every year what is the reality of having a baby so young? What challenges do such young mothers face and how do they cope?

Housewife

Zoe and Jenny were just 14 when they got pregnant and Olivia 15. The three girls met at Cyfle a special educational unit in Wrexham, north Wales, for young mothers. Cyfle provides support so they can continue with their education, while looking after their babies.

The girls are transferred to the unit in the later stages of pregnancy and usually return two weeks after the birth. An on-site creche is provided so the girls can bring their babies with them. They are usually taught at the unit for a term, before returning to their normal schools.


Zoe's twin helped her cover up her pregnancy
Zoe, from Wrexham, managed to conceal her pregnancy until just two weeks before giving birth with the help of her identical twin, Gemma. At school her sister stepped into her place when it came to sports lessons and at home the youngsters managed to fool their parents and younger sister.

"I didn't want anyone to force me into an abortion and I felt sorry for my Mum - she always tries so hard and I didn't want to disappoint her by telling her I was pregnant," she says.

"I was scared though - we were both scared. The longer you go on without saying anything the harder it is to tell someone."

Choices

Zoe's mother, Collette, finally realised what was happening during a family holiday in Spain, when it became impossible for Zoe to conceal her pregnancy with baggy clothes. Just two weeks later she gave birth to Georgia and went to Cyfle to study for her GCSEs.

The unit was set up by a former secondary school teacher, Teresa Foster Evans, who was concerned that girls getting pregnant whilst still at school are often forced to leave without finishing their education.

Olivia also attended the unit. She had been at a private girls school in Chester when, on the brink of starting her GCSE year, she told her mother that she needed to pop into a supermarket to take a pregnancy test. She came out of the store in tears and announced that the test, which she'd taken in the shop's lavatory, was positive.


Jenny wanted to be a mother and housewife
"In some ways I wasn't surprised," says her mother, Anne Malcolm. "I was shocked of course and a lot of things crossed my mind but there was no question of not keeping the baby. Some people suggested a termination - I wasn't one of them."

Olivia has no regrets about having her daughter Ayeasha at 15. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me," she says. "If I had to do the same again I would. I don't have contact with Ayeasha's Dad but I have help from my parents and there's nothing else I wanted to do with my life.

"I don't want a career - I want to bring my little girl up and I still go out and have fun."

'Better lives'

Teenage pregnancy rates in north Wales are particularly worrying. The most common scenario is for the daughters of teenage mothers to go on and repeat the same pattern as they grow up. This was the case for the third of the girls, Jenny, who set out to get pregnant when she was just 14.

"I wanted a baby, I wanted to be a housewife and I thought it would bring me and my boyfriend, Danny, closer together," she says. "He was 17 at the time and he wasn't saying I had to use contraception. But once I got pregnant he wasn't happy then and told me to get rid of it."

Jenny, however, chose to go ahead with the pregnancy and now lives alone with two-year-old Holly. She's supported by her own mother, Sara, who knows what it's like to bring up a baby young and on your own.


Foster Evans: 'Education is key'
"It's not what I would have wanted for her, she knows how hard it was for me and how poor we were but still she went ahead and did it," she says. "She so wanted it to work and she thought she'd be with Danny for the rest of her life, even though I knew it would never work out."

Teresa Foster Evans believes a large part of the work going on at Cyfle has to centre around helping these teenage mothers lead more fulfilling lives so their own children can be given more choices as they grow up.

"Education is the key to it," she says. "If we can get them through their GCSEs and help them finish their schooling we can give them and their children far better lives."