Media Leads to Depression...I Don't Think So!

In an article I found on Science Daily.com they claim to have evidence that the exposure to TV and other media outlets to teens causes depression in young adulthood. In 1995 4,142 adolescents who were not depressed were asked how many hours during the day they use media. This was back when the Internet wasn't used nearly as much as it is used now. 7 years later when these children were twenty one 308 of them were depressed. These facts in my opinion prove in no way that the media causes depression. The article goes on to say that children that spend hours a day watching TV and playing video games spend less time outside socializing with other teens. Also, that these social activities such as sports and clubs protect against depression. Watching TV at night or staying online for hours into the night lessens the hours of sleep teens get which can also cause depression symptoms. These occurances might play a small part in causing depression symptoms, but not causing depression itself.

One of the biggest concerns are that the messages teens get from the Internet and television are making them feel inadequate or cause aggression. We all know the supposed link between violence in children and video games and I think this is going off of that sort of thing. I do believe that the media has an effect on teens, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Blaming the media for depression in young adults I will not go along with. Depression is a disease and cannot be blamed on how much TV you watched when you were a teenager. I feel like people are always trying to blame the media for everything bad that happens and I think the media does great things for our society.