Young Writers Society

yes. i think media really affect people s thoughts. but we must consider that in many countries, life is so hard for people. especially women and children. i am myself a girl i used to live in a bad place where they always tried to make me believe there is paradise and the media lies. but media was true. it told the truth. now i am free. i live in a free country spain. i really love it. you don t know how it feels for a girl to live in a country with bad cultured people who treat females as animals. i didn t want to hurt your feelings. but this is truth. sorry anyway. goodluck with your writings, elena

Here comes my review, so get ready everyone, the Debater is back in the house!

Your spacing was a little bit off, but I'm not too concerned about that.

I agree with your point about how teens should be more educated, but I think that you could go a step farther with your argument and say that they should not only be educated about current events, but also about sciences and maths, because that is how they will take action against the current events that they know of.

I also don't think it's fair to blame it all on social media. Part of it is because their friends are laughing it off and not taking it seriously, but there are a few other things that need to be changed before we can make radical changes.

#1: The idea of invincibility needs to die.
As Americans, especially as teenagers, we have this idea that we're invincible. I can take that risk because bad things don't happen to me. I don't need to take a vaccine because I'm not going to get sick, and even if I do get sick, a hospital can just fix me. The basic idea of "I'm above the rules and I'm not susceptible to that weakness" needs to die, and once that changes, then we can start worrying about possible weaknesses.

#2: Finding a balance between being okay with being different from past generations and a recognition of how we need to use some of the same principles
I don't know if this is entirely gramatically correct, but I think you get the idea. While there are a lot of things that have changed since our parents were young and growing up, such as the invention of social media and how that affects our lives, the things that older generations did worked. While we need to be different, we have to use some of the same principles they used, like different roles in society, to have a successful society.

#3 Step up to the plate
Probably almost everyone sees advertisements for hard jobs, like missionary work or work in the army, and says "Someone else will do that". Well, somebody, somewhere, needs to say, I am going to be that someone else. I'm not saying everyone needs to go and immediately sign up for the military, but figure out some way to help the government, whether it's as simple as voting in the elections or deciding to join a branch of the military.

That's all I can think of for now, so hopefully this was helpful, and have a nice day!

TEAM FRENCH FRIES FOR THE WIN!

Definitely agree. It is very important to remain informed, provided you have valid sources. I personally believe the best sources are state-funded, if you live in a country with a free, democratic government.

If you doubt your government's integrity, there's alternative media, preferably low or non-profit media. Luckily, Generation Z, which is... I think 1995-2010, seems to be very well informed. While the Internet poses certain threats which take shape in the form of untrustworthy media (usually far-left or far-right journals), it still gives us the opportunity to seek out good sources. Oddly enough, we're also the most conservative post-war generation (maybe we can help clean up the mess far-left activism has created).

Overall, I think we're very well educated! More so than previous generations, that is. You'd be surprised at how many people in our age range are knowledgeable and have their own opinions on politics. A fair few!

I know this isn't a review, more a response to your statements. It's too short to be an essay, as people have mentioned.

Hello! I see you're new here, so welcome! If you have any questions or just want to talk or whatever just let me know.

I have to agree with the other user on that my issue with this is that it's not much of an article/essay, more like four paragraphs of opinions. There's no sources(and if you do get some sources, make sure they're reliable ones), no countering point of view that you recognize and argue against, just opinions. This should definitely be longer, for one, and this really just jumps around without any exact subjects. What I mean is, you need an introduction, at least three points between, and a conclusion. There's not that here. You kind of have the idea of that here, but none of this is long enough to be actual conclusions or points.

Also, all of the italicization and emboldened words/ phrases are unnecessary. Especially for something that's nonfiction, there shouldn't be hardly anything italicized other than titles of certain sources or references, and especially not this many. *Maybe* one or two, but definitely not this many.

This is just what I have to say about the writing of this piece. As for the actual topic, I don't mean to be mean or rude or anything, but most people aren't going to take this seriously. If I were you, I wouldn't even bother pointing out your own age. If an adult were to read this in a, say, magazine or something, the transition from middle school to high school putting things in perspective sounds like child's play compared to what most people have experienced. That's not to say your experiences aren't legitimate, but in the grand scheme of things, most people aren't going to care about that.

Another thing is, the media affects what everyone knows, not just teenagers. There's a reason I only get my news from highly trusted sources online versus watching the news on television or reading newspapers. They can mold it to make any villain look like a hero or vice versa. Tons of people don't know the truth about a lot of things, regardless of age. That's one of my biggest problems with this: there's really no reason age, be it yours or anyone else's, should be brought into this piece. It's irrelevant to what the media is portraying. I have other problems with this subject-wise, but I'm not coming here to argue against your opinions, just review and give some advice.

Hope I didn't come across to harsh and this helped. If you need anything just let me know, whether it's just talking, reviewing something, editing something, answering questions, whatever. I'd be happy to. Good luck!

Hi there!

First off, I would like to welcome you to YWS! I hope you will enjoy it around here and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Not many people post articles here and I was intrigued by the title, particularly because it seems so relevant to current events. I think you have definitely pinpointed an interesting issue in today's world, which is how the political media interacts and informs young people, and how young people interpret those communications. I think that the concept of your essay has a lot of potential.

The issue for me here, though, is the essay feels not so much like an essay, but more like an opinion piece. There is nothing wrong with that, but usually when I expect an essay, I expect some facts and statistics from reputable sources, like CNN or whatever. I am not encouraging you to do so - although it definitely wouldn't hurt - but I am encouraging you to decide whether you are writing an essay or an opinion piece. Personally, I think that you are actually writing an opinion piece, and that such a medium of communication would have a greater effect on your readership.

However, to create a really successful opinion piece, you still need to have concrete points and examples to illustrate those points. As it stands, this piece is fine, but it only seems to scrape the very surface of the issue, which goes much deeper. Find three points to support your thesis, and your opinion piece will be much more persuasive and thought-provoking. Furthermore, I don't think you need to use the italics/bold/underlining to emphasize points - it's mostly distracting.

Overall, I think you have a really great premise and, with some work, it could be a really successful and extremely relevant piece.

Best,
Lavvie