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Cosmetic surgery's popularity growing thanks to media attention, expert says; nearly 12 million procedures performed in 2004
http://www.newstarget.com/005195.html

Cosmetic Surgery is becoming increasingly popular in the United States and some are contributing this increase to media attention on the procedures now that people have had many more opportunities to see first hand what plastic surgery is and what it can do for others, referring to shows, such as Dr. 90210. Plastic surgery is becoming more and more common as Americans underwent close to 12 million surgical or non surgical cosmetic procedure in 2004, a rise of 44 percent from the previous year, with liposuction and botox treatment leading the surge. Women seem to be the main target of media influence to want to improve appearance as the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) said 90 percent of the procedures were performed on women. ASAPS president Peter Fodor attributed the jump in cosmetic treatment to increased media attention. This further gives rise to the idea that women are more pressured in our society to look perfect, mainly due to celebrity influence. People have had many more opportunities to see, first hand, what plastic surgery is like and what it can do for others, Fodor said. That can be a strong incentive for them to seek the same benefits by having cosmetic procedures themselves. Television shows in the media also seem to downplay the risks of plastic surgery and only focus on the benefits of looking beautiful. This can further lead to people wanting cosmetic surgery because the media makes it seem so simple. Surgical procedures were up 17 percent on 2003, with liposuction leading the treatment table with more than 478,000 operations, giving more emphasis on the need to be thin in our society. On the non-surgical side, procedures were up 51 percent, with more than 2.8 million people opting for anti-wrinkling botox injections and 1.4 million going in for some laser hair removal. Even men are considering plastic surgery as an ASAPS survey of 1000 Americans found that 21 percent of men interviewed said they would consider cosmetic surgery--an increase of 50 percent from 2003.

Music, Television, and Video Games and Their Effect on Children! http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/VideoGames/3.html

Children today are watching more T.V. than ever. It is estimated that the average child watches from three to five hours of television a day! A lot of the technology today is also filled with violence. Children are very impressionable and the media plays a significant role in shaping behaviors and attitudes. Obviously these media have a big influence on children's' behavior: we can see it in the way they attempt to emulate their favorite rock stars by dressing in a similar style and the way children play games, imitating their favorite cartoon personalities or super heroes. Studies have shown that extensive television viewing may be associated with, aggressive behavior, poor academic performance, precocious sexuality, obesity, and the use of drugs or alcohol. Television, video games, and music are very influential and if there is too much violence available for children to watch, play, or listen to, this can sway their attitudes in a negative direction. However, because the media is so influential, it can have either negative or positive impacts. If television, music, or video games have violent content, people, especially children and adolescents, can be influenced by this not because of the music or television show itself, but because of the artist that they look up to who is encouraging this behavior, making it look cool. Music can be very powerful and there have been numerous stories in the news of teenagers trying to commit suicide or committing crimes and then blaming it on song lyrics. Perhaps the music itself is not such an influential agent, but the artists are and if they are behaving in an unbecoming manner, many kids will try and be like them. There are also examples of music, television, and video games that can have positive impacts. For example, songs that empower women, inspire children and adolescents to make good decisions, and those that are educational can have positive effects on our society. The article describes how examples of music having a positive influence on kids are also prevalent. The girl rap group Salt-N-Pepa, who are often categorized according to their sexual image, also project an image of feminine strength. Cheryl James, a.k.a "Salt," said, "We get compliments from women like, 'You inspired me to get out of an abusive relationship.' It makes me feel good about what I do" (AP Nov. 5). There is also some good examples of music, which brings a more positive feeling to the group. Unfortunately, when it comes to video games, children are more inclined to like games with some sort of violent content. According to the article, the two most preferred categories were games that involved fantasy violence, preferred by almost 32% of subjects; and sports games, some of which contained violent sub themes, which were preferred by more than 29%. These types of games can give some the idea that violence is the best way to deal with problems and conflict. But again, these are only some of the many games that are out there. There are others that include educational and positivity content. For example, there is an entire business dedicated to developing more challenging and interesting software for children's use.
One can see that the media and entertainment industry do have a significant influence on the lives and behavior of children, but it is the choice of the artist, program writer, or celebrity whether or not this content will be positive or negative.