Research Topics

My first possible topic would be school shootings and the media influence. This would be an interesting topic because I can delve deep into what makes people choose to go to a school and attack fellow classmates and teachers. With school shooting disturbingly prominent in our society it could be helpful to research why people do this. I would focus mainly on society and the media's role, if any to triggering these young students to commit such terrible acts of horror. I would use the examples of the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres because those are the two school shootings in our nation that have received the most attention.

My second choice for my research topic would be teen pregnancy. I have had some experience with friends becoming pregnant at a young age by mistake, so I could use their testimony to argue if the media influenced any decision that would have lead to them getting pregnant. The is also such an abundant amount of information on teen pregnancy in the media today. For example, the MTV show "I'm Fifteen and Pregnant" is a great way to show light on teen pregnancy and if that show has anything to do with the high rate of teen pregnancies in our nation.

My third possible topic for my research paper is crimes committed by teens. There seems to be a significant amount of crimes committed by teens in the U.S. today. I want to know if it is just a random occurrence or if the influence of the media has something to do with it. There are many extremely violent video games as well as movies and TV shows in today's society that could have a strong influence on children who really don't know what is right and wrong. I'm sure there is other factors that would be contributing to teen violence but my goal would be to find if there is any link to the media, if there is then I would try and find a way to resolve the problem.