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Today it seems that the media has split into two incredibly distinct sides: Liberal and Conservative. Television news networks are almost dominated by liberal beliefs, but radio talk shows are almost monopolized by Conservatism. The biggest names in republican promotion are people like Rush Limbaugh (A radio talk show host), Glenn Beck, and Bill O'Reilly (both have shows on FOX News). Their opinions greatly influence the many Americans who watch them. But do their opinions affect the beliefs of teenagers who may hear them speak?

Well, it partly depends on the household. In many Liberal households, FOX News is a forbidden channel. In these homes, teenagers are not given exposure to these conservative beliefs, so it is really impossible for them to be affected by them. Even if they are hungry for political knowledge and believe in conservative principals, there is no way for them to acquire this knowledge.

On the other end are the radical republican homes. In these homes, only FOX is watched. Although these teenagers are more exposed to the views of Liberals, they are often presented in a biased way, so as not to give teenagers a chance to look at the positives in a political belief. Usually the parents in these kind of families are strong Republicans and will persuade their children to understand and believe their side.

So one question is of the household. The other is of the teenagers themselves. All teenagers must not be grouped into a single category. There are many different kinds of teenagers, all separated into two distinct categories: those who care, and those who don't. Many teenagers are satisfied to just sit at home, watching The Simpsons or MTV, without a care in the world about what goes on in the world around them. They simply don't care enough about these big time conservative pundits to even pay attention to them. If they live in a politically biased home, whether it be liberal or conservative, the block out all the political noise and shrug off their parents' conversations and beliefs.

However, there is another kind of teenagers. These teens really are interested and do care about the world around them. They learn about politics and political issues. Not to say that these teens are the social outcasts, because that wouldn't be true. They are just interested in standing up for what they believe in. Unfortunately, all too often these interested teens are stuffed by their parents with partisan views, and not given time to formulate their own opinions.

So there are three factors that decide how much conservative pundits like Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh have on teenagers to day. The factors are these: 1) They have to have access to the opinions, 2) They have to care about them, and 3) They need freedom to formulate their own conclusions. Beliefs about parties have become too partisan.

Whether or not a conservative pundit affects a teen depends on how much that person agrees with that pundit's beliefs. If Beck decries gay marriage, then a gay teen or one who supports gays will not be affected by him, only angered by him. But if O'Reilly says he supports The War in Iraq, and a daughter who lost her father in 9/11 hears it, it will greatly affect her and her political views. So the effect on teenagers by political parties and their individual supporters should not be measured by age, but what a person believes in. Just as we cannot say that all middle-aged people support Liberals, we cannot say that all teens support Conservatives, or vice-versa.

Learn more about this author, Mason Bourgeois.
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