The social learning theory prevails in media surrounding us everyday. The concepts and applications of social learning have helped me to understand that many behaviors and attitudes that, were once, customarily believed to be unacceptable or inappropriate, are now modeled and imitated by society.
People use the method of natural observation to learn, and will then go on to model behaviors learned. With that said, the media will exhibit many figures or characters that other members of society will want to familiarize themselves with, or imitate their own behaviors and beliefs after them. People naturally want to have role models in their lives, or have some striking figure that they will strive to be like. Many people can then justify to others that they think a certain way or act a certain way because they saw it on T.V., or their favorite singer believes this, etc.
Take the example used in the lecture, for instance. In our society today, the media has made appear that being a single, teenage mother is perfectly acceptable! There are so many television reality shows on it today, such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. The movie Juno also created the illusion that teen pregnancy was normal. Some public figures, such as Bristol Palin (Senator Sarah Palin's daughter) have also glamorized teen pregnancy. All these different forms of media today have allowed society to observe, model, and accept this behavior. Viewers tune in and believe that what they see, read, and hear is acceptable because the media justifies it. It is the act of social learning.
MTV's 16 and Pregnant makes it seem that it is perfectly acceptable to have a child at such a young age.
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