Before the media was so prominent, stereotypes existed and were passed down the same way but through writing or by word of mouth. As online and televised media have grown in society over time, the level of discrimination and racial violence in America has decreased, yet people believe that media stereotyping is the source of the perception that racist, homophobic, or sexist behaviors are acceptable.

Personally, I agree with this to an extent.

As children, we all have to learn how to behave and communicate with one another in a variety of ways. One main way is through the media. Violent movies, TV shows, video games, etc., all display highly discriminatory, stereotypical content that can distort reality through the eyes of the viewer, but who's to say that these viewers don't learn from this material and/or exhibit violence for other reasons?

One example of what I mean could be an animated television show released on Netflix in 2017 called "Big Mouth."

This show challenges the ideology that media stereotyping is detrimental to society by creating a show that teaches teens by realistically addressing social issues, the awkwardness of puberty, and offensive stereotypes from all categories. Argument could be made that this show normalizes discriminatory behavior or diminishes it because it's really up to the viewer and how they interpret the message.

With this in mind – and the fact that media will only become more prevalent throughout the world – who's to say exposure to explicit or offensive content is a bad thing? People are constantly intrigued by fantasies that could be made a reality. Most of us slowly learn throughout our childhood/adolescence how to treat one another through experience, teachings, and most of all - THE MEDIA.

Children and teens are addicted to technology and are influenced on a daily basis by the things they see their role models post, or even just things they see, hear or read about. The inevitability that people will discover stereotypical or offensive media plays tug of war with the idea that we should protect our children from viewing this type of content, but is this really the answer? Do we still need to protect the youth from the truth, or is it more important to teach them about the stereotypes, horrors, and natural processes of life early on so that they develop and mature quicker?

Violent media, like Grand Theft Auto, only sees the need to "top" their last game or product – so we can't rely on this toxic media to just go away. It's our job to teach ourselves and our children how to control primal impulses and how to determine what's right from wrong, not the media's. Parents need to step up to the plate and show more involvement in their children's lives by setting better examples for their kids and teaching them how to behave properly.