From violent video games and R-rated movies to Jerry Springer TV shows and inappropriate rap lyrics, adults often point to the negative influences of the media on kids. But what do kids think about the influence of media on their lives?

Y-Press spoke with 10 Girl Scouts, some of whom recently completed badges dealing with the media, about this subject. They are Brandy Bledsoe, 15; Myra Bledsoe, 16; Kelli Hall, 12; Lena Lewis, 12; LaWanna Long, 19; Denise Tomlin, 12; Jennifer Williams, 12, all of Indianapolis, and Elizabeth Dunbar, 13, of Carmel; Sweeny Hovhanessian, 13, of Noblesville; and Tori McAlhaney, 15, of Beech Grove.

Definition of media

TORI: I would say that media is a combination of information, entertainment and advertisement. The information part would be the news and the newspaper. The entertainment would be like television shows and things of that nature.

LENA: The media is something that gives you the news sometimes, and then they give you products.

SWEENY: The media influences you because they make (things) look fun, exciting, like drugs.

ELIZABETH: But in a lot of cases, it's just an opinion that someone has. A lot of times the media try to (portray) things as what they think is normal, but it's really not normal.

On television

JENNIFER: You learn a lot from TV; like, they have the Discovery Channel, and you just learn a lot from some shows. But some shows are just kind of bad and they shouldn't be watched by little kids because they influence the kids too much . . . like the kid that was watching the wrestling show and went out and did (the wrestling moves) on a little girl.

TORI: I think that kids today are smart enough to have enough common sense to realize that the violence they see in cartoons and the violence they see on TV and the violence that they see in real-day life is all different.

KELLI: I don't think you should be able to see Jerry Springer shows on TV because that is too inappropriate for our age.

JENNIFER: It's just inappropriate to have people out there cussing and wearing all of these nasty clothes.

BRANDY: Most people have commented to me that they can tell for some reason that I don't watch TV, because they say I don't act as rough and as different as teen-agers that watch a bunch of TV.

On music

MYRA: Some rock or alternative music can be related to drugs, alcohol, drinking, and the person that's singing it says it's OK. . . . Parents allow their kids to listen to this stuff, and these kids are getting ideas, and their parents aren't knowing what's going on.

KELLI: There are a lot of boys in our grade that like the new rap kind of things, and so they come to school singing it and saying all of these cuss words like in the songs. And then they will get in trouble.

LENA: I think in songs, the media are giving permission to young kids to cuss and do all that stuff. But the songs can be good, too, if you take out those parts.

JENNIFER: It is not just the music that influences kids, but how they dress. You know how all the rappers sag and wear the big chains and all of the gold earrings? A lot of boys in our grade will be sagging. They will come to school in these big silver chains and be like, "Yo, what's up, my fella?"

On movies

DENISE: I don't think (movie ratings) are quite as effective as they think they are, because a lot of kids are watching R-rated movies. I think it's mostly because they have older siblings who are able to watch. I think parents should have better control.

ELIZABETH: A lot of times they don't rate the movies right.

SWEENY: Yes. I just saw The Wedding Planner and it could have been G. It just had one little kiss in the whole thing.

JENNIFER: We are in the sixth grade, and we go on trips and ride in charter buses with TVs and our teachers have to pick out movies. They will give us a pick of PG or G movies, and we all pick PG, but if there is a sword in the movie or maybe a guy punching someone, we won't be able to watch it. Our teachers are overprotective.

On advertising

TORI: I think that advertisements really kind of rule what we do. If we hear on the radio that a store is having a sale, we go to that store, or if we hear a catchy jingle, we'll remember it and then sing it during class.

ELIZABETH: It also influences what we buy, the clothes we wear.

SWEENY: As my dad says, commercials are junk. They just want to make you buy something.

TORI: The problem is when (advertisers) do it to a specific group, (like) to kids who are able to buy their product, whether or not it's good for them. (The advertisers) don't care, because they're getting their money.

On positive aspects

TORI: The media can help us learn things. . . . Like you can watch Saving Private Ryan and learn about World War II.

LaWANNA: I've learned a lot from the media, like a lot of things that are across the seas, like the USS Cole and all the bombings and violence in Israel.

BRANDY: (One) good effect could be helping charities, 'cause (people) hear about them in the newspaper.

On negative aspects

MYRA: I think that the media sometimes has a negative effect, because it mostly just talks about the bad things that are going on. . . . But it doesn't tell good stuff.

LENA: Somebody can be influenced by something that's bad that's advertised, (like) drugs. They put it out there and they show (somebody) using it, and the kid will say, "Oh, that's fun -- let's go get some."

ELIZABETH: Sometimes they don't respect privacy and aren't sensitive to viewers or readers.

TORI: I think that the media affects us in every way. We copy superstars, we read the books that they tell us to read, we watch the shows that they want us to watch.

We take superstars, even just public people as role models, whether or not they're good for it or not. I mean there are people that see Marilyn Manson as a role model, and there are people that see Mother Teresa as a role model.

ELIZABETH: Media don't always tell the truth, so you have to be careful what you listen to and what you don't listen to.

On life without media

BRANDY: I think we'd be better off (without the media). I don't think there'd be as much violence, 'cause without the media, then we'd have to pick it up from people around us.

LENA: I think there would be less pressure to do things.

TORI: I think that you learn your prejudices and you learn what's OK, but you don't particularly learn it from TV. I think you learn it more from society and from your family and from your friends.

DENISE: I don't think all (violence) comes from the media. It also comes from family and friends, if something is happening in their life that they are not happy about. Violence is kind of a way out.

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Katie Qualkinbush, 14.

REPORTERS: Megan Brown, 13; Emily Christie, 12; Brittany Chubb, 12; Julie McDowell, 12; and Lisa O'Conner, 13.