How Does TV Affect the Way Teens Dress?

Television's Influence

• Television plays a powerful role in a teen's life, if they watch it frequently. According to the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, television offers teens psychological and physical models for behavior and appearance during a time when they are struggling to form their own identity and find acceptance. Teens can be influenced not only by the appearance of the people they see on television -- such as hair color or body type -- but also by what they see these people wearing. Teens are more likely to gravitate toward fashions they see as popular on the television shows they watch.

Commercials

• Television programs are not the only source of influence. Advertising has been shown to have a strong influence, too. Commercials featuring beauty products using sex appeal or the theme of physical attractiveness were shown to influence what the girls watching them thought was most likely to appeal to the opposite sex, such as sex appeal and a slim body, according to the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Commercials of all types that use sexual appeal or attractiveness as a theme can signal to both boys and girls what they "should" look like to attract the opposite sex or to fit in with their peers, including what kind of clothing they should wear.

Music Videos

• Though fewer music videos are played on television because they've been displaced by reality TV and other shows, these videos are still popular on both television and the Internet, and they still have a strong influence on teenagers. According to DisneyFamily.com, the clothing that musicians wear in these videos can influence teens' choices. From the clothing to the jewelry, teens often mimic the styles they see. What musicians wear outside of these videos also can have an influence.

What Parents Can Do

• Parents can mitigate the influence that television has by limiting how much television their teen watches and what kind of programs their teen watches. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says that parents can reduce the influence of TV by not allowing their children to watch long blocks of TV, by placing limits on the overall amount of TV for each day and each week, watching TV with their children, and choosing shows that are appropriate for them to watch. Parents should talk to their teens about what they are seeing on the TV and address any issues that arise, such as sexually explicit or inappropriate dress.