{"id":1340930,"date":"2022-02-25T05:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1340930"},"modified":"2022-02-25T07:58:28","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T12:58:28","slug":"if-your-kids-are-secretly-watching-hbos-euphoria-you-should-be-worried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-your-kids-are-secretly-watching-hbos-euphoria-you-should-be-worried\/","title":{"rendered":"If Your Kids Are Secretly Watching HBO\u2019s \u2018Euphoria,\u2019 You Should Be Worried"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fif-your-kids-are-secretly-watching-hbos-euphoria-you-should-be-worried%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1340930&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I remember sneaking around my basement as a kid to catch episodes of \u201cGlee,\u201d a television series many parents deemed controversial due to its display of teen pregnancy. It\u2019s difficult to imagine that show, with its messages of community, acceptance, and hope, being viewed as contentious a decade ago when teens today obsess over the jarring and distasteful HBO smash-hit \u201cEuphoria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The show \u201cEuphoria\u201d is enjoying record-breaking viewership in its second season and has cultivated a vocal cult following. It was the number one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-hbos-euphoria-doubled-its-audience-in-season-two-2022-2\">most in-demand show in the United States<\/a> last month. The series follows recovering drug addict Rue and fellow high school classmates Cassie, Jules, Nate, Maddy, Fezco, and Ash as they navigate backstabbing friendships, deteriorating family lives, and dismal mental health. <\/p>\n<p>Overly graphic sex scenes, extreme drug use, and paralyzing mental struggles plague every leading character. Everything from the show\u2019s overall crude nature to the ultra-harsh lighting choices create a constant sense of darkness in the young characters\u2019 lives. The show is a bleak and aggressive depiction of high school life and lacks aesthetic beauty.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"wildly-inappropriate-and-unrelatable\">Wildly Inappropriate and Unrelatable<\/h2>\n<p>The show\u2019s vulgar characterization of such risqu\u00e9 themes to a vulnerable audience is unlike previous shows of its kind, Parents Television and Media Council Program Director Melissa Henson told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a near constant barrage of expletives and foul language. This show averages probably about 100 \u2018F words\u2019 per episode. But beyond that, the sexualized depictions of high schoolers I find very troubling [ as well as] the recreational drug use, recreational alcohol use, and the fact that there\u2019s no real condemnation for any of this behavior,\u201d Henson said. \u201cIt\u2019s just presented as this is the way it is. And while that may be the reality for a segment of the population, I think it is certainly not the reality for most teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This behavior actually defies reality for Gen Z, as teens today are less likely to drink alcohol, abuse drugs, get in physical fights, or have sex than previous generations. The Federalist\u2019s Emily Jashinsky commented about this \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/06\/26\/puzzling-disconnect-euphorias-wild-teens-risk-averse-gen-z\/\">puzzling disconnect<\/a>\u201d when the show first came out.<\/p>\n<p>The show also has extreme amounts of nudity. The actress playing Cassie, 24-year-old Sydney Sweeney, even had to request that the show\u2019s creator reduce the number of scenes featuring her topless, which he did. Nonetheless, Cassie is naked a lot this season, especially in episode two, when nearly the first five minutes were very intensely focused on her naked body.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"particularly-vulnerable-audience\">Particularly Vulnerable Audience<\/h2>\n<p>The second season, which premiered last month, has garnered a significantly wider viewership than its first season\u2019s pre-lockdown audience. This newfound popularity risks glorifying the show\u2019s themes with a generation of teens who were isolated during the pandemic and are acutely unfamiliar with the typical high school experience. It creates the false impression that this is normal high school-age behavior.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also much easier than it was even a decade ago for high schoolers to access the show without their parents knowing, and they can easily share it on social media. Despite what HBO says publicly, the show\u2019s marketing attracts a high school demographic, and the high school setting naturally appeals primarily to high schoolers. Lead actress Zendaya was also a former Disney star, whose fan base largely includes high school-aged students.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Attorney General Vivek Murthy issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2021\/12\/07\/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-on-youth-mental-health-crisis-further-exposed-by-covid-19-pandemic.html\">advisory<\/a> in December to highlight the urgency of the burgeoning mental health crisis confronting America\u2019s youth. With rates of depression and suicidal ideation on the rise, \u201cEuphoria\u201d offers anything but an uplifting and encouraging picture for children, and actively encourages dangerous coping mechanisms. Rue, for example, constantly melts down on screen and insists she doesn\u2019t want to live in this world anymore. \u201cEuphoria\u201d even offers a step-by-step tutorial for teens on how to turn to oxycontin.<\/p>\n<p>Zendaya described her hopes for viewers to gain a sense of solidarity in an <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/euphoria-star-zendaya-breaks-down-rue-painful-intervention\/\">interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>If anything, the feeling behind \u2018Euphoria,\u2019 or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain. And maybe feel like they\u2019re not the only one going through or dealing with what they\u2019re dealing with.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Although actors may claim the show\u2019s themes reveal to teens that they\u2019re not alone, such demoralizing and depressing content is of no help. While viewers may feel they\u2019re not alone while drowning in feelings of meaninglessness and sorrow, they still feel meaningless and sorrowful. Not a single character has risen above his or her circumstances to experience genuine joy. This fails to generate any sense of hope.<\/p>\n<p>After a few episodes, the show made me feel hopeless. Fortunately, I\u2019m aware that \u201cEuphoria\u201d presents an incredibly inaccurate portrayal of teenage life, but not all students are. As a once sad, anxious, and impressionable teenager, the show\u2019s spiking popularity gives reason for grave concern in normalizing remarkably harmful behavior and perpetuating an already dire mental health crisis among young people.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Allison Schuster is a research assistant for Hillsdale College in DC and a 2021 Hillsdale graduate, as well as a former intern for The Federalist. Follow her on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AllisonShoeStor\"> @allisonshoestor.<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I remember sneaking around my basement as a kid to catch episodes of \u201cGlee,\u201d a television series many parents deemed controversial due to its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1340930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1340930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1340930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1340930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1340930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1340930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}