How+Issues+of+Adolesence+are+portrayed+in+iCarly,+Anjelica+Orloff


 * Question and Rationale:** What issues of adolescence are portrayed in iCarly? After watching only a short, half hour episode in class, I noticed that Carly, Sam and Freddie all fit the age criteria of an adolescent. With that being said, I wonder what issues such as teen rebellion, lying, feminine ideals, and how they deal with finding and exploring their sexuality are being depicted in the show. My research will help me further understand what issues of adolescents are addressed in the show and how children view and relate to these types of issues in the media.

**Method:** Online research, interviewing with adolescence, and content analysis

**Research:** I plan on using all three outlets in order gather a wide range of information about adolescence in children’s media. Online research to find typical issues an average teen deals with on a daily basis such as the ones I listed above. I will interview current adolescence, those who watch and don’t watch the show. Those who do watch iCarly will be able to talk about if they relate to the show or not and those who don’t watch will be able to explain why they don’t watch and if it is because of false interpretation of adolescence. Content analysis will be used in order to find specific issues of adolescence that are depicted throughout the series. In doing these studies I will be able to further understand how adolescence is demonstrated in the show and how it effects its children viewers.

You have a creative spin on this topic. I really like the idea of focusing on those children and teens who HATE the show. This is a very powerful and creative idea.

Alternatively, I also like the idea of interviewing pre-teens to see what their expectations are of "being a teenager." Then perhaps you can co-view an episode and ask children to identify what makes the show seem "realistic" or not. Do you think kids will see this show as realistic in terms how how teens act?

It's also possible that you'd get a lot of insight by viewing an episode with a hater to explore what about the show is unappealing and then to conduct internet research to find out about various hater groups that might exist online.

**New Question and Rationale:** Why do teens hate iCarly? After conducting further research on iCarly I have decided to change my question in order to focus on addressing the issue about why teens hate iCarly. I have found that like my younger sister, many tweens and teens hate iCarly for various reasons. With this project, I am going to explore those reasons and figure out what changes can be made in order to acquire a more steady audience.

**Method**: Online research, interviewing multiple adolescence after a viewing of the show asking them questions related to the specific episode, and content analysis

**Research**: I plan on using all three outlets in order to gather a wide range of information about adolescence in children's media. Online research to help me find specific blogs or websites that focus on hatred towards iCarly or other children's television shows and gather information about why this is. I will interview current adolescents, those who watch and those who don't watch iCarly. Those who do watch the show will be able to talk about why they like or dislike the show and those who don't watch will be able to discuss why they choose not to watch and why they dislike it. Content analysis will be used in order to find specific scenes that my interviewees pick out when arguing why they dislike the show. In doing these studies i will be able to further understand how adolescence view such shows that are made for them and see why and why not they are relateable.

You are using multiple methods to explore this important topic. You have the green light here!