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Local High Schoolers Meet to Discuss Media's Role in Shaping Behavior

A group of San Diego County high school students came together today to talk about the pressures they face in doing the right and wrong things. KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.

Local High Schoolers Meet to Discuss Media's Role in Shaping Behavior

A group of San Diego County high school students came together today to talk about the pressures they face in doing the right and wrong things. KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.

Close to a hundred teenagers took part in a town hall forum at the San Diego County Office of Education. A big part of the discussion focused on how music and the media shape teenage attitudes and behavior.

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17-year-old Diamond Wallace attends Sweetwater High School, a campus where black and Latino students are the majority. She believes too many rappers and music videos reinforce negative cultural stereotypes -- and that affects her school.

Wallace : We tear ourselves down. Same races bring you down. We call each other beaners, the n-word. It’s like we're bringing ourselves down. We're making it okay for everyone else to do that.

The students also talked about cheating. New high-tech devices have made it much easier for students to cheat in class and get away with it.

Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.