Plan B Tedx talk

1) Plan B strongly believes in giving young people the opportunity to make something of themselves. He believes in equal chances, depending on ones talent rather than their background whether it be working class or middle class. He doesn't judge someone on their grades or how well they do at school but instead the knowledge they have gained through learning. Plan B particularly focuses on his story of how he got kicked out of school in Year 10 at the start of his talk. He uses his success story as inspiration today for youths who feel they cannot achieve something or feel they are an outcast from society. He inspires kids like this because he has been in that position and knows how it feels to feel as though you are worth nothing. However from trial and improvement he was given the opportunity to pursue a music career and the film directing career he has today. He also understands that lower class families do not always give maternal love to children and most are single parents or drug/alcohol addicts. Therefore instead of pushing these kids away they should be loved and encouraged by others to go forward and have a bright future as they have not been shown otherwise.

2) In my opinion the Tedx lecture is not only targeted at those who can benefit from inspiration and motivation from his lecture, but also those who do not understand the reasons for the way some youths are and behave. Using a socio demographic scale the target audience for inspiration would be a C2-E group. This is the working and lower class who are underprivileged in terms of backgrounds and living. However i would also argue that this lecture targets a A-C1 socio demographic group as they tend to misunderstand youths. This lecture therefore allows them to have an incite of real life stories of youths that have pushed them to end up in the situations they are in today. Using the uses and gratifications model, upper and middle class people can use this lecture as escapism from their own luxury lives. They tend not to be used to having such an intimate talk with someone who has come from a poor background to the success they are today. Moving on to psychographics, this lecture targets strugglers. Strugglers are typically lower demographics and seek escape. They feel alienated in which youths similarly do as some feel an outcast from society. This lecture also targets reformers as they seek enlightenment and freedom from restrictions. Most youths end up in trouble with authorities, simply because they seek freedom. Although the main target audience for this lecture is lower class youths who relate to Plan B's past situations, it also targets those who do not have an understanding of why youths were involved in the riot's for example. Most feel a restriction and in order to break boundaries they do not follow the rules and mostly laws. Plan B's lecture and film relates to all audiences, whether they can relate and have an understanding already or learn something new.

3) Plan B believes that the media encourage moral panic on youths. Stanley Cohen established a theory of moral panics where feelings and ideologies are expressed in a society which causes a disturbance to social order. There are 3 stages to moral panic: occurrence and signification, wider social implications and social control. For example during the London riots, stage 1 was the actual event where youths were stealing and creating social disorder by breaking laws and unnecessary violence. Stage 2 consisted on the mass media spreading the news through newspapers, television, radio etc. Stage 3 is where youths were all given a bad name and certain groups were stereotyped. This mainly consisted of lower class boys and girls who were targeted for participating and causing the London riots. Plan B does not appreciate the fact that youths are seen as an outcast as it limits their chances of success and future opportunities.