More comments from Transition Year students who have won a week's work placement in The Irish Times. To join them, send us a 200-word piece on a media-related topic.
Catherine O'Rourke, Our Lady's Bower, Athlone, Co Westmeath
From the cradle we are subjected to television images of the brave knight or warrior rescuing the "damsel in distress". Take for example Robin Hood: our beloved hero regularly saves a helpless Maid Marion from certain disaster. Similar scenarios are displayed in films from The Three Musketeers to Sinbad - the list is endless. Nor are these displays exclusive to times past. It is clear from the titles of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman that heroic feats are reserved for the male stars; the women appear merely to satisfy the requirement of a love interest. There is, in Superman, an attempt to present a strong, competent career woman in the form of Lois - sadly, however, this token of equality fails miserably to achieve the desired effect due to her constant need of rescue by the superhero.
Make no mistake: these depictions of women as a weak, incapable gender are preconditioning today's young boys and inculcating in them a sense of superiority over women.
Amanda Irvine, Enniskillen Collegiate School, Co Fermanagh
In recent years some forms of the media have frequently intruded into the private lives of politicians, pop stars and others among the rich and famous in the hopes of obtaining malicious scandal. I do not disagree with informing the public of matters which might directly affect them, but I think this type of behaviour is highly inconsiderate. While the resulting reports may be of some interest to the majority of the public, the question must be raised as to whether this "news" is really worth knowing when it causes so much hurt and grief.
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