On Jan. 17, MTV premiered their new dramatic series “Skins,” a show that goes into the lives of nine teenagers dealing with the obstacles of high school, which is an American version of a popular UK teen drama series also sharing the name of “Skins.”

The show opens with the main character, Tony, the popular guy, viewing a neighbor getting undressed in the window. Tony also has to distract his father with loud music while his sister sneaks into the house after a long night of heavy partying.

Later in the show, Tony makes it his mission to help his less experienced friend, Stanley, lose his virginity.

Tony, along with his popular love interest Michelle, which he calls Nips, decides that the best way to go about “helping” Stanley will be to have him use and buy marijuana so he can sleep with one of the girls at their school, Katie.

She was rumored to just been released from the hospital and is known for sleeping around and using heavy narcotics.

Tony thinks that Stanley being a virgin is almost like a plague or a burden stating that he can’t be friends with a virgin and is pressuring him into having sex.

The episode showcases the teenagers participating in scandalous activities such as pill popping, sex, underage drinking and excessive partying.

From the previews that have been shown for the past three months the show highlights underage drinking, drugs and sex.

The show over dramatizes and exaggerates how the modern day teenager acts. For example, when Stanley shrugs off a drug dealer fondling him or when Tony drives an SUV that he stole into the river with everyone in it while he’s distracted by ironically looking for “skins,” which is slang for rolling papers.

After they get out the car unharmed the only thing that they are concerned about is the fact that the marijuana was still in the car, not they just drove someone else’s car into a river.

The show depicts teenagers in today’s society as careless and worry free of consequences for their actions. Which isn’t how all teenagers act; in fact it’s not how most teenagers act.

• A’nae Johnson