One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter discusses the role of mass media in school crime. Media culture--the knowledge, techniques, and assumptions used by people who construct media messages--is shown to contribute to public definitions of and beliefs about the nature of "youth." It is suggested that young people also learn appropriate ways of being "youthful" from mass media, and that these activities may be at odds with the perspective of parents, school officials, and other adults. Gaps in existing knowledge about the relevance of mass media messages to youth culture are noted, along with promising research topics. (Author)