A recent study revealed that teens who watch adult-themed television shows are more likely to have sex at a younger age.
The study included 754 participants who were monitored during childhood and again five years later when they were aged 12 to 18. The earlier in their life they were exposed to adult content; the earlier they became sexually active. (Read the complete story here.)
It’s proven that media and television are the leading sources for information on sex and relationships for teenagers.
Let me break it down…
Lucy, 14, is a faithful Sex and the City viewer. She watches the reruns on TBS. She loves Carrie’s devotion to her journalism career and how she uses her relationship with Big to gain readers and celebrity status. Lucy soon becomes addicted to the show, watching it against her mother’s will. In the meantime, Lucy starts liking a boy who goes to her school. She wants to know how to get his attention. Lucy doesn’t feel comfortable talking to her mom about it, so she adopts the “techniques” used by the show’s Samantha character. In Lucy’s mind, this is the right way to go because “Samantha gets all the hot guys.”
Samantha is known for exploiting her sexuality and using it to get what she wants. Lucy mimics this. A few weeks later, Lucy is known as the school whore.
Am I exaggerating the study’s results? Nope.
According to David Bickham, staff scientist in the Center on Media and Child Health, “Children have neither the life experience nor the brain development to fully differentiate between a reality they are moving toward and a fiction meant solely to entertain.”
In other words, they don’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s fake.
While what is viewed on television or in movies play a role in child’s actions, parents can follow these guidelines (suggested by the American Academy of Pediatrics) to decrease the chances of it having a negative effect on their child:
- No television in the bedroom
- No more than 1 to 2 hours of screen time a day
- Co-view television programs and have an open dialogue about its content
What do you think? Is influence of media that big? Can parents change the way adolescents think about sex? Who’s to blame?
1 response so far ↓
amandahayes // May 7, 2009 at 3:12 pm |
Alexia, great post! This is a topic that I find completely distressing, as I have two little sisters and hope to join the wonderful world of motherhood someday…
The media ABSOLUTELY has a HUGE influence on girls, even before they reach the teenage years. Clothes, body image, sexual behavior, young girls look to their “idols” for guidance — and the media makes these “idols” (Miley Cyrus et. al.) feel like they need to be sexy… at 13!
As we learned in Intro to Mass Comm. so long ago, the media doesn’t tell us what to think, but what to think about. The media tells these girls to think about their sexual appeal before they even know what that is — scary!
I know my mother taught me what she felt was appropriate, but did that override peer pressure? Of course not! These girls are looking to their peers, in the media and those influenced by the media, to gauge their own self worth.
My favorite example of this media-induced sex appeal is the Bratz dolls… Check it out! http://www.commercialexploitation.org/news/risquedolllimit.htm
Great topic!