The Effects of Televised Sexual Content on Adolescents -

Home
>
Parenting
>
The Effects of Televised Sexual Content on Adolescents

The Effects of Televised Sexual Content on Adolescents

According to a September 2004 study by the RAND Corporation, "Adolescents who watch large amounts of television containing sexual content are twice as likely to begin engaging in sexual intercourse in the following year as their peers who watch little such TV." In addition, the National Institutes of Health-funded study found that these children's sexual behavior was akin to those adolescents who were 9 to 17 months older, but who watched only average amounts of TV with sexual content.

"Television habits predicted whether adolescents went to 'second or third base,' as well as whether they had sex for the first time," said Rebecca Collins, a RAND psychologist who led the study. "The 12-year-olds who watched a lot of television with sexual content behaved like the 14- or 15-years-olds who watched the least amount of sexual television. The advancement in sexual behavior we saw among kids who watched a lot of sexual television was striking."

This alarming trend occurs within the context of ever-increasing amounts of implicit and over sexual content on television. As reported by the Parents Television Council, "In a sample of programming from the 2001-2002 TV season, sexual content appeared in 64% of all TV programs. Those programs with sexually related material had an average of 4.4 scenes per hour. Talk of sex is more frequent (61%) vs. overt portrayals (32%). One out of every 7 programs includes a portrayal of sexual intercourse." According to the RAND study, talk of sex had just as much of an effect on adolescent sexual behavior as overt behaviors.

Sexual behavior among U.S. teens is on the rise. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 46% of all high school students have had sexual intercourse. The National Institutes of Health has found that, each year, one of every four sexual active teens contracts a sexually transmitted disease. Teen pregnancy in the U.S. is also the highest among industrialized nations.

Now, more than ever, parents need to be concerned about what their children are watching on television. The first step parents need to take is to monitor the content of the shows their adolescents watch. According to RAND researcher Collins, "The impact of television viewing is so large that even a moderate shift in the sexual content of adolescent TV watching could have a substantial effect on their sexual behavior."

Other important steps you can take to curb or mitigate your children's exposure to sexual content on television include:

Watch TV with your children and discuss your beliefs about sex and about the sexual behaviors portrayed on TV.
Develop TV-watching guidelines for your children and enforce them.
Limit the amount of time your children watch TV. Instead, use family movie reviews to rent movies with appropriate content.
Encourage and reward your children for reading instead of watching TV.
Encourage your children to find and develop non-television related hobbies and interests.

By taking these simple steps, you can help to ensure that your adolescents' attitudes and beliefs about sex more closely mirror your own, and that their sexual initiation is delayed.

Brent Sitton is the founder of DiscoveryJourney.com. DiscoveryJourney has a variety of tools available to give parents help to avoid the effects of media sexual content, such as a child book list and movie list with media free of sexual content. Discovery Journey's Children's Book Review and Family Movie Review include a list of positive character traits and negative behaviors, along with a Character Score that helps parents select appropriate child entertainment.

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story%3Fid%3D5966909%26page%3D1cid=1254838181ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNH4X8Rvt0tp-YM2LsOquu2Kf3J5Swimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=_zHilX8P_ngJimgurl=a.abcnews.com/images/Health/ap_ford_mykey_081006_mn.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2ABC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/519728.html%3Fnav%3D5004cid=1254838181ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNEiVBXP1yX7Ec5AFw1eSeeYLw4mIQbParenting/b and technology — is it protection or control?/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMinot Daily News,nbsp;NDnbsp;-/font nobr18 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Big Brother may be keeping a closer eye on you soon, with help from your bparents/b. Thanks to a new feature that will be standard on some 2010 Ford models, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007890.htmlcid=1254838181ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNEc2qwE_3-ywzvRG4I9fIpVAwx3hAMyKey Turns Your Ford Focus into Your Mom/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrPC World/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/3147296/Parents-to-control-how-fast-children-drive.htmlcid=1254838181ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNHSrg3gcV87BGlgee7kOUyXkRauQQbParents/b to control how fast children drive/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/car-tech/ford-launches-mykey-parental-controls-for-cars-474055cid=1254838181ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNGSRmW7kFY0No_PSa2yWF7ewC8nLAFord launches MyKey parental controls for cars/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTechRadar.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/young-at-the-wheel-and-at-risk/%3Fhpcid=1254838181ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNGxSzFSE9DmwAtofoQdxA4iILt4zwnobrNew York Times/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254838181hl=ennobrall 853 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/10/06/news/100708lradoptionban.txtcid=1255049213ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNEwo4fBgd0KgT1ZC327PIBAjmD0lARetired Judges Oppose Adoption, Foster bParenting/b Ban/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Morning News,nbsp;ARnbsp;-/font nobr16 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-11 would limit the ability of every Arkansas judge to choose custodial bparents/b who would serve the best interests of vulnerable children, the group said in a b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.pr-inside.com/author-shares-method-for-parenting-on-r848042.htmcid=0ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNHW75bRmsyy2-_R2R3eB28FEDCvcwAuthor shares method for #39;bParenting/b on Purpose#39; to benefit children/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung),nbsp;Austrianbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By extending his advice to bparents/b and guardians of children between the ages of birth and ten, he empowers them through his own encounters and special b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20081007/NEIGHBORS01/810079951/-1/NEIGHBORScid=0ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNHRhpu5FWNmp65TiT1mj3TyJC81AgAttend first of five bparenting/b talks/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNashua Telegraph,nbsp;NHnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1bParent/b-to-bParent/b and the Milford Police Department will present the first of a series of five bparent/b-planned interactive talks for bparents/b of elementary and b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/lifestyles/local/article/advocacy_center_helps_with_challenges_of_parenting/39850/cid=0ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNEsZ9kbgQ6KH-GEK1ek4jucFbMhjQAdvocacy center helps with challenges of bparenting/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDothan Eagle,nbsp;ALnbsp;-/font nobr11 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1However, most bparents/b struggle to meet these requirements daily with little guidance and support, according to Liz Martin, program director at the Southeast b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.dailynet.de/International/26906.phpcid=1255151621ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNEC1fkNdUtcom-oVXEukXtTYFXJ9QG+J launches quot;bParenting/b Networkquot; as first transnational online project/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDailynet,nbsp;Germanynbsp;-/font nobr12 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1October – G+J International is establishing a new international bparenting/b network, based on the German ELTERN.de website, in a move which represents G+J#39;s b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.digtriad.com/news/gms/article.aspx%3Fstoryid%3D111993%26catid%3D67cid=0ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNGZHfBz20-oOV7vViu2chWJxPuLpgbParenting/b Wisely: Sibling Rivalry amp; Assertive Discipline/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWFMY News 2,nbsp;NCnbsp;-/font nobr10 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1This week, the bParenting/b Wisely seminars in Thomasville take on sibling issues. bParenting/b expert Terri Nelson joins us this morning. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.modbee.com/1597/story/454590.htmlcid=0ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNFPcqrYFyc2f2saW0DrKxckKlQmuQbParenting/b Tips/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fModesto Bee,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr12 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Tom McMahon One of the biggest mistakes bparents/b make is not following through with a threat or rule. Kids know immediately that they don#39;t have to comply b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.rankinledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20081007/OPINION/810070307/1005cid=0ei=4OXrSPDxAqGO6APHjp38CAusg=AFQjCNFK5dVlt0T0aW1ovWjEv2fRPFtzuwTen things I#39;ve learned about bparenting/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fRankin Ledger,nbsp;MSnbsp;-/font nobr16 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Leilani Salter I f you were a fan of our bparenting/b Web site, mississippimoms.com, you#39;ve probably noticed that it has changed. It#39;s now momslikeme.com b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

parenting - Google News