A new study from the Rand Corporation shows, for the first time, a provable link between teens' exposure to sex on television and teen pregnancy. The strong connection--teens exposed to lots of t.v. sex are twice as likely to get pregnant or get someone pregnant than those not exposed--holds up even after taking other social factors into consideration.
The study conducted surveys with a large group of teens over three years, unlike previous studies that merely took one-time "snapshot" surveys. Its depth lends it further credibility.
Some teen parents confirmed the study anecdotally, agreeing that television sex had influenced their own decisions. But not Sandy Tomlinson of Glendale, Arizona, who had her son at age 15. Tomlinson said
"I feel that if my parents would have been more involved in my life that I would have made different choices. It gets old hearing all these studies that blame everything and everybody but the parents."
Most researchers and other experts agree that even if television can be proven to influence teens' decisions about sex, parents' and other adults' involvement in kids' lives cannot be discounted. Though parents may have limited control over increasingly pervasive media messages via t.v. computer, cell phone and in every private and public space imaginable, parents, teachers and other adults can teach media literacy to teens. Since contraceptive use is only "spotty" at best on the t.v. shows with the most sexual content, adults need to intervene by talking kids through the real consequences of risky behavior when watching with them.
And that's the take-away study author Anita Chandra would like parents to find:
"We know that parents are busy, but sitting down and watching shows together with their teen, talking about the character portrayals, talking about what they just witnessed, and really using it as a teachable moment is really, I think, a good recommendation from this research."
See also:
Evangelical Teens' Very Active Sex Lives
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