According to a September 2004 study by the RAND Corporation, "Adolescents who watch large amounts of TV with sexual content are twice as likely to start having sex in the next year than their peers who watch little such TV." In addition, the National Institutes of Health-funded study found that sexual behavior of these children was similar to adolescents who were between 9 and 17 months, but saw only the average amounts of TV with sexual content. "Television habits predicted whether adolescents went to" second base or third time, 'just as if they had sex for the first time, "said Rebecca Collins, a RAND psychologist who led the study." The 12-year-old they saw a lot of TV with sexual content behaved like the 14 -. O 15 years old who saw the least amount of sexual television Progress in sexual behavior we saw among the children who watched a lot of sexual television was striking. "This alarming trend occurs in the context of increasing numbers and more implicit sexual content on television. As reported by the Council of Parents Television," In a sample of the programming of the 2001-2002 television season, sexual content appeared in 64% of all TV programs. Programs with sexual content was related to an average of 4.4 scenes per hour. Talking about sex is more frequent (61%) vs open representations (32%). One in seven programs includes a portrayal of sex. "According to the RAND study, talking about sex was as much of an effect on adolescent sexual behavior in overt behaviors. Sexual behavior among U.S. adolescents is increasing. According to the U.S. Centers Control and Prevention, 46% of all high school students have had sex. The National Institutes of Health has found that each year, one in four sexually active teens contracts a sexually transmitted disease. Teen pregnancy in the U.S. is also the highest among industrialized countries. Now more than ever, parents should be concerned about what their kids are watching on television. Parents need to take first step is to control the content of the sample of adolescents watch. According to the RAND researcher Collins, "The impact of television is so great that even a moderate change in the sexual content of adolescent TV watching could have a substantial effect on sexual behavior."
Other important steps you can take to reduce or mitigate their children's exposure to sexual content on television include:
Watch TV with your children and talk about their beliefs about sex and sexual behaviors portrayed on television.
Develop guidelines for TV watching their children and enforce them.
Limit the amount of time your children watch television. Instead, the film comments family use to rent movies with the right content.
Encourage and reward their children to read instead of watching TV.
Encourage your children to find and develop hobbies not related to television and interests.
By taking these simple steps, you can help ensure that their teenagers' attitudes and beliefs about sex more closely mirror their own, and delayed sexual initiation.
