1.0 Introduction
This report is critically analyzing the sexual content in the television shows and how it is affecting teenagers. Statistically the average teenager spends three hours of watching television a day. The typical modern television program contains an enormous quantity of sexual content from harmless kissing to scenes of intercourse. Usually sex is presented as a normal activity without any serious consequences. According to many studies it is a known fact that the stories which the immature teenagers are watching on the television can influence their lives. The media portrayals involving sexuality are contributing to the sexual socialization of young people.
Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.
Not surprisingly the lack of useful sexual information is one of the reasons of the spreading sex related diseases. According to The American Social Health Association (1998) each year there are near ten million of new cases of sexually transmitted diseases among the teenage...
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...sages could be found in more than half of the television programs (1999). 56 percent of the television shows have some sexual content, such talking about sex or sexual behavior.
A statistic from the same research shows that in the typical television show there are more than three sexual related scenes per hour. As it is said in the introduction of the report the average teenager is spending more than twenty hours per week in watching television (Nielsen, 1998), so this is why television programs are influencing mostly on younger viewers.
There is no doubt that the modern television shows have too much sexual content, which could have bad influence on youngsters. There is no way that the sexual content could be removed or reduced, but with providing more health information it could help many young people make the right choice, which in some case may be life-saving.
A review of the contemporary research on the negative effects of pornography is replete of scholarly and anecdotal evidence and opinion about the damages associated with viewing it. But the evidence is limited when it comes to criticism of mainstream media’s damages to certain groups, particularly young women with their romantic comedies.
Hibberd, James "Tuned-in kids get turned on earlier; study links adult-aimed TV to sex at younger age." Hollywood Reporter 409.35 (2009): 6+. General OneFile. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
As the years progress, the influence of sex has taken a more profound effect on teenagers. Nowadays, it seems that sex is everywhere. The television shows, the Internet, magazines and even the movies almost always have a “sex scene” in them or portray sex in some sort of way. Because the industry is realizing that teens are having sex, (unprotected sex at that) they are now producing a number of commercials where they ...
This addition of multiple different depictions of same-sex couples and gay and lesbian people by television is being widely praised by the LBGT community. It makes the idea of homosexuality more common and representative of the actual community.
...he realization of having sex to young and getting pregnant. Even though these shows reveal some struggle that these young girls have being pregnant and having to raise a child at a young age, I also believe it shows the fascination of it, young girls are impressionable and they only see the families helping these girls, the fun to play dress up and buy nice things for a baby. To a girl that may just want to feel loved or have something to love these shows may give the wrong impression of the way to receive it. I do not believe any show of this nature can help the generation of the girls today. I believe any television show or music that exploits sex, nudity, or body image should be banned or never published to save this generation. Social media needs to have stricter bans with signing up to their sites to try and eliminate under age children to experience it.
16 & Pregnant is a TV show aired on MTV that as the name suggests, focuses on the lives of various teens who are pregnant whilst still in high school; each tells a different story. In these episodes, viewers are able to observe the struggles these teens face as a result of pregnancy during pubescent development. Controversy has been made as a result of the release of this show; this left viewers torn between whether 16 & Pregnant discourages teen pregnancy or shrouds it within curiosity. There is more than sufficient evidence to say that 16 & Pregnant, does in fact discourage teen pregnancy for various reasons. According to the New York Times report, the National Bureau of Economic Research compared Nielsen television ratings to birth records, and concluded that in areas where teens viewed MTV more after the debut of 16 & Pregnant, there was a rapid decline of teen pregnancy rates when compared to other areas that viewed it less frequently although some believe the show glamorizes the subject matter. Some also believe that it encourages the teens to disrespect their parents in every way possible; quite to the contrary, watching 16 & Pregnant is very beneficial to discouraging teen pregnancy and family problems by displaying the hardships these teens face, teaching the importance of completing high school and encouraging viewers to use various contraceptives methods or practice abstinence.
“In 2005, out of 68% of TV shows that showed steamy sexual content, only 15% discussed risk and responsibility. And it’s not just movies and TV: Music, video games, and the Internet are also filled with sexually explicit, often-degrading messages that can shape kids’ attitudes about sex.” (greatschools.org)
...s. 90’s television has taken the issue of homosexuality and instead of being melodramatic and too serious, comedy was used to represent homosexual lifestyle. For example television shows such as ‘Queer Eye for Straight Guy’ as well as sitcoms like ‘Will and Grace and ‘Ellen’ made light of gay culture and allowed audiences to associate with the humour without necessarily being homosexual.
Society no longer considers teenage pregnancy to be something they are not aware of; it has always called for public attention (Coontz, 1992). Intentional framing of sexual encounters and sexual content has been increasing in past years (Brown & Newcomer, 1991). This is beginning to cause concern at a time when teenagers are starting to become sexually active and 25% of them have already been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (Institute of Medicine, 1997). About four million teens contract a sexually transmitted disease each year (Kaiser, 2013). In addition, the messages being portrayed may sometimes be incorrect and they do not help to promote sexual health to its audience.
In 1991, on LA Law, two women share the first same sex kiss on prime time television. A few years later, NBC’s hit show FRIENDS featured Ross Gellar’s ex wife as a lesbian, raining a child with her female partner. At the same time, the FOX network censored a gay same sex kiss on Melrose Place, a show known for pushing limits. Around the same time, censors and right wing groups were up in arms over a kiss shared by Roseanne and Mariel Hemmingway. In the end, that kiss was also censored.
The media has changed significantly over the past decades. Technology has modified our abilities to expand our communication network, and it allows companies to spread their commercials over many different continents. Research done by Roberts (1993) shows that adolescent and children are often very influenced by media that involves sexual or violent conduct. This research is based on media involving children and adolescents, however this does not eliminate the effect media has on adults (Singer & Singer, 2001, p. 269).
Young people especially the teenagers are sensitive and receptive to learning new things. The media provides more than they can handle. Access to different programs, shows, and movies affect the manner that the teenagers behave. Today, it is unfortunate to say that the media is becoming more sexual and violent than the older days, resulting in similar behaviors among the teens (Craig, & Baucum, 2001). By watching programs intended for the adults, teenagers are drifting even further. They start behaving like adults without the prerequisites of becoming one. This means that they have contents that do not match with their ages. And then terrible things begin – increased college dropouts, teenage pregnancies, and increased cases of suicides. Some teenagers who had bright future ahead of them will
“In 1986, then U. S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, published a report calling for sex education, including information on preventing the transmission of HIV virus through safe sex, to be instituted in public schools starting at elementary level. And, by 1988, 90 percent of all the schools in the nation offered some form of sex education program.” Although, sex education was introduced to children in school, it was not until the introduction of social media the rate of teen pregnancy has reduced. Today, the government agencies such as the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has introduced easy to use tools to communicate with the teens for this purpose via Facebook and Twitter as it believes in delivering the message through these
“The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics (p.26)”.
Sexual activity in the mass media is another negative influence on teenagers. The first example is early sexual intercourse. According to Stockwell, a research shows that teenagers who are exposed to a lot of sexual content on television are more to likely to have sex by 16 years of age than those with limited exposure.