Human Sexuality

Unita Sharlow

HE 52
Prof Kramwinkel
Sunday 20th 2013

“There is growing concern about young people's exposure to sexual content through television and other electronic media and about its potential effects on their sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Researchers have documented the growing prevalence of sexual talk and portrayals of sexual behavior in televised media, as well as associations between adolescent viewing patterns and their sexual activities.”
Believe it or not 80 percent of all of our favorite cable programs content sexual activities, even the music videos we allow our children to watch every morning while they are getting ready for school. 90 percent of which we as guardians do not screen correctly and feel as if it their just entertainment; nothing to serious. Which sadly is the one of the main factors that contributes to one of the highest pregnancy rate amongst teens in the western hemisphere.

One of main messages and issues that relates to sexuality, is the increase of sexual intercourse amongst the preteen and young adult generations. The messages that are transmitted in the music, shows, movies, magazines, and books allows young teens to believe there is nothing wrong with being a little promiscuous and it’s all about self control. It is a bit difficult to say it is about self-control when 50 percent of their lives are influenced by what they see and hear their idols do and say. For example songs like Invented Sex by Trey Songz, S&M by Rihanna, Body party by Ciara and etc. are being played by the second on every car stereo, and listened to through headphones with just right amount of bass to make the feeling/ music feel so real that it awake a sensation that cause an instead sexual crave.
The way the media presents sexuality amongst teens seem be accepted, it praises 16 years olds and their journey through adolescent pregnancy. It almost leads them to believe that life is all about fast money, luxury cars, superbly enhanced body parts and a crave for sexual desire to be just fine, and not about the fact that education should be your top goal in life. The media isn’t aware on the risk that they put this young generations in, and their contribution to the quickly developing pregnancies rate amongst the ages 13 to 18 age range not knowing that 75 percent of them do not go on to continuing their education and those that actually do never finish their 4 year college degrees. My opinion on the affects that the media has on the human sexuality has change after writing this paper; I never realize how much of an affected it actually had on the young mind and even on young adults like myself. Many say its about self control and knowing what’s real and what’s not but my beliefs are that we all allow the media to consume almost 60 to 65 percent of our daily lives without even knowing it, it baffles me that we are so brain washed to the point that it goes undetected. I grew in a generation where your TV time was limited to an 1 hour, every book you read was prescreened by your parents, songs were family friendly and every friend you had was predetermined for you and whether or not you were allowed to befriend them. This generation is in for a rude awaken hopefully as guardians, parents, and older siblings that we feel the need to closely watch our children and help undo the damage that has been done to their young minds already and reinstallation the fundamental of abstinence and education back into this generation.