Sexuality on Television and Teen Pregnancy

Essay 3
By
Nichole Crawford

We live in a society that is fueled by instant gratification, exaggerated sexuality and an ever-increasing lack of moral values. Through both poor role models and a highly sexualized media, the adolescents of today are constantly presented with a “lassiez-faire” projection of sex. Rarely do these images accurately portray the very real damage that irresponsibility and a lack of planning can do to the lives of young adults. In fact, some of the portrayals in today’s media do just the opposite, by encouraging teens to behave irresponsibly in regard to their sex lives. This is evidence in reality-style shows like “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant”, which glorify teen sexuality and the consequences it can lead to. By airing television shows about teen moms on television, we are encouraging our young girls to repeat the behavior they see. Glorifying these girls’ choices to have unprotected sex at such a young age is irresponsible. There is little doubt in anyone’s mind of the turbulence that accompanies adolescence. It is a hormone-filled roller coaster of confusion, excitement and increased interest in sexuality. In recent years, with the internet boom and the increase in available television channels, it has become the norm for sex to be the topic in almost any available programming. From regular primetime shows to cable shows to commercials, sex can be found as a central theme. With children, teenagers, and young adults being exposed to so much sexuality, we can assume that it must have an impact on the development of their sexuality and their sexually-based decisions. The parents of teenagers and their children participated in one study in which they were asked questions in an attempt to determine how the media influenced them sexually (Werner-Wilson 303-311). The results were conclusive, and showed that teens did not believe the media had much influence of their decisions. Their parents, however, expressed more concern. As one parent put it the images on television were “pornography set to music” (page 310) and the concern was widespread that it would have a negative impact on their children’s’ choices. This is a concern that should not be easily dismissed. The study concluded that the teens were essentially unaware of the influence the media had on their decision making (311). Because it is unlikely for teenagers to be able to make a distinction on their own, parents should make an effort to sit with their children on occasion and observe their television choices, to monitor their intake of televised sexuality and discuss the unhealthy or dangerous decisions being made in the programming. Essentially, parents should assume a watchful and careful role in their children’s television decisions. We can hope that by taking such an interest in the television programming their children watch, parents can ward off any negative influence that sexually-charged programming can have on behavior. Another such study performed in a Northeastern high school had a goal of profiling television use among high school television viewers, with a specific interest in the sexual content in these programs (Schooler, pg. 484-508). The study divided the participants into groups and measured the amount of sexual content in each group’s television consumption. They found that the programs with higher sexual content was viewed by more of the study participants as a whole then were the programs with low sexual content, regardless of the genre of the show (503). This finding suggests that these adolescents do not realize the extent to which they are influences by the sexual content, because they believed that they were choosing the shows based on the genre, not the sexual content. As the author of the study findings puts it: “it appears that some teens who regularly watch higher levels of sexual content may be doing so somewhat inadvertently (504).” This finding further emphasizes the need for parents to take an active role in helping their teenagers become aware of what they are watching, and how it impacts their thinking and behavior, because if they are unknowingly watching these highly sexualized shows, they may also unknowingly behave in a way that is portrayed in these programs. When taking these facts into consideration regarding teen sexuality and teen pregnancy, it can be safely assumed that these shows play at least a small role in the way that today’s teens view sexuality and, in turn, their own sexual behavior. One form of sexual content that poses a particular problem is so-called “reality” television. Shows that show romantic and sexual themes, presented in a realistic format give teenagers, especially female teenagers, a false sense of reality. The shows fail to depict accurate scenarios in the dating world, which leads to unrealistic expectations. When combined with insufficient knowledge about the dangers of risky sexual behavior, the shows perpetuate the possible problems that exist for teenagers in both romantic and sexual scenarios. These shows, while being called “reality TV” are unrealistic about the actual dating world as it exists today. Rarely do the characters on these shows experience real consequences from their behavior, such as pregnancy or STD’s, and in that sense, they fail to prepare the viewers for what is actual reality. This leads teens into situations with unrealistic expectations for their own encounters. In a study performed to determine the correlation between romantically themed reality television and teenage behavior, it was found that “[Romantically themed reality television] is a significant of girls’ frequency of sexual conversations with their peers and boys’ perceptions of the sexual experience levels of their peers (Vandenbosch, page 578).” When these shows are viewed adolescents who watch them talk about sex more frequently with their friends; without also increasing the frequency of educational conversations about sex, this increases the risk of sexually irresponsible behavior. These shows do not depict sex and romance in a way that encourages furthered learning about responsible sex, rather, it depicts sex as having little or no consequences in the lives of the people engaging in it. It is human nature that the things to which we devote our energy become increasingly a part of our lives, so if the adolescent’s time is increasingly spent watching sexually themed television, and then subsequently talking about it, they will spend an increasing amount of time involved in related behaviors. This leads to an increased risk of unplanned pregnancy and STD’s simply because the amount of sexual experiences should increase according to the amount of time spent watching and then discussing sexually themed television and other media. Not only does a sexually-themed medium increase the likelihood of sexual behavior in adolescents, but it also increases the likelihood that teens will experience consequences or regrets after such behavior. For example, after watching and discussing a show with a high amount of sexual content, a female teenage viewer may go and behave similarly to a character on the show. She may be misguided in her expectation because of the outcome on the show, and when her encounter fails to meet her expectations, she may come to regret her experience. Not only is regret a very real risk, but if the shows fails to depict necessary protection use by the character, it is likely that the teen may not think to use such measures in her own encounters. In this way, television content about romantic and sexual encounters sets adolescents for disappointment and an increased risk of unwanted consequences. According to one study involving teens’ media exposure to sex and the likelihood of regretting their first sexual encounter: “teenagers exposed to high levels of sex on television will be more likely than their peers to regret their first sexual experience” (Berry, page 93). While this may be related to an emotional aspect of the encounter, it is also fairly likely that it is due to the experience of unwanted consequences to the sexual behavior such as pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. The study found also that increased television exposure led to earlier sexual experiences and also states that “earlier age at first sex is correlated with elevates risks of both pregnancy and STD’s. (Berry, 97)” Given these findings, as well as the findings in other studies regarding the media influence on adolescents, we can draw the following conclusions. First, teenagers who watch television programming are largely unaware of the influence it has on their own personal sexual behavior. Parents of such teens seem to be more aware of the influence it can have, although are unlikely to try to change the media intake of their children. Secondly, the viewing of sexual media leads to an increase in discussions of, and possibly involvement in, sexual activity. The involvement in such activity is rarely paired with education about sexual safety when it is influenced by sexual media. Lastly, teens who watch a high volume of sexually themed television are more likely to regret their first sexual experience. This can be because of unrealistic expectations, or can come from unwanted consequences such as STD’s and pregnancy. All of these facts should be taken into consideration when choosing what to allow our children to watch. While it would be nearly impossible to completely eliminate sexual content, it is possible and probably necessary to attempt to regulate it for children and teenagers. By doing so, we can probably reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Works Cited
Berry, Sandra H et al. “It’s Better on TV: Does Television Set Teenagers Up For Regret Following Sexual Initiation?” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Volume 41, Number 2, June 2009. Pages 92-96. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012
Schooler, Deborah et al. “Beyond Exposure: A Person-Oriented Approach to Adolescent Media Diets” Journal of Research on Adolescence; Volume 19 (3) 2009, Page 484-508. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012
Vandenbosch, Laura, and Steven Eggermont. "Temptation Island, The Bachelor, Joe Millionaire : A Prospective Cohort Study On The Role Of Romantically Themed Reality Television In Adolescents ' Sexual Development." Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 55.4 (2011): 563-580. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.
Werner-Wilson, Ronald Jay et al. “Adolescent and Parent Perceptions of Media Influence on Adolescent Sexuality” Adolescence; summer 2004, Vol. 39 Issue 154, p303-313. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012

Cited: Berry, Sandra H et al. “It’s Better on TV: Does Television Set Teenagers Up For Regret Following Sexual Initiation?” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Volume 41, Number 2, June 2009. Pages 92-96. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012 Schooler, Deborah et al. “Beyond Exposure: A Person-Oriented Approach to Adolescent Media Diets” Journal of Research on Adolescence; Volume 19 (3) 2009, Page 484-508. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012 Vandenbosch, Laura, and Steven Eggermont. "Temptation Island, The Bachelor, Joe Millionaire : A Prospective Cohort Study On The Role Of Romantically Themed Reality Television In Adolescents ' Sexual Development." Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 55.4 (2011): 563-580. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. Werner-Wilson, Ronald Jay et al. “Adolescent and Parent Perceptions of Media Influence on Adolescent Sexuality” Adolescence; summer 2004, Vol. 39 Issue 154, p303-313. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2012