Teen Media Study

Study Proves Impact of Media Sex

What is really happening when they watch TV?

They finally proved what we have known all along. Recent studies by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill show that the more sexually explicit material teens see on television, the more likely they are to have premarital sex. Who would have guessed?

Now that we know that sex in the media is affecting teens, should we be worried? And what can we do to stop its influence? Let’s start by taking a look at what they are watching.

The Influence of TV
Desperate Housewives is one of the most favored and talked about shows among teens today. Gaining their hearty approval, teens even awarded lead actress Eva Longoria with this year’s favorite Female Breakout Actress during the Teen Choice Awards.

To give you a little taste for what the show is like, here is a brief synopsis of one of the episodes: A brother and sister, mad at their mother, plan on getting back at her by seducing her new love interest. After many failed attempts from the sister to effectively seduce him, the brother, a homosexual, decides to give it his best. He successfully coerces the older man into having intimate homosexual relations with him in his own mother’s bed. The episode showed scenes of the two males in bed together.

This is one of America’s top TV shows, second only to American Idol! Take a step back and examine the lessons that are being ingrained in the heart of your teen.

Messages from TV

1. Homosexuality and bisexuality are normal, prevalent, and acceptable.
2. It’s common for teenage boys to sleep with older men. In fact, it’s a good way to make your parent’s mad.
3. Parents in the average household have multiple sexual partners, and it’s okay for you to be sexually active and have multiple partners too.

Alarming? Of course! It used to be that kids would just stick their tongues out behind that parent’s back, but now they are having homosexual relations with their parent’s love interests. What has happened?

In another episode, the mother asks her housekeeper to be the surrogate mother for a child she and her husband want to have. When she finds out that the housekeeper is a virgin and wants to save herself for marriage, she mocks the housekeeper for trying to keep her purity, relating virginity to an old fad of the 50’s that is not coming back in style, and says that if she ever wanted to marry a wealthy husband, he will only want her if she is “experienced.”

More TV Messages

1. Sex has no deep significance.
2. Sex is an elite practice where those who have the most experience are most valued, more important, and more successful.
3. You are a naïve lower class citizen who hasn’t reached social maturity yet if you think you should save yourself for marriage.
4. Being prudent sexually or remaining abstinent is something that you associate with old fads, boredom, and stupidity.
5. Sexual promiscuity has no consequences.

Messages like these are all over the mass media in some of the most watched television shows. In CSI, sex is mentioned in almost every single episode and there are actual graphic sex scenes right on the screen. In the OC, the teen characters regularly discuss their sex lives and go on missions to help each other improve them. The entire network of MTV--teen’s favorite channel--has so much sexual content that we don’t even know where to start.

In fact, rarely do you see positive images of teens that aren’t having sex. The most successful, beautiful, fulfilled characters in Hollywood are fit young people in glamorous sexual relationships.

Compared to the Truth
Now, just look at these messages. Not a single one of them is true; yet, they are the very messages teaching and influencing teens today. Beware, you may have told your teen the truth, but is that what really influences them? Often what a person sees and hears the most is what that person will believe. Make sure Hollywood is not raising your teen.

If the information on what was contained in today’s television shows did not shock you, consider what has shaped your views of sex and take a look at what the Word of God has to say about sex and relationships:

• Man shall be the husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:6)
• Homosexuality is immoral and an abomination to God (Lev. 18:22, 1 Tim. 1:9-11)
• Do not commit adultery (Deut. 5:18)
• You can commit adultery by just looking at a woman lustfully (Matt. 5:27-28)
• Love your wife (Eph. 5:25, Col. 3:19)
• Respect your husband (Eph. 5:33)
• Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Prov. 4:23)
• Do not arouse or awaken love before its time (Song 2:7, 3:5, 8:4)

As a parent, the best things you can do to keep your child from engaging in sexual behavior as a teen is to be a good model in the home. Second to that and almost equally important is to make sure that it is actually you that they are learning from, not Hollywood or disillusioned peers.

After knowing what scripture says, be proactive. Screen television shows and look for the messages they are sending. If they do not line up with scripture, throw them out. It is much more important to guard your life and be closer to God than it is to get your TV fix for the week.

Six Steps to a Healthy View of Sex
Parents and adults can lead young people through these steps, or teens can simply follow them themselves.

1. Write a list of your favorite shows.
2. Take a step back and do some research to find out what values this show is really portraying. (A great place to start is the Parents Television Council's Family Guide to Prime Time Television.)
3. Find out what scripture says about sex and what a healthy sexual relationship should be like, and compare that to the messages of your favorite shows.
4. Realize that your morality, purity, and future are more important than a television show.
5. Decide whether or not these shows are worth watching anymore. Parents, many times you will have to make this decision for your kids.

We are battling against what the world says about sex. Remember that no matter what we see on TV, romance and sex are precious and priceless gifts from the Lord.

As you work with a caring spirit to change teens’ view of sex, they will understand that you love them and care about them and will realize that they are worth having their purity preserved. If this message will seep into their hearts and take root, then they will be motivated to protect themselves from the mistake of premarital sex and the inappropriate messages that media sends.


Additional resources:
Parents Television Council
Battle Cry for a Generation


Sources:
School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina, The Charlotte Observer, American Decency Association


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