Effects of Television Content on Adolescents

As I was doing some research I came across this interesting article about the effects of television on sexual activity of adolescents. Here is the link if you want to take a look: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9068/index1.html

The article discusses two recent studies and their findings. The first showed that the amount of sexual content that adolescents view on television can result in sooner initiation of sexual activity. The study looked at 1762 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. They were surveyed in regards to their sexual experiences as well as the amount and type of television they watch. One year later they were surveyed on the same information. There were three categories of sexual content that they looked at. The first one was the amount of kissing, touching and depictions of sex. Second they looked at amount of discussion about sexual desires and plans, and third they analyzed amount of talk about sexual risks, waiting, and contraception. They found that those who reported watching the highest levels of category one or two content were more likely to have initiated sex one year later. Furthermore, those who viewed the highest amounts of category one or two content compared to those who viewed the least were two times more likely to have initiate sex one year later.

The second study analyzed effects of watching a single episode of the television show Friends. In this particular episode one of the main characters found out that she was pregnant even though she used a condom. The episode gives specific facts about condom efficacy. The results of surveys taken after watching the episode showed that the majority believed condoms to be effective, 10% talked about condoms with their parents after viewing the episode, and the majority of those who discussed with their parents said that their perceptions of condom use were changed. It was found that 1.67 million adolescents watched this episode when it first aired.

The results of both of these studies indicate that adolescents do pay attention to what they are watching and develop their values and morals accordingly. In addition they demonstrate that information about contraction can help education and increase communication with parents regarding sensitive issues.

I think that this information will be helpful in proving that media has an effect on virginity. It will also demonstrate that this effect is not always negative. I will continue to look at the effects of media by looking at other sources such as music, movies, and the internet.

RAND Health Publications. (2004). Does Watching Sex on Television Influence

Teens’ Sexual Activity? Retrieved November 10 2010 from

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9068/index1.html