- Media's message Media sends a three-letter message: S E X Date published: 9/13/2010 YOU KNOW THOSE sexy song lyrics, those explicit movie scenes, those TV shows in which people "hook up"? Do they affect teenagers' sexual behavior? Yes, says the American Academy of Pediatrics, and it's time for the media to do something about it. In a policy statement called "Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media," the AAP outlines the strong influences that the media--television, music, magazines, movies, and the Internet--have on our kids. American children and teens spend an average of 7 hours a day with these media. In the process, they're exposed to: TV: Over 75 percent of prime-time shows contain sexual content. Only 14 percent mention the risks or responsibilities of sex. Some reality shows bring participants together for the solitary purpose of seeing who "hooks up." Music: Over 40 percent of lyric lines contain sexual material, but only 6 percent convey healthy sexual messages. Degrading sexual messages are common. Movies: "Virtually every R-rated teen movie since the 1980s has contained at lease one nude scene and often, several instances of sexual intercourse," the AAP states. What's more, views of romance and normal adolescent sexuality are "distorted." Magazines: Those geared toward teens devote an average of 2.5 pages to sexual topics. The most common topic is deciding when to lose one's virginity. Internet: The Web is an "abundant source of both sexual information and pornography that cannot be regulated," states the position paper. Social-networking sites allow teens to "present themselves," often in a sexual way. Twenty percent of teens have sent or posted nude pictures or videos of themselves. Ads: Sell everything from "rice to roach killers" with sex. Erectile-dysfunction ads are particularly commonplace. Meanwhile, ads for contraceptives--which could reduce teen pregnancy--are banned. Nine longitudinal studies covering over 10,000 teens confirm that the media make a difference in kids' sexual activity. Early exposure to sexual content doubles the risk of teen pregnancy, and listening to sexually degrading song lyrics is associated with earlier sexual intercourse. But teens whose parents control their TV viewing habits are "less sexually experienced." The AAP would like the media to convey more "socially responsible" messages about sex and promote parent-child communication on the subject. It also suggests that kids limit media exposure to less than two hours a day and that parents make sure their teens don't have televisions or Internet access in their bedrooms. Forty-six percent of high-school seniors have had sex, according to the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Study, and 14 percent have had four or more sexual partners. A quarter of teens have a sexually transmitted infection. With statistics like those, the docs of the AAP are concerned. We should be, too. (fredericksburg.com)