Link Between Teen Sex and Sex on Television

Over the years, it seems that television has become much more sexualized. It is hard to turn on the television without seeing at least one scene where there is at least some sexuality being displayed, whether it is through the way a person is dressing or acting.

Many studies have been done over the years to see if there is a positive correlation between the sex on television and teenagers having sex at a younger age. In September of 2004, a study of 1792 children ages 12-17, conducted by the RAND Corporation , showed that watching sex on television influences teens to have sex. It showed that children who watched more sex on television were more likely to initiate intercourse and “progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities in the year following the beginning of the study”.

Over time, television stations such as MTV, VH1 and E!, among others, have aired shows that have arguably taught children more about sex then sex education classes. One example is the television series Undressed that aired in 1999, which examined the different sexual relationships of teens varying in ages, including high school, college and post-college students, gender, sexual orientation and races. This show in itself lent not much to the imagination when dealing with sex. Check out the trailer below:

In 2008 The Washington Post published an article that talked about the link between TV sex to real teen pregnancies. Like the previous study by RAND, this study showed that among the 718 youths who reported being sexually active during the study, the likelihood of getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant increased with the amount of sexual content they watched on television. For more information on the study, click here.

Overall, throughout the studies that have been done, it is obvious that sexuality in the media has influenced youths to participate in sexual activity at an earlier and younger age. Personally, I know that teen pregnancy is becoming more common even among the younger generations that I went to high school with.

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