Teens May Be Sexually Influenced by the Media
March 20, 2011 by Admin
Filed under Film, TV, Ministry Today, Music, Technology, Youth & Young Adult
Does media promote and influence teens to engage in sex?
Reality TV celebrities as well as actors and actresses often become role models for teens. In the last few years, the trend of “carriage before marriage†in Hollywood has had rippling effects on teens. Many celebs have even been vocal against marriage and see it as “unnecessary to justify their relationship.â€
A 2006, CBS News report found that “Teens who see and hear a lot about sex in the media may be more than twice as likely to have early sexual intercourse as those who are rarely exposed to sexual content.â€
The report stated, “A new study shows that 12- to 14-year-olds exposed to the most sexual content in movies, music, magazines, and on television were 2.2 times more likely to have had sexual inter- course when re-interviewed two years later than their peers who had a lighter sexual media diet.â€
As for Black teens, the report concluded, “the relationship between sexual media diet and teen sex was not as clear after adjusting for other risk factors. The sexual activity of black teenagers was more significantly influenced by their parents’ attitudes about sex and their friends’ sexual behavior than what they saw or heard in the media.â€
Statistics confirm, “For girls, whose mothers were teenagers at the time of their birth, are over 80% more likely to become teenage mothers as well.†(Father Facts)
I strongly agree! When I heard a song by a famous female Rhythm and Blues artist say, “I was wondering maybe, if I make you a baby, and we do the unthinkable, wouldn’t that be beautiful…. what happened to marriage? I feel that movies, music, and music videos portray the wrong steps to having a successful relationship. the first thing you see in most movies is young people making arrangements to have sex! the songs talk about different ways to pleasure each other, but don’t have a story about love and relationships anymore. I remember a song my Christoher Williams and the song lyrics were, “Oh, girl, we should get married”… also a song from rap artist Heavy D about marrying his childhood sweetheart! What happened? I almost fainted when my 11 year old niece said, “you don’t need to get married to have a baby!” I always encourage youth to avoid music that talks about sex only! How can you have a successful relationship if sex is your only form of communication? the reality is that you cannot walk around with a bed on your back, or live in a music video. Whatever happened to parents taking control over what their kids listen to and watch on the television! I make sure when I have my nieces and nephews that the television and radio stay on age appropriate media! If I even see a young lady half-naked, or a man griding his pelvis against that young lady, “click, click – change the channel”! I don’t care how mad they get, I simply explain to them that their eyes are the windows to their souls! You must becareful of the things that you feed into your spirit! This will help young people down the line with keeping their desires under control, and avoid falling for foolishness..
It’s indeed a good post, helped me a lot.