The new moral panic: teen pregnancy and television
By Ali the Sexpert
November 26, 2008
 In early November, an article was released by the Canadian Press indicating that teen pregnancy is on the rise and that this increase is related to teens watching television shows such as “Sex in the City.”
According to this research, “teens who watched the raciest shows were twice as likely to become pregnant over the next three years as those who watched few such programs.”
The historical debate
This is a controversial and age old debate. If you educate youth about sex, does it mean they will have more of it? Youth is defined differently in research studies, but generally, it refers to youth aged 12-17. In the past, abstinence only programs have been promoted as the only way to teach youth about sexuality. This is the programming that is offered in the USA – the country that has very high rates of teen pregnancy.
Research has shown time and again, that by avoiding talking about sexuality with youth and forbidding them to engage in sex, it only makes them want to do it more. That is why Canada has a comprehensive sex education policy that teaches the spectrum of abstinence to safer sex practices.
There has been enough evidence to support this kind of approach to teaching youth about sexuality, however there are still advocates for abstinence only programs that insist that it is best to never expose youth to sexuality of any kind.
This attitude towards teaching about sexuality is related to this recent research released by the Canadian Press which will be explored further in this article.
The current debate
According to the November issue of Pediatrics, teens who watched “racy” television shows were more likely to get pregnant. This study involved 2,000 12-to 17-year-old girls and boys nationwide, and they questioned the youth by telephone about their television viewing habits in 2001.
The teens who participated were then re-interviewed a second time in 2004, and the pregnancy rates were recorded. Television shows such as “Friends,” “That 70’s show” and “Sex in the City” were among the top 20 shows frequently watched by these youth.
This research found that 58 females became pregnant during the follow-up, and 33 males said they had gotten a girl pregnant.
Also, pregnancies were twice as common among those who said they watched these shows regularly, compared with teens who said they hardly ever watched them.
There were also more pregnancies among the oldest teens who were interviewed, but the research found that the rate of pregnancy remained consistent across all age groups among those who watched the racy programs.
Other factors that were considered included: their grades, family structure and the youth’s parents’ education level. These findings are what made the researchers conclude that watching TV is directly related to high teen pregnancy rates.
There are a number of other factors that were not taken into consideration that are important and are also related to teenage pregnancy rates such as: self-esteem, family values and income which was noted by Elizabeth Schroeder, the executive director of “Answer,” a teen sex education program based at Rutgers University.
Schroeder also said “The media does have an impact, but we don’t know the full extent of it because there are so many other factors.”
Important factors that were not mentioned in this article include: exposure to sex education and view towards sexuality (positive or negative); parenting styles and the amount of freedom the youth have; how sexual the youth is or how curious they are about sexuality; their maturity level; if they are currently dating or interested in dating or in sexuality; their age; what their cohort’s interests are and the list goes on.
These factors have been shown in previous research to also be important. Without noting these important contributions, it is likely premature to be citing this research as “new evidence” that television is the culprit of increasing teen sexual pregnancy.
The media and youth pregnancy
According to Bill Albert, the chief program officer at the nonprofit National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the study “catches up with common sense.” He also said that the “media helps shape the social script for teenagers.
Most parents know that. This is just good research to confirm that.” According to Psychologist David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family though, data suggests that “only about 19 per cent of American teens say they can talk openly with a trusted adult about sex. With many schools not offering sex education, that leaves the media to serve as a sex educator.”
Walsh also said that when kids have no one to talk to about sex, “TV (is) where sex is presented as this is what the cool people do.”
Walsh says that youth will have sex to fit in, which has been documented in research in the past because peers have a strong influence on youth and their decision making.
This continues to be a controversial topic, and even though this research was conducted nation-wide it is still related to USA statistics.
Similar research needs to be conducted in Canada to see what impact television might have on youth’s sexuality, but what is more important, is looking at all the factors involved instead of jumping to conclusions about two seemingly related factors.
These incomplete statistics are just another factor in creating a moral panic for the parents of youth today, and they should be reviewed with caution.
It is important to always consider the specifics when reviewing research of any kind and determine what the research was, who funded it, what factors were included (or excluded), and the methods used to arrive at the results.
As stated by the psychologist David Walsh, the important message to get from this research is the importance of parents talking to their kids about sex long before they are teens and exposed to things that will only give them one view of sexuality.
He also said that parents should be watching what their kids watch, and help them filter messages from sex-filled shows.
This advice is very useful and also places the responsibility on the parent – the person who has the responsibility of raising their child.
This takes away from blaming the media and it creates a healthy and positive relationship between the teen and parent – which is also missing in Western society today.
Ali the Sexpert aka Allisa Scott is a researcher and teacher in the field of sexuality. She has two degrees from U Windsor (Honours BA in Sociology); MA in Social Work (WLU); MA degree is Sociology with a published thesis about sexuality. She also holds a minor in studies in sexuality from Windsor.
|
