Teen Pregnancy Linked To Watching Sexy TV

An article on FoxNews today reports the findings from a recent study that suggests a link between increased pregnancy rates among teens and television shows with sexually suggestive/explicit content. The three year study by Rand Corp. showed that teens who watch the raciest shows are twice as likely to become pregnant as those who don't.

Participants were asked how often they watched any of more than 20 TV shows popular among teens at the time or which were found to have lots of sexual content. The programs included "Sex and the City," "That '70s Show" and "Friends."

Pregnancies were twice as common among those who said they watched such shows regularly, compared with teens who said they hardly ever saw them. There were more pregnancies among the oldest teens interviewed, but the rate of pregnancy remained consistent across all age groups among those who watched the racy programs.

Admittedly, other factors (such as family structure, economic situation, self-esteem issues, religious affiliation, etc...) were not considered, but the data does seem to speak for itself. In a study of more than 2000 teens, presumably a conglomeration that covered a wide range of life-situations, the statistic is alarming. Parents cannot ignore this study.

The article continues:

Psychologist David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, cited data suggesting only about 19 percent 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, he said.

"For a kid who no one's talking to about sex, and then he watches sitcoms on TV where sex is presented as this is what the cool people do," the outcome is obvious, Walsh said.

He said the message to parents is to talk to their kids about sex long before children are teens. Parents also should be watching what their kids watch and helping filter messages sex-filled shows are sending, he said.

This needs to be just one more wake-up call to parents and church leaders. If we are not talking about sex with our children, they are learning about it from somewhere. Hollywood should not set the sex-education curriculum for our children. The Bible gives some explicit guidelines for sexual relationships, specifically, that sex is reserved for a monogomous relationship between a man and a woman inside of marriage.

Pop-culture and most TV portray sex as something far removed from the biblical ideal. When TV becomes our baby-sitter, then the media from it's screen also becomes our children's teacher. Stand in the gap for your children, honor God with the blessings he has given you.