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Teenage sex and TV: junk science

Teenagers who watch a lot of television with sexual content are twice as likely to engage in intercourse than those who watch few such programs, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The study covered 1,792 adolescents aged 12 to 17 who were quizzed on viewing habits and sexual activity and then surveyed again a year later. Both regular and cable television were included."

link to Reuters article

There coudn't be a better example of junk science. This study doesn't prove anything at all, because it's most likely that the cause and effect is being interepreted backwards.

One would expect that teenagers who are more interested in sex would be attracted to shows about sexual situations, while the geeky non-sexually mature teenagers are more interested in watching Star Trek. So this study proves absolutely nothing.

Now I certainly don't doubt the power of popular television to influence us. My biggest concern about the show Sex and the City is not that teenagers are being influenced by it, but that women between the ages for 20 and 40 are watching it and modelling their behavior after it!

Nevertheless, (1) we live in a free society, so adults can watch what they want. This show is only available on a pay cable channel or on DVD so if teenagers are watching it, it's with their parents' explicit or implicit blessing; and (2) teenagers watching that particular show are likely to have parents who are more laid back about regulating their morality and that's another reason why are more likely to "engage in intercourse."

posted Tuesday, September 07, 2004

2 Comments:

By digitalbrownshirt:

Not that I disagree with you on this subject, but Sex in the City is on TBS now according to the ads I see all over the blogosphere. It's cable, but a very common cable channel to have.

Apparently, kids never had sex back in the 50's or 60's when there wasn't any of it on TV.

posted at 9/08/2004 6:42 AM

By Swifty:

I believe the underlying motivation for these studies is the desire to prove the existence a 'normal' state of affairs, a controlled, benign condition tainted only by the imposition of external influences such as television, cinema, or certain kinds of books or people. But this is patently not the case. Sexual awareness kicks in during adolescence (or slightly before in my case If I remember rightly) and virtually takes over the individual, becoming an obsession, regardless of external conditions. Certainly, most young adolescent males (and probably females) masturbate tirelessly, revelling in the new found potential of their bodies. What those conducting the study imply is the latent nature of this 'force', as if appropriate censorsip renders it harmless. How stupid can they be, and how patronising? How dare they suggest that young people are passive, non-creative persons unable to initiate their own actions unless led by example. What is relevant in the case of youngsters engaging in sexual activity is 'having the opportunity', not whether they've been exposed to the wrong sort of television or not. I only wished I'd had more opportunity when I was young.

posted at 9/15/2004 9:36 AM