|
teenage sex
Teen Sexual Behavior
(For Parents)
There are many parents who believe that if they don't
discuss sex with
their children, then their kids won't engage in sexual behavior. That
is simply a myth. Your children are being exposed to sex multiple
times every day.
The change from child to adult is an especially dangerous
time for adolescents in our society. From their earliest years, children
watch television shows and movies that insist that "sex appeal" is a
personal quality that people need to develop to the fullest. Teenagers are
at risk -- not only from AIDS and STDs -- but from this sort of mass-market
encouragement.
Sexual content is regularly marketed to younger children,
pre-teens, and teens
and this affects young people's sexual activity and beliefs
about sex. According to the fact sheet, Marketing Sex to Children,
from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, children are bombarded
with sexual content and messages:
-
In 2003, 83% of the episodes of the top 20 shows among
teen viewers contained some sexual content, including 20% with sexual
intercourse.
-
42% of the songs on the top CDs in 2004 contained sexual content -- 19%
included direct descriptions of sexual intercourse.
-
On average, music videos contain 93 sexual situations per hour,
including eleven "hard core" scenes depicting behaviors such as
intercourse and oral sex.
-
Girls who watched more than 14 hours of rap music videos per week were
more likely to have multiple sex partners and to be diagnosed with a
sexually transmitted disease.
-
Before parents raised an outcry, Abercrombie and Fitch marketed a line
of thong underpants decorated with sexually provocative phrases such as
"Wink Wink" and "Eye Candy" to 10-year-olds.
-
Neilson estimates that 6.6 million children ages 2-11 and 7.3 million
teens ages 12-17 watched Justin Timberlake rip open Janet Jackson's
bodice during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
TV, movies, and music are not the only influences -- the Internet
provides teens with seemingly unlimited access to information on sex as
well as a steady supply of people willing to talk about sex with them.
Teens may feel safe because they can remain anonymous while looking for
information on sex.
Sexual predators know this and manipulate young people
into online relationships and, later, set up a time and place to meet.
Teens don't need a sexual predator to introduce them to online
pornography. It comes to them through porn spam on their e-mail or by
inadvertently clicking on a link to a porn site. Through pornography, young
people get a twisted view of what constitutes normal relationships. In fact,
pornography is directly related to sexual abuse, rape, and sexual violence.
cont.
Last updated: 8/05
top ~ pages 1 2 3
4 5 ~
table of
contents ~
send page to
friend |
