SEXUAL TEENS, SEXUAL MEDIA

SEXUAL TEENS, SEXUAL MEDIA
Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality

Edited by
Jane D. Brown
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Jeanne R. Steele
University of St. Thomas
Kim Walsh-Childers
University of Florida


308 p + xiv
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
Mahwah, New Jersey London
2002

excerpt
PREFACE

Young people today are faced with often conflicting and confusing messages about how they are supposed to behave sexually. Adults and socializing institutions in the culture are not in agreement about when, what, or where youth should learn about sexuality. Although we might hope that parents would be the primary source of sexual guidance for their children, parents often find it difficult to present timely and clear expectations, or even accurate information. Manyparents want schools to provide sexuality education, but schools are increasingly reluctant to do more than say “Wait until marriage.” And many religious institutions still maintain that sex outside heterosexual marriage is a sin. In contrast, the mass media —television, movies, magazines, music, the Internet— are not at all reticent, frequently portraying sexual behavior as riveting, central in everyday life, and emotionally and physically risk free.

Many adults haven’t liked what they’ve seen about sex in the media, but they don’t agree about what should be done about it, either. Religious leaders, parents, and some politicians, claiming that the media encourage youth to be sexually active before they are ready and without the sanction of marriage, want the media to clean up their acts. Health advocates argue that if we’re going to have sex in the media, at the least we should show the risks and responsibilities too. Politicians threaten further regulation if program ratings and content blocking devices such as the V-chip aren’t sufficient. But media producers say, “Leave us alone; we’re exercising our constitutional rights.” Advertising executives believe that sex sells and don’t want to give up their potential advantage in a highly competitive marketplace.

Remarkably, despite the consternation in many quarters, relatively little scientific research exists on how sexual content in the media affects teens (Huston, Wartella, & Donnerstein, 1998). One reason is that many schools, the places where adolescents are easiest to find, are reluctant to let researchers in. Federal and state agencies have been leery, too, afraid that conservative legislators will cut off funding if they sponsor research that requires talking with youth about sex. As a consequence, nonprofit, non-governmental organizations have had to take on most of the work... .