Does Watching TV Increase Teen Pregnancy?

Do characters on the televisions shows you watch engage in risky sexual behavior? Do they have unprotected sex? Is attention called to birth control? STDs?

These are some of the things researchers at the RAND Institute looked at in their three-year study about teen pregnancy and television. The study found that teens who watched the “most sexy programming were at double the risk of becoming pregnancy or causing a pregnancy compared with those who watched fewest such programs.”

Anita Chandra, a behavioral scientist who led the research, says: “The television content we see very rarely highlights the negative aspects of sex or the risks and responsibilities. So if teens are getting any information about sex they’re rarely getting information about pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.”

The study also notes that even though teen pregnancy rates have declined in the past fifteen years, they are high compared with other industrialized countries – around 1 million girls ages 15-19 become pregnant ever year. But what’s even more shocking is that 20% of all sexually active teen girls become pregnant.

I challenge you to start noticing how those hot and steamy scenes in your favorite TV shows or movies play out. Is birth control mentioned? Sexual history? While I realize that bringing up STDs might be a mood-wrecker, it seems to me that shows aimed at teen audiences, like Gossip Girl and 90210, are doing viewers wrong by not getting real about sexual relationships. When you consider that some schools advocate an abstinence-only policy in Sex Ed, there are thousands of teens who aren’t necessarily getting the info they need to make smart decisions when it comes to sex.

What do you think? Is it irresponsible for television and movie producers to portray sexual situations without addressing the very real consequences of unprotected sex?