The Parents Zone

Teens, sex and TV can be a controversial situation for parents. And we’re not talking about the hard-partying, abs-flaunting Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and his sexually charged escapades with pals Vinny and Pauly on MTV’s “Jersey Shore.” The situation that parents are questioning is whether sex-saturated TV inspires their teens to engage in intercourse earlier than their peers. So does tuning into ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” lead teens to rush to sex?

No, according to Dr. Laurence Steinberg, a Temple University psychologist, who says a steady diet of “Sex and the City” does not encourage teens to try sex earlier. He found that teens who are already interested in sex will choose to consume more sexualized media.

“It’s actually the other way around,” said Steinberg. “The bottom line is that parents shouldn’t worry as much about what their teens are watching on TV. Instead, they should be more focused on [not] leaving their teens unsupervised if they want to prevent teenage sex.”

Steinberg questioned several published studies that indicate that there is a link between exposure to sex in the media and the early onset of activity among teens. His study published in Developmental Psychology reevaluated data from a widely publicized 2006 study in Pediatrics that claimed that adolescents between 12 and 14 who consumed a large amount of sexualized media, including movies, television, music and magazines, were more likely to have sex by age 16.

Others strongly disagree.

“I can tell you, unequivocally, that sex in the media does impact teens, making them more apt to engage in sex,” said Dr. Carole Lieberman, a California-based psychiatrist and former chairwoman of the National Coalition of TV Violence. “Even if it is true that teens who are more interested in sex will consume more sexualized media, this does not negate the fact that the sexualized media heightens their interest in experiencing sex. Just as teens want to copy the latest fashions and play the hippest music, they also want to copy the characters of the hottest movies and TV shows — even if this means having sex before they’re ready.

Lieberman said shows like “Gossip Girl,” for example, “send the message that all teens are ‘doing it’ and that if you don’t ‘do it’, you won’t be in the in-crowd. Similarly, when teen celebs become sexualized too soon — like Miley Cyrus — it sends the message that this is what teen girls need to do to be cool.”

Others experts said that the Temple University research is one of the first that takes into account other factors linked to early teen sex, such as low parent education, and how it impacts teens’ sexual activity.

The more effective response to parental concerns about teen sexuality is parenting that opens parent and teen discussions, said Dr. John G. Duffy, a clinical psychologist who specializes in teen and parent relationships. He said television merely mirrors life and that the reality for parents is that these uncut shows are unavoidable.

“Adolescents already interested in sex are more likely to be consumers of sexually explicit material,” said Duffy. “Let’s face it. Teens will be interested in sex. It is entirely appropriate developmentally. So I would encourage parents to watch TV with their kids and discuss it with them. Although counterintuitive for many, that is a great deterrent to early sexual activity.”

Steinberg agreed. “There are many reasons to find the portrayal of sex in mass media objectionable. But let’s not confuse matters of taste with matters of science,” he said.

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