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Teen Challenges
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| Yes | 84% | 154 votes | Total: 183 votes | |
| No | 16% | 29 votes |
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Add to FavoritesIn today's society sex is everywhere. No matter where you look, sexual content is there. On television it is not only in ads or commercials. It is also implied on cartoons, television shows as well as the commercials.
Back when television first came out shows like I Love Lucy, and Leave it to Beaver were not allowed to have their actors who were portraying happily married couples, sleep in the same bed. It was just not morally acceptable. Fast forward some fifty years later or so, and not only are actors sleeping in the same beds but they are having sex and not just with the ones are the pretending to be married to, but anyone and everyone. People were shocked when women wearing bikini's were shown on T.V. and now you can show nudity, graphic violence and course language on television.
Is there too much sexual content on television? Most definitely there is. Cartoons, which were once considered children's programming now contain sex, violence, bad language. Take the Simpson's or Family Guy. Both of these are cartoons are shown in the early evening when children are relaxing after school and settling down before bed. These cartoons show the parents having sex, or implying sexual innuendos.
Television which is easily accessible to children should be limited to what they are allowed to portray. As easy as this is to say, it will probably never happen. Sex sells. It is as simple and as complicated as that. Sex attracts people, whether it be guys who are looking at the half naked woman on the beer commercial or even us females who are hoping to catch a glimpse of Patrick Swayze's rear end. Graphic sexual content is entertaining for some and disgusting to others. Sex, for many people is something private between two consenting adults, not something to be shown to hundreds of viewers around the world. Sex sells, the promise of sex gets people to turn on the T.V. and did I mention that sex sells. That in a nutshell is the bottom line. As long as sex sells and as long as it keeps people tuning in, it will be on television, but yes there is way too much sex on television.
Learn more about this author, Lisa Shaver.
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No
Teen sex is a reality. Art imitates reality. Entertainment exploits reality. Teen sex is on television and should be used by parents as a teaching tool.
When teen sex is portrayed on television, parents should be watching with their teens. This presents the perfect opportunity to discuss the implications and consequences of teen sex.
Staunch opponents of teen sex on television claim that shows that portray teen sex promote sexual behavior. This fallacy is disproved in the centuries preceding television and in the late 20th century when teen sex was not on television at all.
Admitted teen sex skyrocketed in the 1980s. Research revealed that the teens having sex were left to their own devices while their parents, or single parent, were at work. The majority of these teens also admitted that what they had learned about sex they had learned from their peers.
The 1990s saw the introduction of acne medications proven to cause birth defects. These were prescribed to teen girls in record numbers, with a prescription for birth control. Sex education was offered in every public high school in America. Condoms were supplied by organizations seeking to stem the epidemic of AIDS and by schools. None of this would reduce the numbers of teens having sex.
With the new millennium came the newest change in television: shows aired for teens. These shows highlighted the trials of adolescence and high school. Public limelight was finally shed on the fact that teens have sex. Ironically, admitted teen sex under age 16 began to fall.
This reduction cannot be attributed solely to teen sex on television. In a collaboration of parents, educators, religious leaders, advertisers and entertainers, teen sex and its ramifications came glaringly into focus...for teens.
Parents who think that sex will come naturally to their children on the wedding night are hopelessly, romantically deluded. Proactive parents who speak to their adolescents about their changing bodies, maturing hormones and assorted behavior are raising children who are less likely to be sexually active.
While there will never be a viable or legal reason to show intimate sex scenes involving teens, depicting the reality of teen sex is a viable tool for parents to teach their children the value of abstinence.
Learn more about this author, Ann Marie Dwyer.
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Difference of opinion? Debate now.
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