Sexy TV shows drive teen pregnancies

bhaktajan · November 4, 2008

Regarding "Current Events", readers of my Posts should pay attention to my sarcasm and realise that I am purposely being sardonic in my comments regarding Current Events.

And I am also being consciously didactic & pedantic [instructor-in-your-face-like].

I wrote several times that the Captains of Industry [Corporate Bosses] are simply pimping youth into, at best, high-maintenance call girls [bedfellows for Hire].

So, now we read that our Children-Class demographics are "Brain-Washed" —and we know how to recognise bogus Gurus, charlatans, svengalis, cult leaders, whore mongers, con-men, —but kids don't!

So as Hare <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<st1:City w:st=" /><st1:place w:st="on">Krishnas</st1:place> and people who chant the gayatri, and those who know the path of yoga's standard disciplines —publically make your opinion known:

We are orthodox Hindus and the Captains of Industry are Brain-Washed socio-paths and miscreants of the highest order in the highest stratums of society —and should remember the axiom: "The bigger they are the harder they fall".

Then explain that the terminology of yoga that is in vogue by elite socio-political commentators, terms such as:

Mantra,

Karma,

Dharma,

Juggernaut,

Pundit,

Guru,

Re-incarnation,

Yoga,

Meditation, etc

Chakra,

Are best understood directly from the authoritative sources such as the Hare Krishna Devotees.

The future is always replete with the opposite intention —that back-fires in our lives to complicate the simplest paths —ask the Captains of Industry to admit their short comings to make the world a better place to live.

The Captains of Industry to do not make the world a better place to live —but a better place to holiday in —at the discount rate afforded by cheap labor rates.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthSci/Sexy_TV_shows_drive_teen_pregnancy/articleshow/3669998.cms

Sexy TV shows drive teen pregnancies

<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">CHICAGO</st1:place></st1:City>: Exposure to some forms of entertainment is a corrupting influence on children, leading teens who watch sexy programs into early pregnancies

and children who play violent videogames to adopt aggressive behaviour, researchers said on Monday.

Researchers at the <st1:place w:st="on">RAND</st1:place> research organization said their three-year study was the first to link viewing of racy television programming with risky sexual behaviour by teens.

"Our findings suggest that television may play a significant role in the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>," said Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist who led the research at <st1:place w:st="on">RAND</st1:place>, a non-profit research organization.

"We're not saying we're establishing causation, but we are saying this is one factor that we were able to prospectively link to the teen pregnancy outcome," Chandra said in a phone interview.

The researchers recruited adolescents aged 12 to 17 and surveyed them three times between 2001 and 2004, asking about television viewing habits, sexual behaviour and pregnancy.

In findings that covered 718 teenagers, there were 91 pregnancies. The top 10th of adolescents who watched the most sexy programming were at double the risk of becoming pregnant or causing a pregnancy compared to the 10th who watched the fewest such programs, according to the study published in the journal Paediatrics.

The study focused on 23 free and cable television programs popular among teenagers including situation comedies, dramas, reality programs and animated shows. Comedies had the most sexual content and reality programs the least.

"The television content we see very rarely highlights the negative aspects of sex or the risks and responsibilities," Chandra said. "So if teens are getting any information about sex they're rarely getting information about pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases."

Teen pregnancy rates in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> have declined sharply since 1991 but remain high compared to other industrialized nations. Nearly 1 million girls aged 15 to 19 years old become pregnant yearly, or about 20% of sexually active females in that age group. Most of the pregnancies were unplanned, the report said.

Young mothers are more likely to quit school, require public assistance and live in poverty, it said. "Television is just one part of a teenager's media diet that helps to influence their behaviour.

We should also look at the roles that magazines, the Internet and music play in teens' reproductive health," Chandra said, acknowledging still other factors can influence teen sex habits.

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TV shows link to teen pregnancies

Teenage girls who watch a lot of TV shows with a high sexual content are twice as likely to become pregnant, according to a study.

Boys watching similar programmes, like Friends and Sex and the City, were also more likely to get a girl pregnant, the research in Pediatrics found.

The study authors said limiting exposure to sexual content on TV might reduce teen pregnancies.

Experts urged parents to talk more openly with their children about sex.

Study author Dr Anita Chandra of the RAND Corporation said adolescents received a considerable amount of information about sex through television and the problem was that programmes such as these typically did not highlight the risks and responsibilities of sex.

She said:"Our findings suggest that television may play a significant role in the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>."

According to Dr Chandra, hers is the first study to show such a direct link.

The researchers interviewed 2,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 three times between 2001 and 2004.

Teens who watched larger amounts of sexually charged TV shows were twice as likely to experience a pregnancy in the subsequent three years, compared with those with lower levels of exposure.

By the third interview, 744 of the teenagers said they had engaged in sexual intercourse and 718 of the youths shared with the researchers information about their pregnancy histories.

Of that group, 91 teens - 58 girls and 33 boys - were involved in a pregnancy.

Dr Chandra said: "Sexual content on TV has doubled in the last few years, especially during the period of our research. We found a strong association."

The <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates among industrialized nations, with nearly one million adolescent females becoming pregnant each year, with the majority of these pregnancies unplanned, according to <st1:place w:st="on">RAND</st1:place>.

<st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region> has <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>'s highest teenage pregnancy rate.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries said it would be interesting to see if a similar study in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> revealed a trend.

"Information such as this empowers parents when making difficult decisions as to what they do and don't allow their daughters to watch," she said.

Psychologist David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family said many teenagers relied on the media to act as sex educator.

Dr Walsh said: "If you have a kid who no-one's talking to about sex and who then watches sitcoms on TV where sex is presented as 'this is what cool people do', the outcome is obvious.

"The message to parents is to talk to their kids about sex long before they become teenagers."

A spokeswoman from Brook said: "The causes of teen pregnancy in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> are quite complex.

"There are a range of ways we can try to reduce the teen pregnancy rate, such as providing sex and relationship education and outreach and community services for young people.

"The idea of parents sitting down with their children and talking about the issues raised in these television programmes is a great one."

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Study links sexual content on TV to teen pregnancy

CNN) -- Sexual content on television is strongly associated with teen pregnancy, a new study from the RAND Corporation shows.

Researchers at the nonprofit organization found that adolescents with a high level of exposure to television shows with sexual content are twice as likely to get pregnant or impregnate someone as those who saw fewer programs of this kind over a period of three years. It is the first study to demonstrate this association, <st1:place w:st="on">RAND</st1:place> said.

A central message from the study is that there needs to be more dialogue about sex in the media, particularly among parents and their children, said Anita Chandra, the study's lead author and a behavioral scientist at <st1:place w:st="on">RAND</st1:place>.

"We know that parents are busy, but sitting down and watching shows together with their teen, talking about the character portrayals, talking about what they just witnessed, and really using it as a teachable moment is really, I think, a good recommendation from this research," Chandra said.

To measure exposure, the researchers used a method developed by another research group evaluating 23 shows for sexual content. Then, they asked teenagers how frequently they watched each of those shows, and developed a score based on exposure to the shows.

"We know that if a child is watching more than an hour of TV a day, we know there's a sexual scene in [the] content every 10 minutes, then they're getting a fair amount of sexual content," Chandra said.

Melody Monroe of Norfolk, Virginia, who had her first child when she was 17, said she agrees that sex on television contributes to teen pregnancy. Monroe, who shared some of her views on iReport.com, recalls watching shows on Lifetime Television with her mother that were "almost soft porn," with kissing and bedroom scenes.

"Oh, the guy gets the girl, they fall in love, happily ever after, babies come, I thought that was one way of being loved," said Monroe, now 26. "Happily ever after doesn't happen."

But Sandy Tomlinson of Glendale, Arizona, who had her son at age 15, said she doesn't think television affects teen pregnancy -- rather, teen pregnancy has to do with the way parents raise their children.

"I feel that if my parents would have been more involved in my life that I would have made different choices," said Tomlinson, now 27, who also shared her story with iReport.com. "It gets old hearing all these studies that blame everything and everybody but the parents."

The RAND study, published in the November edition of the journal Pediatrics, looked at the results of three surveys of about 2,000 adolescents ages 12 to 17 from 2001 to 2004. It focused on the results from more than 700 participants nationwide who had engaged in sexual intercourse by the third survey.

Researchers asked adolescents about a mix of sitcoms, dramas, animated shows and reality shows known to have sexual content. Chandra declined to name any specific programs, but said sexual content is "pretty pervasive."

While this is one of many factors that influence teen pregnancy, the study is compelling, given that adolescents spend a significant amount of time watching television, Chandra said. The information will help develop prevention programs for kids that focus on media literacy, she said.

Even when accounting for other related factors such as demographics and risk-taking behaviors, the correlation between televised sexual content and teen pregnancy persisted, she said.

The study also found that adolescents living in a two-parent household had a lower probability of pregnancy.

African-Americans, girls, and adolescents with behavioral problems had a higher likelihood of getting pregnant or impregnating someone, as did youths who intend to have children early, the study showed.

A strong association between sexual content on television and teen pregnancy is not surprising, said Dr. Yolanda Wimberly, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the Morehouse School of Medicine and the medical director for the Center for Excellence in Sexual Health.

Wimberly, who works in an adolescent clinic, was not involved in the study.

"You cannot expect to have a sexually saturated society with all of your media outlets, but then, at the same time, be surprised when this influences people and their behaviors," she said. "If you're going to do it, then you need to make sure you follow it up with education that people need to make responsible decisions."

It's crucial that parents and guardians talk to their kids about these topics and teach morals and values, but they can do only so much in limiting the amount of sexual content that their teenagers see on television, Wimberly said. Youths will have exposure to these programs outside of the home, such as at friends' houses or on the Internet.

Experts say television shows rarely portray the risks of sex and often don't mention contraception. But previous research from RAND showed that content that includes negative consequences, such as sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, can be educational for teens.

Previous RAND research also showed that teens who watch a lot of television with sexual content are more likely to initiate intercourse the following year.

The National Institutes of Health reported in July that teen pregnancies rose in the United States from 2005 to 2006 for the first time since 1991.

theist · November 4, 2008

Gee, the big brains did a 'study' and found out that kids exposed to repeated episodes of glorified sex and violence tend to imitate that behavior. Astounding!!! Brilliant!!! :rolleyes: