Teenagers today use media an average of about 6 ½ hours per day, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That means in a year the average American teen will see nearly 14,000 sexual references per year (
Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Public Education, January, 2001.) Although 64 percent of all shows include sexual content, and only 15% mention waiting, protection, and consequences. (
TV Sex Getting "Safer." Kaiser Family Foundation)
The media should communicate to teens the consequences of having sex. Most teens need to be reminded of the consequences of their actions. Teens are being consumed every day by the media. They are being “branded” by what they see on the television, on billboards and by what they hear on the radio. The media should communicate and encourage the message of abstinence among teens. Sex affects teens both physically and emotionally, but you rarely hear the media communicating this.
There are many physical effects that having sex leads to. There are twenty-five different sexually transmitted diseases out there. 10,000 cases of STD’s occur each day among teens. Some of the different types of STD’s out there, to name a few are AIDS, Herpes, and Chlamydia. A very important physical consequence that the media isn’t communicating is teen pregnancies. About 2,000 teen girls get pregnant every day. The media shows people having “safe” sex, using condoms. Condoms do not protect against STD’s and pregnancies 100 percent.
The media should communicate the emotional effects also. A condom does not protect your heart. The emotional consequences are different for guys and girls. For instance, there is a powerful chemical hormone that is released in a female when she is sexually active (Kerstin Uvnas-Moberg, M.D., PhD., The Oxytocin Factor). This chemical forms an emotional bond between the girl and the guy she had sex with. Guys release a chemical similar to oxytocin, called epinephrine. This chemical creates a “Kodak moment” in the guy’s head of the girl which he had sex with. Guilt and regret are also emotional consequences which the media is not communicating.
We are on this earth for a purpose. Our bodies are a wonderful creation that should not be harmed physically, nor emotionally. The decisions teens are making today will affect them for the rest of their lives. The media should encourage abstinence until marriage among teens because that is the only way that teens will avoid these consequences. Teens are mimicking what the media is showing. Therefore, the media should encourage teens to be abstinent until marriage and to value their lives.