Teens, Sex, TV & Magazines

A recent study found a corrolation between exposure to sexual content on TV and in magazines and sexual intercourse by the time the kids are 17 years old.

The more sexual content in television and magazines that teens are exposed to, the more likely they are to have sexual intercourse at an early age, a new study says.

The University of North Carolina study, published in today's issue of the journal Pediatrics, concludes that white adolescents who view more sexual content than their peers are 2.2 times more likely to have sexual intercourse by the time they are 14 to 16 years old.

"Some, especially those who have fewer alternative sources of sexual norms, such as parents or friends, may use the media as a kind of sexual superpeer that encourages them to be sexually active," the study authors state.

You can read more below or you can probably check out any winger site. The wingers will love the story. Televangelists 24/7 on all channels should save the kids.

However, the researchers are responsible and warn against coming to snap conclusions based on their study.

But, as both the authors and other critics note, the analysis has several important limitations. The survey of sexual behavior only included 1,017 teens in three public school districts in North Carolina, and did not take into account exposure to sexual content on the Internet.

Julia A. Ericksen, chair of the department of sociology at Temple University, said that it's not surprising that sexual content on television and in magazines might have an impact on teen behavior.

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There's also a chicken-or-egg component to the issue, Ericksen says.

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