Monday, November 3, 2008

Teen Pregnancy Rate A Reason For New Television Programming?

Let's hear it for the RAND Corporation. They have finally stated what parents have known for years, sex on television is strongly associated with teen pregnancy. But will such a study help develop prevention programs? Doubtful.

Adolescents with a high level of exposure to sexually charged t.v. shows are twice as likely to get pregnant or impregnate someone as those who watch shows like The Andy Griffith Show. Will more dialogue about sex in the media, reduce the pregnancy rate as Anita Chandra, the study's lead author and behavioral scientist at RAND suggests? Again, doubtful.
Supposedly, according to Chandra for every hour of TV time, there is 10 minutes of sexual content. So why should that be surprising. The news has covered teen stars who are having sex. High-profile teen pregnancies in spotlight

Even Lifetime Television has lots of kissing and bedroom scenes. Could it be that teen pregnancy has more to do with how parents raise their children? Why not put the blame where it belongs?
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.

But did the study go far enough? While it correlates the amount of time watching televised sexual content with teen pregnancy , the local barber Joe says horse feathers. According to Joe, if teens watched t.v. 24 hours a day in their parents home, then there would be no time to fornicate. Sally at the salon balks at Joe's suggestion but instead claims that parents forcing their teen age daughter to have Depo Provera shots for birth control is the answer.

The RAND study also found that adolescents living in a two-parent household had a lower probability of pregnancy. Is that because maybe Dads really do matter? Perhaps all the radical dads out there encouraging daughters to participate in sports instead of chase boys really is a good thing. Does recommending parents staying together constitute discriminatory behavior since African-Americans, girls, and adolescents with behavioral problems had a higher likelihood of getting pregnant or impregnating someone according to the study?

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. has the quote of the week. "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." Just what does that mean, doc? If that were true, then as many of 25% of all marriage would not be "sexless marriages." Of course, that assumes that there are TVs in those households...

The days of relying on The Andy Griffith Show writer's to teach our children morals and values s over. Parents need to be parents. That includes discussing the risks of sex and suggesting safe sex when appropriate. RAND stop wasting time and money on the obvious. Instead, use the money to finance education programs and to begin redistributing the wealth like soon to be President Obama advocates. After all, 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. With better parenting, this can be just a statistical anomaly.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Not sure what to do now. Guess I will stop watching so much tv. and hang out at the mall a little more.


Conn. Teen

Anonymous said...

Wow. Not sure what to do now. Guess I will stop watching so much tv. and hang out at the mall a little more.


Conn. Teen

Anonymous said...

Wow. Not sure what to do now. Guess I will stop watching so much tv. and hang out at the mall a little more.


Conn. Teen

Anonymous said...

I would not come back from cruising for chicks empty handed on the good tv. nights if the girls would get off their buts from in front of the tv and get back to hanging out on the streets where I can meet and greet them.


Tony C.

Secrets said...

Parenting is a verb. The definition:

To act as a parent to; raise and nurture: "A genitor who does not parent the child is not its parent" (Ashley Montagu).

Lackadaisical parenting, idle unsupervised time after school, lack of direction, lack of respect, and rampant drug abuse is the cause of teen pregnancy.

Anonymous said...

So Secret, besides having unatractive kids, what is the answer to keeping them from having sex?


Kyle

Anonymous said...

Without kissing and bedroom scenes, teens like me would not want to have sex. Right....

Justin

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the grammar lesson Secret. Now tell me how many kids you have and how you stopped them from getting knocked up. I say these kids need to be raised by their fathers instead of single moms.

Harry

Secrets said...

The grammar lesson was for the parents who think they dont need to take any action. If the shoe fits wear it.

I’m a single parent with a 17 year old virgin, who is on the honor roll, excels in extra curricular activities, has a very good circle of friends, doesn’t do drugs and hasn’t been in trouble EVER!!!!

Her father comes around from time to time. But for the most part he hasnt done his part.

Anonymous said...

Something tells me this still won't inspire HBO to produce a show called "Abstinence in the City".

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's the other way around: with people having dewer kids, ther won't be a next generation to pay our pensions...

Maybe we should encourage teen age girls to get pregnant, hoping that most of them will not abort.

Those kids might be our only hope for a good retirement.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's the other way around: with people having fewer kids, there won't be a next generation to pay our pensions...

Maybe we should encourage teen age girls to get pregnant, hoping that most of them will not abort.

Those kids might be our only hope for a good retirement.

Anonymous said...

Okay secrets, I give you your props. But how do you know your daughter's a virgin? Has she ever had a boyfriend?

Harry

Anonymous said...

Now, I am thinking. Since the moral majority is now in the minority, shouldn't they encourage population growth so that they can regain the majority?


Quinn

Anonymous said...

Celebrate folks. It's the new OBAMA NATION! WE have finally overcome and got our just dues!

Anonymous said...

Single moms or dad suck!

Obama isn't raising his two daughter alone, you know..

Secrets said...

Harry, her doctor confirmed that for me and yes she dated one boy recently.

I think she's still too young so I dont really encourage dating.

Anonymous said...

Okay, Secrets. You are probably one of the exceptional single parents. Keep up the good work.

Harry

Anonymous said...

This story is so racist I can't stand it....how dare you suggest that TV causes sex to occur? And why insinuate that African Americans have more teenage sex problems than others! Do you have proof?

And the whole idea that current TV is sexier than Andy Griffith reruns is outrageous! Didn't you ever see the one where Barney and Thelma Lou went out dancing with Andy and his gal? There were in Raleigh, and one thing led to another, and.............

Andy from North Carolina

Anonymous said...

A little research will show in fact that the article is correct about teen pregnancy rates. Read the Rand study and other articles about the same topic.

As for Andy, he was cool. But Barney was a pistol...