In a policy statement released yesterday, the American Academy of Pediatrics weighs in on Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media, calls for a national task force on children, adolescents, and the media, and advocates for comprehensive sex education, noting that "It is unwise to promote 'abstinence-only' sex education when it has been shown to be ineffective and when the media have become such an important source of information about 'nonabstinence.'"
Although much of the policy statement focuses on negative impacts of TV and media on the sexual behavior of children and teenagers – "more than 75% of prime-time programs contain sexual content, yet only 14% of sexual incidents mention any risks or responsibilities of sexual activity" – and increased sexual content and sexual suggestiveness in music, movies, television shows, teen magazines, the Internet, social networking web sites, and advertisements – lead author Victor C. Strasburger, MD also sees opportunity for positive impact, noting "The media can be powerful vehicles for sexual health education."
Among the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations:
* "Pediatricians can help parents and teenagers to recognize the importance of the media by asking at least 2 media-related questions at each well visit: (1) How much time do you spend daily with entertainment media? and (2) Is there a TV set or Internet access in your bedroom? Research has shown that bedroom TVs are associated with greater substance use and sexual activity by teenagers. A recent study revealed that office-based counseling is effective and could result in nearly 1 million more children and adolescents adhering to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to limit media time to less than 2 hours/day.
* "Pediatricians should urge schools to insist on comprehensive sex education programs (to counter the influence of sexually suggestive and explicit media) that incorporate basic principles of media literacy into their sex education programs. Studies have shown that effective media literacy programs can be protective against unhealthy media effects. Federal money should be spent on comprehensive sex education programs but not on abstinence-only programs, which have been found to be ineffective."
* "Pediatricians should urge the broadcast industry to air advertisements for birth control products. The federal government also needs to encourage the advertising of birth control, especially emergency contraceptives."
* "Pediatricians should urge the broadcast industry to limit advertisements for erectile dysfunction drugs until after 10 PM."
* "Pediatricians should urge the broadcast media to include healthy messages about sex and sexuality in their programming, especially in media that children and early teenagers use most frequently."
Click here for a full .pdf of the policy statement, via Pediatrics.AAPpublications.org.
Comments
How about "let's turn the TV off"?
RE: "How about "let's turn the TV off"?"
I'm with you there! The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends capping it at two hours a day; My own kids watch more like 2 hours a month, and closely monitored at that. But there's also reality (and reality TV) to contend with: Like it or not, the fact is a lot of young people get a lot of their messaging about the world, and particularly about sex, from TV and the Internet. It's worth working to improve the quality of that messaging.
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