Teen Pregnancies Tied To Sexy TV Shows

[corporatejay]

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_28772.aspx

f you believe the research, that's getting too many of them sexually active and leading to unwanted teenage pregnancies. The figures, conducted by behavioural scientist Anita Chandra, shows teens who watch shows with the most activity are more likely to become pregnant over the next three years than those who didn't watch the shows or viewed fewer of them.

I don't know if I buy it. To me this is the same as the argument against violent video games. Maybe the reason violent people play more violent video games is because they like them...because they like violence.

I suggest the same thing here. If you like sex, you probably like shows about sex, which is why you're more likely to have sex. I should also note that of the three shows they listed (Friends, That 70s Show, and Sex and the City) the only really risque one is Sex and the City and it's pretty clear it's an 18+ show.

[MrMastodonFarm]

That 70's Show, really?

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_28772.aspx




I don't know if I buy it. To me this is the same as the argument against violent video games. Maybe the reason violent people play more violent video games is because they like them...because they like violence.

I suggest the same thing here. If you like sex, you probably like shows about sex, which is why you're more likely to have sex. I should also note that of the three shows they listed (Friends, That 70s Show, and Sex and the City) the only really risque one is Sex and the City and it's pretty clear it's an 18+ show.

I think it's a self fullfilling loop, they both impact each other. Each helps the other gain steam.

People, especially kids act out what they see on TV all the time. Networks will tell you they are just being real (when they are actually pushing the envelope a little bit) then that is emulated, then the envelope is pushed again.

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by fotze

I bet teenage boys lieing to teenage girls is a much bigger cause. "I'll just put it in half an inch".

I suspect its a link between people who lie, and/or have half inch penises, that are more likely to want to watch these shows.

[Clarkey]

correlation does not equal causation

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

correlation does not equal causation

He did not have correlations with that intern.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_28772.aspx



.

You could really read that quote this way...
The figures, compiled by behavioural scientist Anita Chandra, shows teens who are not active, are at home bored and looking for ways to entertain themselves are more likely to become pregnant over the next three years than those who are actively taking part in activities outside and around the home.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by HOZ

You could really read that quote this way...
The figures, compiled by behavioural scientist Anita Chandra, shows teens who are not active, are at home bored and looking for ways to entertain themselves are more likely to become pregnant over the next three years than those who are actively taking part in activities outside and around the home.

I wish boredom lead to sex, and by the amount of people who post on this board, I would guess a lot of you feel the same way

[Thor]

Added to that, don't most US schools teach Abstinence only education which also teaches them to fear condoms are unsafe protection.

[SebC]

Worth considering that it doesn't say how much more likely. Depending on the sample size of the study, it could be a small percentage, but still statistically significant.

[BuzzardsWife]

i grew up in the seventies and early eighties when there was no sex on tv..but there were still alot of teen pregnancies!

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Thor

Added to that, don't most US schools teach Abstinence only education which also teaches them to fear condoms are unsafe protection.

No Thor...

Most don't teach sex-ed at all yet the USA is only slightly behind wonderful Canada and Euro-wonderful Britain.

That said....wasn't Obama the offspring of a teenage pregnancy? Maybe if Europe stopped aborting they would be so stupid and have better leaders?

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by HOZ

No Thor...

Most don't teach sex-ed at all yet the USA is only slightly behind wonderful Canada and Euro-wonderful Britain.

That said....wasn't Obama the offspring of a teenage pregnancy? Maybe if Europe stopped aborting they would be so stupid and have better leaders?

Yeah, that 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martti Ahtisaari, what an idiot.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by HOZ

No Thor...

Most don't teach sex-ed at all yet the USA is only slightly behind wonderful Canada and Euro-wonderful Britain.

That said....wasn't Obama the offspring of a teenage pregnancy? Maybe if Europe stopped aborting they would be so stupid and have better leaders?

Slightly behind? 2.5 times the teenage birth rate of Canada. Everything I've ever read shows the abortion rate is the USA the highest among countries as well.

Here's the Unicef report from 2001.

http://www.unicef-irc.org/publicatio.../repcard3e.pdf

Combined abortion and birth Data in that report is for 1996 but is likely reflective of the 2001 truth. The birth rate is over 55 per 1000 women under 20 for the US and an abortion rate of 30 per 1000 women under 20. Other than Hungary there was no country looked at that had an abortion rate in the 30's. The next highest was 24 in the Australia.

A combined 85 per 1000 pregnancy rate for women under 20 in the US. The UK was at 50 and canada 44. Pretty big difference. I wouldn't say "slightly" at all but damn huge. Not as big as compared to japan or Italy (totals below 13) but still significant.

The trend of numbers holds if you split the age group up even further.

The biggest reason for teenage pregnancies is not the watching of TV shows but as the article indicates the lack of communication between parent and child and the lack of information many kids get on how to prevent pregnancy (and STDs).

[octothorp]

Not enough data in the article to draw any conclusions. The biggest question is what the control-group is: children who don't watch TV, or children who watch less risque TV. Ideally, it should be both. The article simply refers to it as children who 'don't watch those shows or watch less of them'.

Not knowing what the control group is, I'd say it's likely that the part of these shows that girls want to emulate isn't necessarily the sex, but rather the relationships. A show that has a lot of sex but no idealized relationships (Seinfeld, for example, which has at least as much sexual content (and probably more discussion about sex) as Friends or That 70s Show) isn't likely to cause teenagers to go out and have sex.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I don't know if I buy it. To me this is the same as the argument against violent video games. Maybe the reason violent people play more violent video games is because they like them...because they like violence.

I think a big difference is that while playing violent video games, once you 'kill' your opponent you get satisfaction ("BOOM! HEADSHOT!". For sexy TV shows, they just rev the viewer up without any payoff.

I never felt like killing anyone after doing some pvp, but staring at Jennifer Anistons nipples for 5 minutes will make me want to pop one.

[peter12]

Well, I have read that entertainment sex is often unprotected sex. That is, sex portrayed in mass culture often is sex without risk, no disease and no pregnancy. I do think that in some ways, teens follow the example that unprotected sex is okay. This can only be countered by strong and effective preventative measures like condoms and birth control.

EDIT: Looking at that graph, I notice that Ireland has a fairly low teenage birth rate. Now Ireland still criminalized abortion, so abortion isn't a necessary factor to safe sex. I am guessing that Irish teenagers have gotten over their Catholic guilt and are now using condoms in greater numbers.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by peter12

Well, I have read that entertainment sex is often unprotected sex. That is, sex portrayed in mass culture often is sex without risk, no disease and no pregnancy. I do think that in some ways, teens follow the example that unprotected sex is okay. This can only be countered by strong and effective preventative measures like condoms and birth control.

EDIT: Looking at that graph, I notice that Ireland has a fairly low teenage birth rate. Now Ireland still criminalized abortion, so abortion isn't a necessary factor to safe sex. I am guessing that Irish teenagers have gotten over their Catholic guilt and are now using condoms in greater numbers.

Queue Monty Python.....

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Yeah, that 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martti Ahtisaari, what an idiot.

Thank goodness for Norwegian teenage pregnancies!!!!

Now if only the rest of Europe would continue being stupid like the Americans and produce better leaders.