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Television and other aspects of the media have such a great influence on childrens thoughts and behaviors. Media also has put stereotypes on women in the media and this also has a huge effect on the thoughts and beliefs of children. Children spend an average of 16 hours a week watching television, if you add movies to the mix they spend as many as 55 hours in front of the television. Other parts of the media play just as important roles in the lives of children.
The Internet allows adolescents to view pornography with the push of a button. Everything that a child hears and views over the course of a day give them a self-perceived notion of the way the media decides to portray women. Children have almost no chance to decide in what to believe in and what not believe in. The effect of what children learn when they are young can and probably will be harmful to them when they become older.
Over the course of one year children will view nearly 15, 000 sexual references. The family hour (8 - 9 P. M. ) contains an average of eight sexual incidents. Studies have shown that teenagers who watch soap operas and MTV have increased amounts of sexual experiences. The same study also showed that not one person believed that their favorite soap opera stars would use any type of birth control. Shows have yet to feature any possible risks or responsibilities while being sexually active.
A study of television has concluded that although two-thirds of primetime programming contain sexual content, less than one in ten feature the possible risks or responsibilities associated with sexual activity. Lower (1999). If birth control is not shown being used in the media then why will teenagers believe in using it? Hardly ever after a sexual encounter on television does a problem come up, whether it be pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease.
Children do notice this and believe that nothing bad can result from having intercourse. "Whether they mean to or not, television shows are communicating important messages about sex to their viewers, " said Vicki Rideout, director of the foundations program on the entertainment media and public health. In addition, the united states continue to have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the western world, despite the fact that American teenagers are not having intercourse in greater numbers than their world peers. (White) The high pregnancy rate in the United States has to do with not enough access to birth control and not enough knowledge about sex. There are still people who believe that sex should be taught at home and not through the use of the media. Lower (1999). Dick Wolf executive producer of "Law and Order" said, " I think that the producers primary responsibility is to entertain, Im really troubled by the fact that we are supposed to send a message. " Arguments were made after the show "Felicity" a teen oriented show featured a demonstration on how to use condoms. "There are still many people out there who believe the less said the better", stated Jamie Kellner the network chief executive producer at Warner Brothers.
So what can America do? It seems that however the media portrays sex that there will be critics against what the media is doing. MTV, the most watched network among teenagers, constantly has shows on that have to do with sex. As of recently MTV has put on such shows as "Loveline" which discuss sexual issues and problems with callers usually between the ages of 17 - 25. On the spring break special MTV had a habit of showing women taking of their tops for the camera and even had a contest with a man and a women to see which couple could change into each others swimming suits the fastest in a Volkswagen bug. The point of showing these types of things are only for ratings and gives the young Americans who watch this the wrong idea of what is out there.
Wisocki (1982) found among 78 college students, that holding sexually stereotypic views of themselves was positively associated with watching programs with stereotypical sex-role portrayals, but not with over all television watching. Which proves that if sex is not on television views of young adults will be more thought out and be their own beliefs rather than what the media wishes for them to believe. Many will argue the characters on television and their behaviors can affect the knowledge of their younger viewers. Bandura (1977) Children admire actors from their favorite shows and movies and very often will do anything in their power to look and act like them. Boys learn at a very young age that to be a man one must fight and kill in shows that they are viewing. Incidents in recent years have even led to deaths.
An example would be in 1991 a young boy in Connecticut watched an episode of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and then went outside only to beat the neighbor child up until he died. When asked why he did he said because the ninja turtles did. This could be the same reason why teenagers decide to have sex. When they see such popular teen shows as "Party of Five" and "Beverly Hills 90210 " having sexual encounters and not having any sexual transmitted diseases or a pregnancy then they to believe that having sex can lead to almost nothing bad. If shows that aim them selves to the younger audience, would take a stand and incorporate sexual education into the program then teens would be more likely to be safer when deciding to or when having intercourse. Research done by Downing (1974) found that 29. 5 % of women on day time television to be playing the role of housewife.
A study by Signorelli (1989) found that women are also portrayed as younger than their men counterparts and most are almost always under the age of fifty. Children can receive all the wrong messages when watching shows with these types of situations. A study done by Cord (1981) showed preschool children and first grade students a video showing a female doctor and a male nurse. They found that the majority of the children recalled the male as the doctor. He concluded that one of the most difficult tasks of counter stereotyping is to dissuade children out of their beliefs of the roles of males in our society. Singer and Singer (19...
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Research essay sample on Birth Control Pregnancy Rate
