"Clueless": Why Do Pediatricians Underestimate the Media's Influence on Children and Adolescents?” -- Strasburger, Victor (MD)

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/117/4/1427#R3

This article is concerned with the lack of sex education throughout the public school systems and the fact that most of the sexual education that teens get from the media is not educational at all. “The media have arguably become the leading sex educator in America today. That's not good news, considering the fact that more than 75% of primetime shows contain sexual content but only 11% discuss the risks of sex. (Kunkel D, Eyal K, Finnerty K, Biely E, Donnerstein E. Sex on TV. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation; 2005).” This article does not only focus on the media, but also looks at “pediatricians, parents, teachers, the entertainment industry, and state and federal governments”. The issue is that the TV is teaching the youth about sex, but no one is taking control over the TV.

The media make sexual intercourse seem like normative behavior even for teens. "Everyone does it" on television and in the movies, or so it seems, yet the need for birth control, the risks of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections, or the need for responsibility are rarely discussed. In this way, the media function as a "super peer," putting additional pressure on young people to have sex at a young age.(Strasburger VC. Adolescents, sex, and the media: oooo, baby, baby—a Q & A. Adolesc Med Clin. 2005;16 :269 –288[CrossRef][Medline]) In a 1999 survey of 2100 teenage girls, only 11-year-olds said that they do not feel pressure from the media to have sex. (Haag P. Voices of a Generation: Teenage Girls on Sex, School, and Self. Washington, DC: American Association of University Women Educational Foundation; 1999)

In the end this article is really about sex education, but it does strongly suggest that American television is taking on most of that teaching—saying that the TV is indeed a teaching tool. As a teacher, the media needs to take more responsibility in its overall message to the children that are consuming its lessons. I also like how it shows the media as a "super peer" and confronts an issue of peer pressure. If young adults are worried about being "cool", and the media is "what's hot", it makes sense to link peers to mirroring the media, which does in the end make media the ultimate peer pressure.