Salon Opinion Piece Responds To Study Linking Teen Pregnancy With Sexual Content On TV

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Sexual Health / STDs;  IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 06 Nov 2008 - 10:00 PST

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It is "unfortunate" that a recent study that found an association between teen pregnancy and viewing of sexual content on TV did not "factor in the impact of various approaches to sex education," Salon columnist Tracy Clark-Flory writes in an opinion piece. The study, published Monday in Pediatrics, found that sexually active teenagers who watched the most sexual content on television were about twice as likely to become pregnant or get a partner pregnant as teens who watched the least sexual content. Clark-Flory quotes lead author Anita Chandra, who told Time magazine that the "association still holds" between pregnancy and TV even when accounting for teens' family structure, their parents' education level and their school performance. Clark-Flory writes, "Note that she said 'association' and not 'causation.'"

According to Clark-Flory, "For all we know, it could be that teens deprived of sex education are more likely to expect the boob tube to drop some sexual knowledge -- which, of course, it does, but not in the way of safe sex practices." She writes that it is "possible that the more a teen is exposed to spicy content devoid of safe sex practices, the more likely they are to engage in unsafe sex." She adds that "you have to wonder why those teens who consume the most sexual content are drawn to it in the first place. Could it be that, as a result of being more interested in sex, they log more hours watching sexy programming and are also more likely to take sexual risks?" According to Clark-Flory, "Any way you look at it, this is as good a reminder as any of the importance of comprehensive sex ed," although abstinence-only sex education advocates would "look at the same symptoms and come up with an entirely different diagnosis" (Clark-Flory, Salon, 11/4).

Broadcast Coverage

NPR's "Day to Day" on Tuesday included a discussion with Sydney Spiesel, a pediatrician at the Yale School of Medicine, about the study (Brand, "Day to Day," NPR, 11/4).

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