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Easy Annotated Bibliography Rough Draft & Peer Reviews Comprehensive sex education in school
Effect of television on youth
Media influence with teenage pregnancy
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Recommended: Easy Annotated Bibliography Rough Draft & Peer Reviews Comprehensive sex education in school
Most teenagers do not plan to get pregnant, but many do. Teen pregnancies carry extra health risks to both the mother and the baby. One reason teens end up pregnant at such a young age is because they never had “the talk.” When parents do not begin to stress the consequences of not using a condom to their child they increase the risk of that child being reckless. Another influence of teen pregnancy is the impact of exposure to sexual content on the behaviors of adolescents. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory incorporates the dominance of media in relation to its impact on societal behaviors. Bandura’s social learning theory emphasizes the environmental impact television images have on both the mental and behavioral processes of viewers. It is not a secret that sex sells and for some reason, young sex sells even more. Teens respond to media content and in today’s world it is uncommon for a show to not have sexual content. How that content is received depends entirely on the viewer, but how the content is presented depends on what will sell. The media influences teen pregnancy by glamourizing sex, showing the pros and cons of pregnancy and by making young mothers into celebrities.
With the large amount of sexual content on television, teenagers are shown sexuality in varying situations. Less research has been done on how teens interpret these messages and how it helps shape their view of norm sexual behaviors. While depictions of teens having multiple sexual partners on shows such as 90210, Glee and The Secret Life of an American Teenager may not influence a specific teenager to act accordingly, it could promote an ideal that highlights promiscuousness as the norm. Juno was a popular film where the main character gets pregnan...
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...ith two children. No one helped my mom; she did everything on her own and without a television show. The media does not show the hard work and motivation of some teen mothers, but seem to love putting crazy people on television and paying them to do so. I think that the media influences teens behavior and thoughts about teen pregnancy to the point that they are not aware of the consequences. The popular books amongst teens do not touch on the topic of sex. Books like Twilight encourage teens to wait until marriage for sex, but the main characters are in an unhealthy relationship. The Harry Potter series never touches on the topic and just implies that hand holding is the only thing that should be happening before marriage. Where the teaching starts is at home. Parents need to help educate their kids about sex because, “…kids get bored and have intercourse.” – Juno.
“In 2005, out of 68% of TV shows that showed steamy sexual content, only 15% discussed risk and responsibility. And it’s not just movies and TV: Music, video games, and the Internet are also filled with sexually explicit, often-degrading messages that can shape kids’ attitudes about sex.” (greatschools.org)
16 & Pregnant is a TV show aired on MTV that as the name suggests, focuses on the lives of various teens who are pregnant whilst still in high school; each tells a different story. In these episodes, viewers are able to observe the struggles these teens face as a result of pregnancy during pubescent development. Controversy has been made as a result of the release of this show; this left viewers torn between whether 16 & Pregnant discourages teen pregnancy or shrouds it within curiosity. There is more than sufficient evidence to say that 16 & Pregnant, does in fact discourage teen pregnancy for various reasons. According to the New York Times report, the National Bureau of Economic Research compared Nielsen television ratings to birth records, and concluded that in areas where teens viewed MTV more after the debut of 16 & Pregnant, there was a rapid decline of teen pregnancy rates when compared to other areas that viewed it less frequently although some believe the show glamorizes the subject matter. Some also believe that it encourages the teens to disrespect their parents in every way possible; quite to the contrary, watching 16 & Pregnant is very beneficial to discouraging teen pregnancy and family problems by displaying the hardships these teens face, teaching the importance of completing high school and encouraging viewers to use various contraceptives methods or practice abstinence.
... is the direct effect of teens and young adults not being educated on the things that come with sex and the consequences of their actions. Teens need sex education because the knowledge will give them an insight on the subject and help them think about the proper precautions to take in order to be a responsible person insuring that they use the right contraception and/or abstinence in order for them not to have children as a teen. Other factors play into why teens become pregnant as well. In the results for my interviews, parent/child relationships should be established and upheld as a relationship that is strictly parent and child. Teens who do not have a true parent/parents in their lives to care about the important thing that contribute to the child’s well being such a becoming pregnant at a young age, tend to make decisions that are not healthy in their lives.
How many girls have you see around school who are pregnant? Do you ever come to think that they may not have had the “sex talk” with their parents or any sort of sex education at school? “The United Stated still has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized country. About 40 percent of American women become pregnant before the age of 20. The result is about 1 million pregnancies each year among women ages 15 to 19.” (The Annie E. Casey Foundation) At the age 15-20 most teen males and females don’t have a stable job and are still going to school. There is much at risk when a male and female decide to have sexual intercourse. Having a sex education class would help decrease the teen pregnancy rate. Learning what one can do to prevent a teen pregnancy and the consequences that can lead up to it, will help reduce the amount of sexual activity among teens. Having a sex education class that is required will benefit the upcoming teens of the next generation. Some parents don’t want their teens to have premarital sex and some parents don’t want the schools to be the ones responsible to teach their kids about sex education because they feel like it’s their job. There has been much controversy on sex education being taught at school.
America has one of the largest pregnancy rates in teens in the whole world (“Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media”). Pregnant teens have to make many hard choices. They must decided to keep the baby or not., and to continue on with school. or not. Teens moms can lose everything they’ve worked for after one bad decision. Sex is in teens lives because of media influence.
A media panic or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused for many conclusions regarding media panics and the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non willingly now under surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or perception. What authors and researchers continue to imply is that there is a direct correlation to what youth today see on different forms of media and their behaviours. However, it is important to remember that children are humans as well and do have a mind of their owns. Our society cannot assume that these media panics ultimately take away their ability to think on their own and develop into mature individuals. The first media panic I will discuses is how video games have developed a relationship with violence amongst our children. The second media panic is the sexual objectification of young women online.
Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.
Imagine juggling the stress of graduating high school and the stress of embracing parenthood at the same time. “In 2009, six pregnant teens allowed MTV to film their pregnancies in the hopes that youngsters watching the resultant show--16 and Pregnant-- would learn from their mistakes and wait to start families” (Dockterman 1). This is the reality for many teens today. According to the March of Dimes, about three in ten teenage girls become pregnant before the age of twenty. (Slocum 1). MTV hosts many different tv shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. In broadcasting the lifestyles of young teenage mothers, these shows also allow others to see the struggles that the young teen mothers face preparing for and caring for a baby. While many
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses The research question and basis of the study can be summarized as whether or not the exposure to sexual concepts through the media have significant influences on the sexual practices of teenagers. Similarly, it is proposed that, if proven to be accurate, media can be used in similar formats to encourage safe sex and preventative sexual health practices. The use of focus groups, journal writings, room tours, and interviews allowed teens the opportunity to discuss sexuality which was operationalized as teen views on love, sex, and relationships. Steele, 1999, p. 334.
The media has changed significantly over the past decades. Technology has modified our abilities to expand our communication network, and it allows companies to spread their commercials over many different continents. Research done by Roberts (1993) shows that adolescent and children are often very influenced by media that involves sexual or violent conduct. This research is based on media involving children and adolescents, however this does not eliminate the effect media has on adults (Singer & Singer, 2001, p. 269).
The media is one contributor to teen pregnancy. The star of Zoey 101, Jamie Lynn Spears, became pregnant when she was only 16. Parents were shocked to find out that the girl they once thought was a good role model for their young teens was actually not (Teen Pregnancy). Singers like Rihanna, and rappers like Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj sing about extreme sexual acts, and parents allow their teens to listen to the music. Some stars who have been known to dress and dance promiscuously have supported abstinence such as, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Jordan Sparks (Teen Pregnancy). The Jonas Brothers even took virginity pledges in their teens, but with these celebrities promiscuous ways it often contradicts their support (Teen
“The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics (p.26)”.
The glamorous side of sex is everywhere; music, tv shows, movies and social media. To a mature adult, it is easy to ignore the sexual messages in those outlets. However, to a teenager, going through mental and physical changes and peer pressure, it is extremely easy to fall for what is shown to “cool.” Everyone has fallen for half truths to be cool in their teenage life. It just so happens that teen pregnancies and STDs are not one of those things that one can simply walk away from. Babies and STDs leave a lasting effect on everyone involved. The National Conference of State Legislatures states:
It is interesting to notice that two popular medias come together to make an impact in a cause. Although, initially when these shows were aired, many believed they are only going to contribute to the problem. However, as the shows progressed, the curiosity among the teens increased to learn the outcome of the teen’s life in the stories. The teens started communicating with their friends through the social media on what they have seen in these shows. As the show progressed, it did not only show the reality of the social and economic hardships faced by teen moms after giving birth to a child at a very young age but also educated teens by making them realize the hardship that lie ahead of a pregnancy. The critical part of realization comes from the discussions with their social media friends and the discouragement they receive which helps in educating the teens of pregnancy. This is evident from a spike in the Twitter and Facebook activities among teen population following the day of the shows.
Young people especially the teenagers are sensitive and receptive to learning new things. The media provides more than they can handle. Access to different programs, shows, and movies affect the manner that the teenagers behave. Today, it is unfortunate to say that the media is becoming more sexual and violent than the older days, resulting in similar behaviors among the teens (Craig, & Baucum, 2001). By watching programs intended for the adults, teenagers are drifting even further. They start behaving like adults without the prerequisites of becoming one. This means that they have contents that do not match with their ages. And then terrible things begin – increased college dropouts, teenage pregnancies, and increased cases of suicides. Some teenagers who had bright future ahead of them will