Sexual Attitudes in Adolescents and Sexuality as Shown in the Media - Example

Media Articles Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 27th March, 2012. Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Gruber, E. & Grube J. W. 2000, Adolescent sexuality and the media: a review of current knowledge and implications, Western journal of medicine 172(3), pp.210–214. Viewed 26 march 2012, 3 Introduction 3 Methods 3 Sexuality as shown in the Media 4 Teenage sexuality 4 Conclusion 5 Television 6 Video games 6 Music videos 7 Internet 7 Recommendations 8 Discussion 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) 2003, Impact of media use on children and youth, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, vol 8(5). Strasburger, V. 1993. Children, adolescents and the media: five crucial issues. Adolescent medicine 4, pp. 479-493. American Academy of Pediatrics 1995, committee on communications. Children adolescents and television, Pediatrics 96, pg 786-787. Gould. & Davidson, L. 1998, Suicide contagion among adolescents. Advanced Adolescent Mental Health 3, pp. 29-59. 10 Strasburger, V. C. 2010, Children Adolescents, and the media Pediatrics 125, pp. 756-767, viewed 26 march 2012, 10 Introduction The media in recent years has grown to be the most significant contributor to character formation in children and young adults. It has been shown on many occasions that what a child grows up to be is directly related to the content she received from the media. Violence and deteriorating moral standards has been associated with the media depiction of the vices as something one should inspire to do. The media has received a lot of criticism for this alleged cultivation of negative characters in young individuals Gruber, E. & Grube J. W. 2000, Adolescent sexuality and the media: a review of current knowledge and implications, Western journal of medicine 172(3), pp.210–214. Viewed 26 march 2012, Introduction Sexual attitudes in adolescents are a result of the type of information these young people come face to face with on a daily basis. Studies have revealed that TV and other Electronic tools of broadcasting information can greatly impact teenager’s attitudes, Beliefs, and behaviors, Gryber and Grube seeks to establish a pattern that relates the rate of exposure and sexual attitudes in teenagers (pg, 212). Methods Gruber and Grube collected information available from previous examination of that relate adolescent behavior with the amount of sexual natured content they were receiving from the media. Sexuality as shown in the Media Sexual content be it visual, audio or suggestive has an impact to anybody who is a recipient of that content. The effect of sexual exposure is more profound in adolescents as it occurs at a stage when their responsibility as either female or male members of society, their perception of sex, and sexuality is being formed (Gruber & Grube, 2000). Furthermore teenagers have not developed the ability to make decisions on what is good for them as regard content sourced from the media. In America teenagers were found to have been exposed to 143 scenes of sexual nature each week aired when most people are known to be watching television. The sexual natured content mostly involved unmarried couples in uncompromising sexual situations presented as if there is nothing wrong in involving in such activities. Access to content of sexual nature to American children is undeniable, with about 2.9 TVs in homes of adolescents who attend high school and three quarters having access to cable TV. Young people also confess to having sourced most of their knowledge about sex from media sources as opposed from parents or other people they interact with. Teenage sexuality High rates of sexual activity among the population between 13 and 20 years have worried stakeholders of the health profession. It is shown that almost 50 per cent of American high school students have engaged in some other form of intimacy that is unhealthy, annual teenage pregnancy stands at 7.5 among American high school students. Each additional sexual partner in a teenager’s life elevates the risk of getting a “Sexually Transmitted Diseases” (STD) or HIV infection (Gruber & Grube, 2000). A quarter of teenagers involved in sex are infected with STDS every year, teenage infection of STD represents a quarter of all new infection recorded each year. Knowledge about Media Sexual Content Known effects of sexual content in the media are seen in analysis and tracking of televised material throughout the year. Teenage girls are shown to prefer sexual content that is aired on the normal network while boys are likely to go for more hardcore content. Boys too show a high adoption rate of new technology and thus are more likely to be exposed to sexual content. Repeated viewing of programs that promote certain stereotypical sexual roles, can accept this roles as real in their own live; girls with a history of STDs were likely to have been exposed to material that show women as sexual objects. Teenage girls also look up to the media to shape up their image show they can impress boys. However the article comes short of establishing a direct link between exposure to sexual content and the commencement or involvement of teenagers in sex. The article supports this idea by showing that a simple alcohol advertisement does not induce usage among teenagers rather the way they perceive it is the one that directly leads to alcohol usage. Conclusion Exposure to sexual content simply does not mean a teenager will change his sexual attitude but other factors contribute significantly to sexuality at this age group. The article recommends further more specific studies on the relationship between access to sexual content and adolescent sexuality. Canadian pediatric society 2003, Impact of media use on children and youth, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, vol 8(5), viewed 26 march 2012, Introduction It has been found that continuous use of the media greatly impacts on a child’s psychological development. Physicians there find it important to talk with parents and guardians on their children’s exposure to the media and at what age a child is supposed to use the media. The media in this case refers to aspects such as games, television, internet, music as well as the radio. Each of the different media is explained together it’s beneficial as well as its harmful effects to children and how physicians can play a part in counseling the affected patients as well as their families so as to uphold the healthy use of various kinds of media in the society (Buerkel-Rothfuss, Strouss, Pettey et al1993). Television According to various studies television has both positive and negative impact on children and adolescents and its effects is mainly based on the level of development of the child. Though not all programs are based certain programs are said to have negative effects to child this includes programs related to sexuality, offensive language and violence (American academy of pediatrics 1995). Video games Though video games are viewed as major factor in the development of finer coordination as well as skills, it still have its negative impacts such as inactivity, violence as well as antisocial behavior which is gained after extreme exposure to the use of video games. To solve the problems associated with the use of video games guardians ought to be discourage the playing of violent games and also they should aim at familiarizing with the various kinds of rating impended on video games so as to make sure that children play games that within their age limit. Both the positive and negative impacts of video games have been a matter of public concern (Gould & Davidson 1998). Though at times some video are rated as appropriate for all audience they still have some aspects of violence thus leaving more to be desired for in term of video games ratings. Music videos The music videos have noteworthy effects on the viewers for example they expose the viewers to violence as well as making teenagers endorse in premarital sex. This is because a high percentage of these videos have sexually explicit materials and another considerable percentage has violence which is mostly projected to women. These impacts on the children view and attitudes towards various sex roles in the society. Internet The internet has both the positive and negative effects to children and adolescents. The internet offers a variety of educational material, but there is a lack of editorial standards thus limiting the credibility of the internet as resourceful area to find academic materials. A negative impact of the internet is its effects on the child postural development this is mainly caused by the long hours spends when watching the TV or using the computer. The long hours of sitting also leads to obesity, unsocial behaviors and addictive behavior (Strasburger 1993). Parents should aim at knowing the dangers associated with the use of the internet and when doing so they should also not fail to realize the benefits of the internet. This will ultimately lead to a reduction on the negative effects while majoring on the positive impacts. Parents ought to be encouraged to value the positive effects on the internet. In collaboration with the physicians, parents must be prepared to face the challenges posed by the internet and aim at reaping the benefits. Recommendations In solving the problems associated with various forms of media the physicians should: Make inquiries in relation to media habits in taking psychological history Be familiar with various kinds of media that child and adolescents view Discussion The two articles explore the effect the media has on children and people between the ages of 13-19 years. Gruber and Grude (2000) discuss the knowledge and data available about teen sexuality and further explore how it relates to exposure to sexual content. The Canadian pediatric Society (CPS) (2003) explores the relationship between various forms of media and the effect they have on teenage behavior. Gruber and Grube (2000) concentrate on television while the Canadian pediatric association takes the wider context of television, music videos and the internet. Gruber and Grube(2000) are of the opinion that it cannot be established conclusively that exposure to sexual content contributes to lower moral standards among teenager although in some instances they point that long-term exposure may lead to teenager thinking what is depicted in television shows as is reality. The CPS(2003) is more authoritative saying that music videos contribute to negative sexuality and violent character among those who watch them, it also takes a positive view of video games crediting them with the development of finer condition skills among their users views mirrored in(Kunkel, Cope, Maynard-Farinola et al1999). The two articles link risky sexual behavior with exposure to sex natured content through the media. Gruber and Grube explore the data available on teenage sexuality showing increased sexual activity among teenager, high rates of pregnancy among under-age females and high STD infection rate, while CPS(2003) associates this to content in music videos and other media. Both articles agree that further research needs to be conducted to establish the relationship between media content and child/teenage behavior development. Both also agree that medical professionals and parents need to be in the frontline in accessing and approving the type of media content and the duration and intensity of media usage that influence changes in character among the youth. Conclusion An advertiser can learn valuable lessons from the above articles while coming up with content for their advertisement (American Academy of Pediatrics 1995). Advertisers of contraception can adopt media as the choice means delivering their marketing messages as the youth are known to get most of their information on sexual matters from the media. Advertisers who advertise products that touch on sexuality must be careful in the type of content they apply to their commercials as a advert suggestive adverts may influence teenagers to act in the way that advert depicts. References Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) 2003, Impact of media use on children and youth, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, vol 8(5). Strasburger, V. 1993. Children, adolescents and the media: five crucial issues. Adolescent medicine 4, pp. 479-493. American Academy of Pediatrics 1995, committee on communications. Children adolescents and television, Pediatrics 96, pg 786-787. Gould. & Davidson, L. 1998, Suicide contagion among adolescents. Advanced Adolescent Mental Health 3, pp. 29-59. Strasburger, V. C. 2010, Children Adolescents, and the media Pediatrics 125, pp. 756-767, viewed 26 march 2012, Gruber, E. & Grube J. W. 2000, Adolescent sexuality and the media: a review of current knowledge and implications Western journal of medicine 172(3), pp.210–214. Viewed 26 march 2012, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1070813/ Kunkel, D., Cope, K.M., Maynard-Farinola, W.J. et al1999. Sex on TV: content and context. Menlo Park (CA): Kaiser Family Foundation. Buerkel-Rothfuss, N.L., Strouse J.S., Pettey G, et al1993. Adolescents' and young adults' exposure to sexually oriented and sexually explicit media. In: Greenberg BS, Brown JD, Buerkel-Rothfuss NL, eds. Media, sex and the adolescent. Cresskill (NJ): Hampton Press; 1993: 99-112. Brown JD, Greenberg BS, Buerkel-Rothfuss NL 1993, Mass media, sex, and sexuality, Adolesc Med 4 (pt 1), pg 511-552 Read More