September 7, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact:

Maryam Kubasek
Director of Communications
National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families
513/521-6227, ext. 111

Cincinnati--Parents have one more compelling reason to monitor what kinds of shows their teens are watching. A new study conducted by the RAND Corp. and funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development indicates teenagers who watch a lot of television with sexual content are twice as likely to engage in intercourse than those who watch few such programs.

“Clearly, early sexual activity on the part of teenagers leads to such negative consequences as sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies—not to mention unseen emotional damage,” said Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families. “The good news is that by helping their kids think critically about what they see on TV, parents can actually play an important role in helping prevent their kids from making some bad choices.”

The National Coalition has developed a curriculum, Sex & Young America, that helps parents and teens understand the impact of media on their sexual behavior. “In talking with thousands of teens across the country, we found that most of them were unaware of the ways in which media impacted their attitudes about sex and consequently their behavior,” noted Jack Samad, producer of the Sex & Young America curriculum and senior vice president for Internet Safety and Strategic Partnerships.

“This study flies in the face of those who claim that what we watch has no impact on our behavior,” Samad added. “While parents certainly need to be willing to be the ‘bad guys’ and monitor their kids’ TV viewing, this also should be a loud wake-up call for the broadcast and cable industries to offer programming that won’t send kids the message that sex with anybody at any time is free of consequences.”