By Christine Russell
Copy Editor

The Center for Effective Parenting website says that the average teenager spends more time watching tele­vision than doing any other activity besides sleeping. Every year, teens will view almost 14,000 sexual refer­ences on television, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement. A study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that 64 percent of TV shows contain sexual content.

Teens are obviously not being sheltered when it comes to sex issues, but an important question is raised. With adolescents spending so much time in front of the tube, how much are they influenced by what they watch? And how much of what one sees on TV is true?

Nobody who has watched “Sex in the City,” or “The OC” or “Friends” can deny the prominent role that sex plays on many popular shows. However, many dramas and sitcoms targeted at teenagers often depict unre­alistic sexual situations. The characters have multiple partners and frequently have casual sex without any consequences.

“It is for the most part, irresponsible,” Health teacher Vickie Christensen said.

In his article, “Sex and Violence on Television,” Kerby Anderson said that in a poll of children 10 to 16 years old, more than two-thirds admitted that what they see on tele­vision influences them.

“We can’t help but be influenced in some way by the bombardment of messages on TV,” Christensen said.

Freshman Jen Yang said that on a scale of 1-10, the level of influence that television shows have on her is about a 6. The fake situations that teenagers are exposed to on televi­sion can influence their important decisions and give them unrealistic ideas about sex.

“[Sex on TV is shown] generally as something good. You hardly see the media saying something bad about it, so they basically give a false impression to people who don’t know better,”Jen said.

In TV shows, sex seems like the norm. In the poll, 62 percent of the children said “that sex on television and in movies influences their peers to have sexual relations when they are too young.”

While many teens share Jen’s feelings, others think that the situations in many shows are much too far-fetched to even seem plausible.

Sex is romanticized on TV, and the emotional aspect is not taken into consideration. Sex is often dealt with very casually. Rarely do the programs address the pos­sible consequences of the characters’ actions, like un­wanted pregnancies or STDs. The Kaiser study showed that only 15 percent of the shows containing sexual content discuss safer sex issues.

The amount of sexual references teens are exposed to on TV has many negative impacts, giving them false impressions and often not addressing safe sex options. Many people feel that the media focuses too much on the sex altogether.

Obviously, the media is not going to stop cover­ing sex. Therefore, it is very important for people watching these shows to realize that the sexual situ­ations are highly unrealistic. Individuals should not allow shows to influence their personal decisions.