eLetters to:

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE: Rebecca L. Collins, Marc N. Elliott, Sandra H. Berry, David E. Kanouse, Dale Kunkel, Sarah B. Hunter, and Angela Miu Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior Pediatrics 2004; 114: e280-e289 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

eLetters published:

Chicken or egg?

Douglas L. Wilson   (7 September 2004)

Other Programming Should Be Explored

Erica Rosen   (7 September 2004)

Limitations need more attention

Kim I Martyn   (16 September 2004)

Television Becomes The "Educator"

Nancy Clyatt   (8 December 2004)

Chicken or egg? 7 September 2004
Douglas L. Wilson, chairman The Anakosha Corporation Send letter to journal: Re: Chicken or egg? douglaswilson{at}earthlink.net Douglas L. Wilson	This article conveys its bias against youthful initiation of sex by announcing that it is a health concern, having just recited that many young people, fully a fourth of sexually active teenagers, get STDs, and that Americans have unplanned pregnancies at a rate "among the highest of all industrialized countries". The implication is that youthful sex is bad per se. This is consistent with the politically conservative bias against sex currently extant in the U.S., even though it is characterized as a health concern. But behind those statistics is a huge debate about whether to educate teenagers about sex and to assist them in disease prevention -- things that other industrialized countries (read Europe and Canada) have been much more liberal about, resulting in less disease and pregnancy. So the implication is based on false assumptions, yet it colors the entire study. The fundamental error of this study is "post hoc, ergo propter hoc." It assumes causation when there may be mere coincidence. While it is undeniable that TV can have significant impact on attitudes of many kinds on people of all ages, this study does not control for the possibility that young people seek out programs with sexual content because they have more than average sexual interest and desire, which by itself would tend to translate into earlier sexual activity, whether they watched TV or not. Evidently the survey employed in this study did not bother to ask the respondents about their sexual interest, or whether they considered themselves to have more sexual desire than their peers, or their intentions to become sexually active. Without that kind of data, it is impossible to establish causation by TV content. Even the press release for this study reveals bias: "On a positive note, the study found that one group — African American youth — that watched more depictions of sexual risks or safety measures was less likely to begin engaging in sexual intercourse in the subsequent year." Researchers who think it is a good thing that early sexual activity is avoided will tend to design and read the results of their study as reinforcing that bias. But in this example, it is also fair to ask whether the results are being misread. If sexually interested black youngsters were already engaging in sexual behavior before their exposure to TV, they would not show up in this study. That would leave the group that is less sexually interested, upon whom the erotic content of TV has less effect. If this example supports any conclusion, it supports coincidence rather than causation. Supporting this are studies showing a higher rate of early sexual behavior among blacks; see, e.g., Besharov and Gardiner, "Trends in Teen Sexual Behavior", U. Maryland, May, 1998. Douglas L. Wilson The Anakosha Corporation Naples, Florida
Other Programming Should Be Explored 7 September 2004
Erica Rosen Send letter to journal: Re: Other Programming Should Be Explored erosen{at}lycos.com Erica Rosen	I grew up with cable television and plenty of sexually explicit programming. I didn't have sex until I was in my 20s, because I saw so many movies-of-the-week about girls who got pregnant, or people living with AIDs, or date rapes. Not all shows that deal with sex are giving the impression that it's something everyone should be doing. With parental supervision, television can be a useful tool in helping teens understand the consequences of sexual activity. It seemed like friends whose parents were strict about how much television they watched were the first ones to want to rebel, and the ones who didn't know enough about sex to protect themselves.
Limitations need more attention 16 September 2004
Kim I Martyn, sexual health educator private Send letter to journal: Re: Limitations need more attention k2bem{at}interlog.com Kim I Martyn	While the limitations of this study were mentioned, they were dismissed too quickly. Certainly the media was not informed of some of the serious faults, or they chose to ignore them. For instance, in reading the methodology used in data collection, researchers state that parents had to give consent in order for the youth to participate. It seems obvious that this would skew the populalation who did end up participating...in any number of ways. Also, while the reseachers did a good job trying to eliminate other factors which could effect the finding, such as parental education, there are a number of "soft" factors which could only be evaluated through a very extensive interview. Amoung these factors is the kind of relationship the youth had with the adults raising them. For such a complex behaviour as sexual expression, this is a far too simple equation, particularly in light of the prevailing political pressures in the USA surrounding the area of youth and sexuality. Kim Martyn
Television Becomes The "Educator" 8 December 2004
Nancy Clyatt, Teacher Send letter to journal: Re: Television Becomes The "Educator" nancyspeaks{at}yahoo.com Nancy Clyatt	As a teacher, I read with great interest the subject of television’s impact upon teenage initiation of sex. Many high schools are showing an alarming trend of sexual encounters during school hours. The school system I work for has had to deal with sex on school buses, bathrooms and the back of the classrooms at such an alarming rate, they now send issues of sex on campus to the police department for resolution. From my perspective, as an educator, television has been the common denominator facilitating the changes in American youth and the onset of sexual exploration. If you can change buying habits of the American public with well crafted advertising, why would it not then be equally conceivable that you could change the mores/culture through the same medium as well! When you endlessly legitimize non relational sex on television to young impressionable youth, it should be no surprise when they rationalize the need to indulge themselves at earlier and earlier ages. From my perspective, television has had an enormous impact upon American teenagers decision making process when it comes to sex. One of the references in this article about sexual initiation was from researcher George Gerber who believed that as television became the “educator” to many viewers, the assumption that what was being viewed was correct, allowed that industry to influence consumer opinions on everything from toothpaste to sex. This, in my opinion, has contributed dramatically to a change in American culture as more and more children and young adults are watching endless hours of value and cultural altering television. I couldn’t agree more.