http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_28772.aspx

Quote :

"You turn on the TV and it's everywhere. Men bedding beautiful women, guys talking about their latest conquests to their school chums, and teens with raging hormones talking about sex, performing the act or being made to look like idiots when their best plans at conquest go wrong. And your kids are watching and absorbing it all on DVDs, TV shows and the movies. If you believe the research, that's getting too many of them sexually active and leading to unwanted teenage pregnancies. The figures, compiled by behavioural scientist Anita Chandra, shows teens who watch shows with the most activity are more likely to become pregnant over the next three years than those who didn't watch the shows or viewed fewer of them. "

Does this validate what some of the social conservatives have been saying? It does seem over time TV gets more explicit in what it shows, but this is the "freemarket" at work isn't it? Do more conservative viewpoints need a kind of "affirmative action"?

11/4/2008 11:23:57 AM

The main problem with social conservatives is that while this is going on, they still cling to the argument that as long as they tell their kids not to have sex, that's all they need to do. If popular culture is going to continue to sexualize teens (and they will), then conservatives need to step up and be more proactive with promoting safe sex and birth control.

11/4/2008 11:28:36 AM

All I know is that my kid won't be allowed to watch any of that crap because I'll actually be the parent, not the tv.

11/4/2008 11:30:07 AM

Holy shit correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

11/4/2008 11:30:17 AM

I blame parents and the gov't should not have to legislate morality.

I listened to rap music when i was a teen yet I did not strive to be a drug slinging gang banger rolling on Dubs.

11/4/2008 12:04:59 PM

Quote :

"Holy shit correlation does not necessarily imply causation."

Yeah, but there is no reason to think it doesn't in this case. It's kind of a taboo issue, but most research in the area has shown causation.

11/4/2008 12:29:04 PM

I blame Juno.

11/4/2008 12:31:45 PM

^^ No it hasn't, because we haven't isolated teens and sat them down in front of varying levels of sexually explicit television throughout their childhoods, and then tracked whether or not they ended up sexually active later. (And no IRB in the world would validate such a study.) No direct manipulation of your IV, no causation.

[Edited on November 4, 2008 at 12:32 PM. Reason : fuckers post too fast.]

11/4/2008 12:32:00 PM

Quote :

"No it hasn't, because we haven't isolated teens and sat them down in front of varying levels of sexually explicit television throughout their childhoods, and then tracked whether or not they ended up sexually active later. Please understand what causation actually means."

Well, as much as can be shown in a long term, human study. It would be nearly impossible to prove absolute causation. Social sciences are funny like that.

11/4/2008 12:33:23 PM

Exactly. We can't prove causation, so please don't think there is a causal relationship.
Sorry, you just hit a nerve with that. I spend too much time reviewing and reading shit where people try to claim causality when they can't actually prove it.

11/4/2008 12:37:23 PM

[Edited on November 4, 2008 at 12:57 PM. Reason : ]

11/4/2008 12:56:46 PM

Quote :

"Does this validate what some of the social conservatives have been saying? It does seem over time TV gets more explicit in what it shows, but this is the "freemarket" at work isn't it? Do more conservative viewpoints need a kind of "affirmative action"?"

To give the general correlation != causation sentiment some context:

We do not know if happening to watching sex makes kids horny or if horny kids like to watch sex. Indeed, the later is probably the stronger effect.

11/4/2008 1:01:06 PM

^ A good way to maybe constrain that hypothesis more would be to look at countries with more restricted media like Saudi or Iran and see how their cultures have developed. I can easily see there being a correlation between more sex on TV to hornier teens in general.

11/4/2008 1:06:12 PM

^^ indeed. Anecdotally, I would conclude that horny kids like to watch sex, having been a horny kid.

11/4/2008 1:26:23 PM

Quote :

"Does this validate what some of the social conservatives have been saying? It does seem over time TV gets more explicit in what it shows, but this is the "freemarket" at work isn't it?"

Social conservatives are some of the last people to actually embrace the free market.

Quote :

"Do more conservative viewpoints need a kind of "affirmative action"?"

They already have them. Disney Channel, ABC-Family Channel, and god only knows what other kind of "family-friendly" fare out there.

Some parents are upset because they want the government and the TV to do their parenting for them.

Other people want to be paid not to work.

Guess which ones I have sympathy for?

11/4/2008 1:40:27 PM

You could also argue that the same lax parenting that lets kids watch whatever they want is also to blame for creating irresponsible teenagers that don't think to use a jimmy cap.

11/4/2008 1:40:36 PM

This is quite clearly an example of a correlation vs. causation argument. Television may influence our lives a little, but let's not forget that shows and movies are typically made within the confines of social norms of the day. Premarital sex is considered pretty normal and ok today, much moreso than it was 50 years ago, and our media reflects that. To blame it on media is nuts.

11/4/2008 2:04:24 PM

I saw a clip of a show called Gossip Girls. Depicted a teenager (like 16) masterbating... showin the O-face and all that jazz. Just not something that should be portrayed on TV, imho. Hell, girls are being put up as sex objects at a younger and younger age on TV but we turn around and complain about promiscuity, STDs, teen pregnancy/abortions, and so forth... not to mention the scenes seem a bit pedo. I'm sure I would have felt different when I was a freshman but I'm getting close to 30 now and shit like this just starts to seem different.

11/5/2008 12:41:31 AM