Search Results for: blog the prevalence and effects of sex in the media

The Prevalence And Effects of Sex In The Media

I recently came across these facts taken from a fact sheet titled “Marketing Sex to Children.” I guess I must be naive but I was appalled at how much sex children and teenagers are exposed to in the media. It is no wonder that so many teens are having sex themselves. They are practically bombarded with the message that it is not only fun but also appropriate. So how much sex are teens actually being exposed to in the media? “In 2003, 83% of the episodes of the top 20 shows among teen viewers contained some sexual content, including 20% … Continue reading →

The Family Hour?

Thirty-two years ago, national broadcasters agreed to set aside a block of time in the early evening and designate it as “family hour”. During this time, the programs featured would be free of sex and violence. A recent article in the Huntsville Times, reports that that the family hour today is “no place for children”. The Parents Council studied 208 television programs during the 2006-07 season and found that nearly 90% of all programs contained objectionable material including material containing sex, violence and profanity. The group viewed shows during the family hour for two weeks on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, … Continue reading →

Stop The Marketing To Your Kids

Children are constantly being influenced by the media from the clothes that they wear to the cereal that they eat. I don’t know how many times my children have said to me “I want this” or “I want that” because they have seen a commercial on television. My four-year-old often comments that she wants to buy things she has seen on T.V. for her brother, sister, my husband, or myself. In a book titled Who’s Raising Your Child? Battling the Marketers for Your Child’s Heart and Soul authors Laura Buddenberg and Kathleen McGee of Boys and Girls Town, discuss how … Continue reading →

Padded Bras For 6-Year Olds

What is the fashion world coming to? Now stores are selling padded bras for six year olds. That is kindergarten age. So bras aren’t just for those who are actually developing but a necessity to start kindergarten. It’s crazy. What is even crazier is that parents actually buy them for their daughters. Bratz padded bras are currently being sold in Australia and it’s only a matter of time before they make their way to the United States. In a Herald Sun article Target, a separate entity from the US Target, claimed that they sell the padded bras because they support … Continue reading →

A Little Black Marker — It’s Magic!

Every so often I’ll pick up a book that I think is just wonderful. It has fantastic characters, it’s funny, the mystery is well written, and then I turn the page, and somebody is doing something they really should not be doing, and I blush and feel guilty, even though I didn’t know it was there. Dang! (That’s how a Mormon swears.) Why did the author have to mess up a great story with that one paragraph? Well, what do you do in a case like that? We recently talked about building a library in your home. You want to … Continue reading →

Teen Dating Safety

Violence among dating relationships has increased greatly in recent years with one in three teenagers experiencing some form of dating violence. (See my blog Teen Dating Violence: A Serious Problem.) So as a parent how you help protect your teenager from dating violence and teach them that violence is not appropriate in relationships? First decide at what age you will allow your child to date. Then when your child does begin dating set up some dating guidelines and encourage your child to use these guidelines. Possible dating guidelines could be: Double-date the first few dates Let your parents know your … Continue reading →

Teen Dating Violence: A Serious Problem

I never experienced any violence while dating as a teenager or otherwise and neither did either of my two sisters. We were lucky since statistically at least one of us should have experienced date violence of some form. According to the Bureau of Justice Report “Intimate Partner Violence:” About one in three high school students’ will be a victim of an abusive relationship. Thirty to fifty percent of teenage girls report having experienced teen dating violence. Young women from 14 to 17 years account for 38% of date rapes. Sixty percent of rapes occur with someone the victim knows at … Continue reading →