title: Adolescents, sex, and the media: ooooo, baby, baby-a Q & A.
abstract: The media arguably have become the leading sex educator for American children and adolescents. More than 80% of the top teen shows contain sexual content, and the average teen views nearly 14,000 sexual references on television alone. The gap between suggestive and responsible content on primetime television is narrowing, but only slowly. Parents and teachers need to recognize the power of the media to educate and begin incorporating principles of media literacy into existing sex education programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, MSC10 5590, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. vstrasburger@salud.unm.edu
authors.forename: Victor C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Strasburger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000329:Advertising; D004882:Erotica; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011606:Psychosexual Development; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*