"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Last December, the Parents Television Council released a survey about teen girls being exploited on TV. The study found that "when underage female characters appear on screen: more sexual content is depicted; the teen girls show next to no negative response to being sexualized; more sexual incidents occur outside of any form of a committed relationship; and there is less accuracy in the TV content rating."
Naturally, as a father of a young daughter and as an evangelist who speaks to many hurting girls, these are disturbing findings, but sadly not surprising.
Unfortunately, sex is not a new issue. I remember as a little boy, my grandmother was appalled by some of the sexualized television commercials she saw. Today, we would probably think nothing of those commercials which offended her. The degree to which sex is used has definitely increased since my childhood, but sex always sells and for that reason it will always be used in advertising and entertainment.
It would be easy to try and blame Hollywood for this. Anytime there is a problem, we always try and find someone to blame, but while TV, music and advertising does play a big role in the way children, especially girls, view themselves, the real issue here can't be blamed on television. Ultimately, the television is not in charge of your household.
The real issue begins in your home. It is vital that you as a parent have conversations about sexual issues with your children. Kids are looking for attention and if their views on sex are tainted from outside influences, they will try to find this love through inappropriate actions.
Our teen's worldview of love must not be shaped by media and peers. This education must start in the home.
-- Jay