 |
|
|
 Health & Beauty | August 2006 
Sexual Lyrics Prompt Teens to Have Sex
 Lindsey Tanner - Associated Press
| | Among heavy listeners, 51 percent started having sex within two years, versus 29 percent of those who said they listened to little or no sexually degrading music. |
Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found
Songs depicting men as "sex-driven studs," women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed, the study found.
Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.
Among heavy listeners, 51 percent started having sex within two years, versus 29 percent of those who said they listened to little or no sexually degrading music.
Exposure to lots of sexually degrading music "gives them a specific message about sex," said lead author Steven Martino, a researcher for Rand Corp. in Pittsburgh. Boys learn they should be relentless in pursuit of women and girls learn to view themselves as sex objects, he said.
"We think that really lowers kids' inhibitions and makes them less thoughtful" about sexual decisions and may influence them to make decisions they regret, he said.
The study, based on telephone interviews with 1,461 participants aged 12 to 17, appears in the August issue of Pediatrics, being released Monday.
Most participants were virgins when they were first questioned in 2001. Follow-up interviews were done in 2002 and 2004 to see if music choice had influenced subsequent behavior.
Natasha Ramsey, a 17-year-old from New Brunswick, N.J., said she and other teens sometimes listen to sexually explicit songs because they like the beat.
"I won't really realize that the person is talking about having sex or raping a girl," she said. Even so, the message "is being beaten into the teens' heads," she said. "We don't even really realize how much."
"A lot of teens think that's the way they're supposed to be, they think that's the cool thing to do. Because it's so common, it's accepted," said Ramsey, a teen editor for Sexetc.org, a teen sexual health Web site produced at Rutgers University.
"Teens will try to deny it, they'll say 'No, it's not the music,' but it IS the music. That has one of the biggest impacts on our lives," Ramsey said.
The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the U.S. recording industry, declined to comment on the findings.
Benjamin Chavis, chief executive officer of the Hip-Hip Summit Action Network, a coalition of hip-hop musicians and recording industry executives, said explicit music lyrics are a cultural expression that reflect "social and economic realities."
"We caution rushing to judgment that music more than any other factor is a causative factor" for teens initiating sex, Chavis said.
Martino said the researchers tried to account for other factors that could affect teens' sexual behavior, including parental permissiveness, and still found explicit lyrics had a strong influence.
However, Yvonne K. Fulbright, a New York-based sex researcher and author, said factors including peer pressure, self-esteem and home environment are probably more influential than the research suggests.
"It's a little dangerous to just pinpoint one thing. You have to look at everything that's going on in a young person's life," she said. "When somebody has a healthy sense of themselves, they don't take these lyrics too seriously."
David Walsh, a psychologist who heads the National Institute on Media and the Family, said the results make sense, and echo research on the influence of videos and other visual media.
The brain's impulse-control center undergoes "major construction" during the teen years at the same time that an interest in sex starts to blossom, he said.
Add sexually arousing lyrics and "it's not that surprising that a kid with a heavier diet of that ... would be at greater risk for sexual behavior," Walsh said.
Martino said parents, educators and teens themselves need to think more critically about messages in music lyrics.
Fulbright agreed.
"A healthy home atmosphere is one that allows a child to investigate what pop culture has to offer and at the same time say 'I know this is a fun song but you know that it's not right to treat women this way or this isn't a good person to have as a role model,'" she said.
On the Net: Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org/ - National Institute on Media and Family: http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/ - Teen sexual health: http://www.sexetc.org/
Watching Wrestling Linked to Teen Dating Violence
ABC News
Researchers at Wake Forest University say that there may be a direct link between watching professional wrestling on television and increased amounts of "date fighting" and other derogatory behavior among teens.
The findings, which were conducted in 1999, and shared with other researchesr in 2001, are now being published in the journal Pediatrics this week.
Dr. Robert Durant, one of the study's authors, said the intensity of such behavior corresponded with the amount of exposure to wrestling.
The behavior Durant and his team were looking for was increased amount of drinking, drug use and fighting, both verbally and physically, with their dates.
"Is it causing these behaviors or is it that those adolescents were more prone to engage in health risk behaviors and in other violent behaviors more likely to watch wrestling," Durant said back in 2001. "I would think that a little of both is occurring."
WWE Counters Study's Moves
The researchers found that among high school students, the frequency that they had watched wrestling in the previous two weeks was associated with the frequency that they had engaged in tobacco, alcohol and other substance use, as well as the frequency that they engaged in behaviors like fighting and carrying weapons.
Durant also said that he was surprised to see that teenage girls who watched wrestling were also more likely to fight with their dates as well.
"We have to advise parents to monitor what their children are watching and be careful about the amount of violence and substance abuse they allow their children to watch on television," he said.
However, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., continues to refute the study's findings. In a statement released Friday, WWE said:
"The researchers could not find a direct causal relationship between watching wrestling and health risk behaviors. The study ignored other factors that might lead to the types of behaviors discussed in the study. Its findings, therefore, are less than conclusive. In contrast to the findings of this flawed study, many of our fans attest that watching World Wrestling Entertainment programming has been a positive experience for them and their children. Many teens viewing our programs credit them with furthering their self-esteem and confidence." |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us