----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 11:26
AM
Subject: [Sndbox] Study: TV can be
effective sex educator
Study: TV can be effective sex educator
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
Last Updated 5:04 a.m. PST
Monday, November 3, 2003
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Teenagers can get sex
education as well as laughs by watching a TV series such as "Friends," a new
study found.
Watching or discussing a show with an adult reinforces or clarifies the
lessons carried by television, according to the study released Monday by Santa
Monica-based Rand Corp., a nonprofit research group.
"We've always known that teenagers get useful information about sex from
factual reporting and advice-oriented media, but now we know they can get this
information from entertainment television programs as well," said Rebecca
Collins, lead author of the report.
"That's important because entertainment programs, especially highly rated
ones like 'Friends,' reach many more teens," Collins said in a Rand statement.
Researchers interviewed about 500 teenagers shortly after an episode of the
hit NBC series that included a pregnancy caused by condom failure. The show
aired in October 2001.
In the episode, character Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) becomes pregnant after
having sex with ex-boyfriend Ross (David Schwimmer).
Ross expresses surprise, noting that he'd used a condom. Twice during the
episode, characters say that condoms are "only 97 percent effective."
The episode was watched by 1.67 million 12- to 17-year-olds, the study
said, citing Nielsen Media Research information.
Most of the teenagers surveyed remembered that the episode mentioned condom
effectiveness. But teenagers who watched with an adult or talked about the
episode with one were about twice as likely to remember the information
correctly, the study found.
Viewers recalled the lessons six months later, according to the study in
the November edition of the journal Pediatrics.
The research was part of Rand's Television and Adolescent Sexuality study
to examine the role TV plays in teenagers' development of sexual attitudes and
behavior.
Among those who recalled watching the episode, 65 percent remembered that
it involved a pregnancy caused by condom failure.
Of those who discussed the episode with an adult, almost half remembered
condoms being described as more than 95 percent effective - nearly twice as
many as among teenagers who did not discuss the show with an adult, the study
found.
"When parents and kids watch television together, a program may present an
opportunity to discuss issues the children might not raise on their own,"
Collins said.
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