For the past several years more than half of teens surveyed in our occasional polls have told us that they wish they had waited to have sex. Martino and colleagues explore this concept in greater depth in the June edition of Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health. They test the idea that TV contributes to these high levels of regret because TV sets unrealistically high expectations about the positive outcomes of sex (and teens might not actually experience these positive outcomes). The authors use data gathered from the same teens at 3 different time points from 2001-2004 to determine the impact of TV on feelings of regret about sexual initiation. They determine that their hypothesis is correct for teen boys who watch a lot of sex on TV, but not girls.

In other words, teen boys who watch a lot of sex on TV are more likely to report that their expectations about sex fall after they actually have sex. Girls' (who incidentally report much higher regret) expectations about sex remain consistent before and after they first have sex. Other reasons why teens regret having sex have to do with their readiness for sex, their partner, or the status of their relationship. Clearly this article raises a lot of important questions including...

Why do you think so many teens wish they had waited to have sex?

Do you think access to more sexually explicit material on the internet will influence sexual regret?

An important new study from the Rand Corporation is the first to directly link sexual content on TV to the likelihood of teens getting pregnant or causing a pregnancy. Primary finding from the study published in the journal Pediatrics? Teens who are drowning in sex-saturated TV are twice as likely as their peers who watch little sexy stuff on TV to get pregnant or cause a pregnancy by age 16.  So, will turning off the TV prevent teen pregnancy?  A few modest thoughts to consider and discuss:

• Research once again has caught up with common sense.  Of course TV helps shape the social script for teenagers.  We take it as a given, for example, that Hollywood fashion influences what people outside of Hollywood wear, why would it be any different when it comes to teen sexual behavior?
• Don't assume TV is the whole story.  The RAND study and others have noted that sexual content on TV has grown over the past 10-15 years. If the influence of TV on teen sexual behavior is so profound and so direct, why might it be that teen sexual behavior has become more responsible over the past 10-15 years, the same time period that sexual content on TV has gotten raunchier and more prevalent?  Put another way, teen sexual activity, pregnancy, and birth rates have all declined dramatically during the Lohan, Spears administration.
• Media influence versus other influences.  Ponder this...the influence of media probably grows as other important influences in a teens' life wanes. On the job parents, for example, can do much to help teens interpret what teens see, read, and hear.
• Turn that crap off is not an effective parenting strategy.  The National Campaign has long encouraged parents to use what is on television---both good and bad---as a conversation-starter.  Parents should...gasp...sit down with their teens, watch shows that their children want to watch, and discuss what they have seen.  "Do you think that was a responsible decision Dick?"  Do you think she was really ready to have sex Jane?"  "Is that what a respectful relationship looks like Sue?"  "Why didn't that character discuss contraception Tom?"
• Show us more consequences.  National Campaign public opinion polls make clear that teens (76%) and adults (72%) want the media to focus more on the consequences of sex.
• TV isn't the only influence.  For those alarmed by the findings of this report, here is  something else to fret about.  The RAND report only studied the influence of TV, not other mediums that teens consume in vast quantities...think text messaging, social networks, music, etc.