Watching sex scenes on TV not a strong cause for teens having sex
Contrary to common belief, watching scenes of sex on television or
listening to songs with sexual lyrics over the radio here is not a
strong cause for teenagers to have sex.
Neither is factual knowledge on Aids-related information, or academic
performance in school associated to premarital sex, according to a
local study.
The researchers are from the DSC Clinic, the National Healthcare Group,
the National University of Singapore and Singapore General Hospital.
They found that pornography is the strongest factor for male teens to want to have sex.
Female teens with a history of sexual abuse are also more likely to have sex early.
Researchers interviewed 500 sexually active teenagers from the DSC
clinic and 500 non-sexually active counterparts from a general
practitioner clinic between 2006 and 2008.
This study of teens, aged 14 to 19, is the "first rigorous study" here on factors for premarital sex.
About 95 per cent of the sexually active boys had watched pornography, compared to 79 per cent of non-sexually active boys.
And 22.5 per cent of sexually active girls had a history of sexual abuse, compared to 3 per cent of non-sexually active girls.
Director for the Singapore Children’s Society, Carol Balhetchet, agreed with the findings.
She cautioned: "It’s a real concern. (Pornography) may promote
aggressive sexual behaviour and violence to obtain what you want."
With sexually abused girls, "the language of love has been miscommunicated by someone they trust and respect," she added.
To monitor and reduce access to "explicit sexual media", researchers
recommended that Internet Service Providers, parents and the
entertainment industry work together.
They also suggested that parents and healthcare personnel "communicate
openly" with adolescents on sexuality to "help (them) develop a more
critical attitude towards pornography".
For instance, said Dr Balhetchet, by re-visiting websites with
children, parents can teach them to "consequences of visiting such
sites".
Preventing teenagers from accessing pornography "very much involves parents being active," she said.
They can access the websites children visit, and/or also install software to keep track of children’s Internet use.
But for those already exposed to pornography, she suggested
counselling: "They need someone to educate them on what they want to
see (pornography) and ... about the dangers (involved)."
Researchers highlighted young school dropouts, particularly females, as
needing out-of-school care and sex education, while high-risk groups,
such as those who were sexually abused, "should be identified early,
for interventions on life skills and sex education".
One reason the media could have little impact on premarital sex could
be Singapore’s ban on scenes of explicit sexual intercourse in
public-access movies and TV shows, the study said.
But having characters with HIV/Aids or sexually transmitted infections
(STIs) in the media appears helpful in preventing premarital sex.
Teenagers who had heard of or seen such characters portrayed in the
media were about four times less likely to have premarital sex.
However, knowing Aids is incurable did not have significant impact.
As such, researchers called for factual information about HIV and STIs,
together with life-skills education, to be "woven into television
dramas to contextualise sexual risk, so teens can relate to it."
"The advantage of story-telling is this additional ability to show and
illustrate the ordeals a person has to go through and perhaps, this
curbs the curiosity of teens which then reduces their urge to engage in
high-risk behaviour," said Dr Tan.
While researchers felt "it is not practical to promote sexual
abstinence alone," Dr Balhetchet said sex education should focus on the
"social and emotional component(s)".
Agreeing with the finding that academic performance does not impact on
teenagers having sex, she said, perhaps the Health Promotion Board’s
decision in 2008 to have sex education classes targeted at normal
stream students could be "targeting an age group" rather than their
academic performance.
"All children need sex education," she stressed. While this study is a
"brilliant first step", she believes further studies on secondary
school students could improve sex education material.
For both genders, other predictors included having dropped out of
school, consuming alcohol, smoking and living in low-cost housing.
Latest figures from the Ministry of Health show the STI notification
rate for those below 20 more than doubled from 61 per 100,000
population in 2000, to 133 in 2008.
--938Live
ahem~
where got s3x scenes on our tv?
those so mild.....
even rape scene oso oni so surface...... the rest we have to imagine ourselves.......
Originally posted by FireIce:ahem~
where got s3x scenes on our tv?
those so mild.....
even rape scene oso oni so surface...... the rest we have to imagine ourselves.......
i think sensational imagination are more potent.....that cause teen sex