Reality TV shows will not responsibly teach teens about sex

Writing in today’s Observer, Jan Barlow, chief executive of the Brook Advisory Centre, warns parents that teenage pregnancies cannot be tackled without looking at ‘the broader social climate’, including media influence. ‘Just because these programmes are on after the watershed doesn’t mean your 10-year-old won’t hear about them in the play ground.’ Her words follow the furore last week over three teenage sisters who each conceived under the age of 16. Mother Julie Atkins blamed the pregnancies of Jemma, 14, Jade, 15, and Natasha, 18, on a lack of sex education at school. Children’s minister Beverly Hughes then intervened, warning that the onus was on parents to reduce pregnancy rates.

Barlow, who sits on the government’s Teenage Pregnancy Advisory Group, says that the impact on teens of overtly sexual images must be recognised. ‘Everyone watching [these programmes] is saying, are these people going to have sex on TV or aren’t they?’ she told The Observer. ‘[It’s as if] it’s OK to be like that but it’s not OK to talk to young people about what they need to do to protect themselves. You end up with generations of young people for whom this is the norm. I don’t think we can ignore that.’

Full article (The Guardian Online)