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SEX ON TELEVISION

Opening:
Hey there I'm Kayla McCoy a proud parent and a student at Purdue University Calumet.  Today I want to discuss with you a very important topic about kids and what they see on television.  The main point of this discussion is to talk about what we should do to help kids understand what they see on television is not always the way they should think about sex. MTV may have a little to do with kids and their new ideas of sex.  This new idea may becoming from their shows like 16 & Pregnant or Teen Mom.  Even the girls we see that who were on 16 and pregnant are getting in trouble and now agreeing with what they did on their show  (Fox News 2010). Television is a great tool to teach education but we need to always know that children need to be taught that what they see isn't always reality.


Content:
MTV is taking over the world! Okay so this isn't completely true but it sure feels like it could happen with what you hear on the radio and see on talk shows. In today's society people have become obsessed with reality television and what reality stars are doing today.  When we think about our children and what they do in their spare time it can be very difficult to understand why they like shows like 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom.  MTV has become so huge with shows like this, but they are getting some very concerned parents calling and complaining that these shows are not giving children good role models.  Parents are now fearing that children are watching these shows and wanting to become like theses "parents" they see on television who are making huge stacks of money just for having kids.  According to Gina Serpa, who works for Times Magazine, recently wrote that Amber Portwood from Teen Mom announced that she makes 28k a year just for being on MTV  (Today 2010). MTV is a great network but, as a parent we need to make sure that we monitor what are kids are watching so that the TV is not the one educating our children.  If we let children watch TV about sex we need to make sure that after it is over we talk about what they just watched and then show them that it is TV and things don't always end up like they do on MTV. Some parent's believe that when you do nothing, you are actually doing something.  In all reality if you let your children watch TV shows with sex and they are not at the proper age it will affect them.  Some children watch what they see on TV and then do it.  When you don't talk to your children they will not know reality v.s. fantasy.

Conclusion:
Television is a great learning tool if you use it properly.  Children are the future so as a parent we need to make sure that we are monitoring what they watching on TV.  Children take what they see on TV seriously so if they are not told that although it is on TV people don't always act like that.  On MTV they often show reality shows that have so much to do with sex.  Young girls watch 16 & Pregnant and think that if they get pregnant they might get their own show and make money that way.  When children watch TV as a parent we need to know what they are watching. The main thing we can do to help protect our children just a little more is just monitor what they watch and make sure they are at the proper age to watch them.
Thanks so much for listenting to my podcast and i hope that you took what i learned into consideration.
Recommended Readings
For more information you can read a great book called Bittersweet Blessing: 16 and Pregnant by Ashley Salazar. This book is great because it is like a little glimpse into the life of a pregnant 16 year old girl who was on 16 and Pregnant. Another great read is Parental controls:getting children to watch less TV by Sora Song.  This is just a little article that Time posted about parental controls and how kids to get kids to watch less television. If you are interested you can check out the link http://healthland.time.com/2010/06/14/parental-controls-getting-children-to-watch-less-tv/


Sources
Bates, Karen. (August, 2010). MTV's 'Teen Mom' Makes For Teaching Moments.  Retrieved form http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128626258
Kaufman, Amy.  (April, 2011). '16 and Pregnant,' 'Teen Mom' women become tabloid subjects.  Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/26/entertainment/la-et-teen-mom-20110426
Piazza, Jo. (February, 2010). Moms Differ Over What Behaviors MTV Shows 'Teen Mom' and '16 and Pregnant' Promote. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/02/19/mtv-teen-mom-16-and-pregnant/
Serpe, Gina. (2011). Teen mom amber earns -280k a year from MTV. Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40853908/ns/today-entertainment/t/teen-mom-amber-earns-k-year-mtv/#.Tm1W84L