Primetime television programs such as “Friends” regularly deal with sexual topics. For instance, in one episode in last year’s season of “Friends”, Chandler had a problem with “getting it up”, and sought advice from his best friend Joey to see how to handle the situation. Even though no anatomical parts were mentioned, it is quite obvious that Chandler had a problem getting an erection. And although this specifically was never said, half of the program dealt with his sexual dysfunction. The primetime series “Will and Grace” deals with relationships between homosexual and heterosexual people. Much of the humor from the show feeds off the character Jack, who is a homosexual. Jack is depicted as a very feminine character, a stereotypical portrayal of a homosexual. Many soap operas are known for their sexual content. In 1994, each soap opera was examined, and when combined, there was a total average of 6.6 sexual situations per episode, with no real mention for safe sex (Hyde and DeLamater, 2000). For adults and older teenagers, these programs can be quite entertaining, but for young children, these shows are really inappropriate.

The kids used in this experiment only range from ages seven to ten, but yet they because of television, these children believe they know the meaning of sexy, and aren’t afraid to reveal their knowledge to others. The effect of these children watching their favorite programs on television can be related to all children of all ages. Just by watching television, the children have basically self-taught themselves different meanings to various sexual words. In the case of the experiment, the kids think the singers acted and dressed the way they did to be sexy. This is the type of effect that sexual occurrences on television have on younger children.

When programs with a positive message about sexual content were aired, the kids understood the message. In this case, and episode of Malibu Shores was aired in which a high school girl thinks she might be pregnant. The children watching said the message of the show was that “If you’re worried about your future, you shouldn’t have sex.” But when programs without a clear-cut message were aired, the children really didn’t know what to think. Here, and episode of Beverly Hills 90210 was viewed. In this particular episode, there was a twenty-four hour “sex out” to raise money about sexual awareness. But in the episode, one of the lead characters was trying to convince her boyfriend to break his celibacy. Of course, this led to mix reactions about the program. To older teenagers and adults, the message of the program was to not give in to sex until one is ready. But the kids who watched this episode didn’t understand this concept. One kid alleged “They were saying not having sex is hard, but it’s still...they weren’t really saying anything.” Although kids understand sex, they could not possibly understand the meaning of an episode such as this. This series is intended for adults and older adolescents, and so it is not surprising that a younger child would not grasp the concept demonstrated here.

1. “Conventional woman” in which the emphasis was on physical appearance and the woman’s role was merely to satisfy a man’s desire

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