Pre-marital sex and the media

by: Candice Tijam

Picture this: You are watching a local primetime show with your younger sister or your son, and then suddenly ….the fully-clothed mermaid who turned human is now only covered by a blanket with the man of her dreams on top of the same bed! So tell me honestly, what do you do to deal with such instances?

Over the years, people seem to care lesser and lesser whenever TV shows give sudden or sometimes even prolonged scenes that imply premarital sex while they have minors just sitting next to them. Seconds of actors kissing and cuddling with meaningful stares while approaching the bed is not much big of a deal as how it used to. We don’t seem to mind that that tiny reminder of “parental guidance” written on the corner of the screen is actually a big consequence if we ignore it constantly as children’s eyes wonder what those acts signify.

A big portion of the Filipino population watch local shows right after the news program as a form of entertainment from a heavy and stressful day from work. But it is usually unavoidable that the kids in the house tend to watch what adults prefer. Also, more often than not, kids patronize these shows because they idolize the actor or actress or simply because they find the plot amusing and funny.

According to the latest ratings conducted by AGB Nielsen Philippines, Dyesebel is on the top spot as most watched in the weekday’s primetime race followed by Codename: Asero and Ako Si Kim SamSoon on the third place.

Yes, these shows have indeed proven their capability to grasp the viewers and their fans’ heart. But is it really necessary and is it not too much to inject sex scenes that pop out like a jack-in-the-box before a child’s eyes?
Various issues have been discussed and debated about premarital sex especially here in our country which is considered as dominantly Catholic and conservative one. Issues like the news about the proposed reproductive health bill, those teenagers who get pregnant as early as twelve years old and so much more.

From mukamo.com, it says there that premarital sex is high in the Filipino youth – “One out of four Filipinos aged 15-24 are engaging in premarital sex, according to a study by the UP Population Institute. This year’s study also says that close to 4 million youngsters are engaging in premarital sex with 30% of the respondents doing it in their own homes while 18% were doing it inside motels and hotels.”

The situation continues to get worse and we know, feel and cannot deny the fact that media plays a star role in inducing the youth to enter the gates of temptation.

“Although a great deal is known about the effects of mass media on other adolescent behaviors, such as eating, smoking and drinking, we know basically nothing about the effects of mass media on adolescent sexual behaviors,” principal investigator, S. Liliana Escobar-Chaves of the University of Texas’ Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, concluded in her report.

However a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that, “adolescents who watched shows with sexual content tended to overestimate the frequency of certain sexual behaviors and to have more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex.”

Based on the growing problem among the young people, I conducted a survey asking teenagers whether or not they consider and accept that the mentioned top 3 local primetime shows have depicted or implied premarital sex. Not surprisingly, 59% out of 70 respondents say that they are not alarmed about this and that it is okay for them and only 41% disagree. Meanwhile, 61% of the respondents say that they have younger siblings or younger relatives who watch such shows.

Columnist Jane Brody of New York Times states in her article, Children, Media and Sex: A Big Book of Blank Pages, that “the effect of abstinence-only education pales by comparison with the many graphic messages that portray sexual activity — especially unprotected sex outside of marriage — to be a part of our culture as normal and acceptable as eating a Big Mac or drinking a Coke.”

The results from the survey are devastating and unbecoming of the kids who are said to be the ‘hope of the future’. Adults should never fail to neglect their duty to guide the children even in the small doings that may appear harmless. Programs containing sexuality are rampant and sometimes we rarely notice that such forbidden scenes for children can also be found at least once in a show we didn’t expect to expose or suggest sex, particularly, premarital sex.

Don’t allow the youth today to be infected and mislead by this drastic change in our society’s practices and beliefs. If they really like the show, at least prevent them from seeing sexual contents. It will be really too late unless we act upon it. Since parental advices and warnings from television seem invisible, the least you can do is to be the filter. Teach them, educate them with morals, be that friend who would influence them goodness and would be willing to listen and answer their queries in life. Unlock their deepest thoughts and share yours too. Before you know it, you are a becoming a key to bring back that hope within the youth.