Recent studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation produced many new statistics, including that 70 percent of the teen-favorite shows on T.V. include sexual content. Forty-five percent of those contain sexual behavior. The average prime-time show has more than five sex scenes per hour. Sexual content is rising in television, but congruently, so are references to sexual responsibilities and sexual safety.

So the question arises, “Is T.V. too sexy?” In order to answer this question one would have to specify the word ‘too.’ Is T.V. too sexy for what: the developing minds of teenagers, or merely too sexy for the modest taste of some viewers?

No studies have yet linked the steady rise in TV’s promiscuity and any negative societal attributes such as teen pregnancy. In fact a spread in the awareness of sexual safety has put such statistics on the decline, an awareness that many shows now refer to alongside sexual behavior.

The teen years are the self-defining stage of life in which teens shape themselves into adults. Since T.V. sex appears to be harmless to teens other effects it may have should be considered.

An exposure to different types of lifestyles by the media could make teens more aware of behavioral options. Becoming more aware of these options regarding sexuality, as a teen, could help some individuals develop their own, more personally fulfilling, lifestyle for themselves as adults.

Being as the same programs exposing teens to sexual content are now referencing safe and responsible choices regarding sex, teens that are sexually active are now better informed to make healthier sexual decisions. Teens who make the decision to become sexually active would most likely decide to do so whether they’ve seen it on prime time or not. This being the case, teens who are having sex anyway are better off at least being safe about it.

Television programs containing sexual reference can be entertaining and appealing to teens, both, sexually active and abstinent. Merely being exposed to different options regarding sexual conduct wont force teens to make decisions they wouldn’t be already comfortable with, and coupling sexual responsibilities with other sexual messages in T.V. could make the population of sexually active teens more healthy.

So, is T.V. too sexy? Obviously it is, for some people’s tastes, or this wouldn’t be a concern major enough to warrant expensive statistical studies, but as for the healthy development of teenage mind, it seems that sexual content in television is harmless, and, possibly even beneficial to some.