Green Options

A study of 754 kids shows that those who watched television with adult content may become sexually active earlier in adolescence.

The research was done at Children’s Hospital Boston. They tracked kids from age 6 to 18, following what the children watched over the years. When the youngest kids (aged 6-8) watched adult-themed movies and TV, they were a whopping 33 percent more likely to have sex “during early adolescence”.

Yikes!

Children learn from media, and when they watch media with sexual references and innuendos, our research suggests they are more likely to engage in sexual activity earlier in life.

Anyone who has read my blogs before knows that I’m a bit of a lunatic when it comes to TV watching I believe parents should monitor and limit television consumption. I use the word “consumption” because it should be managed like a treat, not sustenance, just as snacks in a well-rounded, healthy diet.

A new study by Yale University School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and California Pacific Medical Center finds that exposure to media damages children’s long-term health.

80% of the studies reviewed link greater exposure to media with negative health effects for kids and adolescents.

Common Sense Media published the report, Media and Child and Adolescent Health: A Systematic Review, which reviewed 173 of the best studies from the last 30 years which examine the connection between media exposure and negative health effects on children.

The average modern child spends nearly 45 hours a week with television, movies, magazines, music, the Internet, cellphones and video games, the study reported. By comparison, children spend 17 hours a week with their parents on average and 30 hours a week in school, the study said.