TV too hot? Try the ‘off’ button

The Kaiser Family Foundation looks into sexual content on television programs every two years and their recent findings have made national headlines.

The Kaiser Family Foundation began studying sexual content on television programs in 1998 and have found that the number of scenes with sexual content has nearly doubled since then with programs showing an average of 6.7 sex-related scenes per hour.

In addition to studying more than 1,000 hours of programming of all genres, with the exception of news, sports and children’s programs, the foundation looked into the top 20 shows that are most frequently viewed by teens, which include shows like “Desperate Housewives,” “CSI,” “The O.C.,” and “One Tree Hill.”

In their conclusions, the foundation cites several other recent studies to conclude that sexual content on television exerts significant influence on the young people of the United States.

The Parents Television Council has jumped all over the findings. Melissa Caldwell, their research and publications director, stated in an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “parents need to be very cautious about what sorts of programs they allow their children to watch.”

Exactly.

Parents need to be cautious.

Not the government, which is what many are calling for. U.S. senators will discuss the issue at the Senate Commerce Committee’s Open Forum on Decency on Nov. 29.

Are the numbers in the Kaiser study troubling? If you’re a parent who doesn’t monitor what your kids watch, then yes.

If you’re an adult, who can take “sexual content,” which ranges in definition, according to the study, from passionate kissing to discussing things of a sexual nature, in its proper context, then no.

Remember, we’re not talking about pornography here. Nudity isn’t allowed on network television and neither is profanity. Some programs like “The Shield,” “Nip/Tuck,” “NYPD Blue” and “Rescue Me,” have pushed the envelope, but these programs have also featured scenes of tremendous violence as well.

What should be debated is, which is more harmful for children and teens to watch: things of a sexual nature or things of a violent nature?

Personally, I’ll say violence. I don’t like hearing about kids or teens getting sexually active at a young age, but I really don’t like hearing about kids injuring or killing other kids. If sexual content on television has an impact on the behavior of children and teens, wouldn’t violence have a similar impact?

Where’s that study?

There have been 26,185 obscenity complaints to the FCC in the last three months. That is because the FCC began tallying each computer generated complaint from groups like the Parents Television Council as an individual complaint rather than as a single complaint.

It’s everyone’s right to complain; heck, some people get paid really well for it, but the best advice that anyone can give to someone if they don’t like what’s on TV is “turn it off.” Even the President recently said something to this effect. Although he might have been talking about the news.

One show that came up in the study was “Gilmore Girls,” and it mentioned that one of the characters, Rory, in a scene where she was talking with her mother, implied that she had had intercourse.

This is a reflection of reality, a college student having sex and talking with a parent about it. The Kaiser Family study found that scenes that depict or imply teens having sex are down from earlier studies and that the majority of the scenes involve adults.

Nothing wrong with that, unless you want to go back to the separate bed days of “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” It is just another reflection of reality.

There are other reflections of reality out there and if this isn’t the type of reality that you want to expose your child or teen to, turn the television off.

It is easier than it sounds and the findings of this study aren’t as bad as they seem.

One example cited in the study discusses how the character of Charlie on “Lost” confesses his sins to a priest. They involved being in a band and the temptations that come with the territory and conclude with Charlie announcing he has to quit the band.

Ooooh, what a horrible message.

Yes, there may have been a risque comment during the confession but the program is on at 9 p.m., the comment contained no profanity and the conclusion was what many would consider morally satisfying.

We don’t need “Big Brother” cracking down on television, we need parents to be parents. No one would allow the government to legislate how one should raise their kids, so why do we need them to legislate what people are allowed to watch in the privacy of their own homes?

Someone needs to start a “Raise Your Own Kids” foundation or a “Mind Your Own Business” council and people need to stop complaining about “Family Guy” and “South Park” and just change the channel.