It's definitely time to include some contraceptive issues in TV shows, isn't it:)?

Oleg Odin, Moscow, Russia

Not true at all.Teens who are sexually active are having sex at an early age because of how their parents are NOT disciplining them. I was a virgin until I got married to my husband of 6 years and I am glad that my parents taught me how to control myself and the consequences as well.

Jenny, Manhattan, USA

It's actually called "Sex and the city". So there.

Paul G, London,

Anita Chandra must have known you can't take a kid to the candy store and not expect them to want the candy. What is she thinking? You want kids to be sexually active, then give them sexually stimulating things to watch. You don't have to be a behavioural scientist to figure it out.

Brad, Fresno, USA

I'm certainly going to stop watching Friends if it makes you pregnant. I always wondered how that happened.

John Ledbury, Kings Lynn, England

Friends, Sex and the City, Sienfeld, Orange County, This Life, Skins. Sugar Rush etc. Almost 100% of kids between 12 and 17 watch these dramas. Plus, I would say that at least 75% of boys and 50% of girls are in possession of or actively watch internet porn regularly. Just the way society is.

Mohammad Iqbal, Newcastle, UK

The study tracks "sexually active teenagers aged between 12 and 17". What about all the teenagees who are not sexually active?

If you at sexually active at 12 then watching Friends may not be highest on the list of problems.

Matt, Portsmouth, England

I'm seventeen.
Sex is constanly being used to sell things to us, you can't escape it.
However don't try and find excuses for your kids being unresponsible, it may promote sex, but not unsafe sex.

Cassandra, Nottingham, UK

This data is flawed. This doesn't prove there is a causal relationship between viewing explicit t.v. and pregnancy. The article neglected to produce any data on whether or not the test subjects were already sexually active or had sexual proclivities and watched these shows at random.

K, st louis, USA

I can't watch Sex and The City because there is nothing sexy about Sarah Jessica Parker. Visualizing her is a major turn off and would make me not want to have sex. As for Friends, that's probably one of the most boring, and innane shows I've ever seen. Where is the sex in that show???

Robbie Bigsby, Key West Florida, Usa

That's not true, I'm 17 and I have watched Sex and the City since I was 15 and I'm still a virgin and I plan on waiting until I'm married. If you're dumb enough to mimic what you see on TV, then you had it coming anyway.

Mariah, Nashville, USA

So, is it possible that the same applies to violence and innanity?

Hhmm, kids who watch such TV/Films and play violent games, might be more likely to actually behave violently?

Or those who mimic the actions of sports stars, tv/radio presenters...

Terry, Bagneres, France

I think that what people watch can affect their behaviour in other ways as well. A number of programmes (such as diagnosis murder and murder she wrote) often feature murder and people being abusive to one another. Watching this type of programming could lead to the viewers re-enacting the type of behaviour seen. I was wondering that if this type of programming was banned, would there be fewer murders and would people be nicer to on another?

DK, West Midlands,

Now we have it, we can get pregnant by watching TV.
Solution?
Ban all TV. That would also satisfy all those humourless people who complain about Jeremy Clarkson, Russel Brand, Jonathan Ross and all other comedians who once made a joke that didn't pass the politically correctness bar.

Franziska, Sevenoaks,

Wait and see what happens when they start "educating" pre-teens and primary school kids on sex. Who would like a wager that the teenage pregnancy rate will go up? Where really is the common sense of the Government and people who propose this nonsense?!

Vaseem, London, UK

Reading these comments simple makes me feel inadequate as a parent and human being. Seems to me you can't do half measures these days; it's all or nothing. Got teenagers? Have TV? This rubbish will filter in somehow. Got the net? Whoa...just look at the sluicegates open! Global regulation please.

John Pownall, Bridport,

This research invokes the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. Could it not be that the kind of youngsters who watch these soaps are more intellectually lazy and/or more sexualised by other causes? If so, the considerable time they spend 'watching' may otherwise be spent 'doing'!

Henry Thomas, Tenby, UK

This is nothing. You should come and see what "Sex and the City" did to China. You can buy it everywhere one pirated DVD (1 Dollar), watch it in every Internet Bar, every student knows it anyway. Result: They all wanna get laid. The problem: Zero sex education. Ergo: A nihilistic and dirty mess.

James, Shanghai, China

It's not about poor family values, it's not about the so-called corrupting influences of television. Surely some young people are more interest in sex and interpersonal relationships. The fact that they're more likely to get pregnant just makes them unaware of contraceptive options available to them

hannah, cambridge,

As long as teenagers (and younger) are aware that these shows are fictional TV programmes, there is no harm in letting them have a laugh. The problem is when their own lives are so out of kilt with reality that they start identifying with the character's attitudes.

David, Hemel Hempstead, UK

Everyone knows Hollywood is the most dysfunctionional group of people on the planet. Really low lifes. It's up to parents to guide their children,even then it filters in. Commericals are filthy too. So don't buy their products. But unfortunately most of the parents to day don't parent.

Missy, West Hills, usa

Some comments here argue causation by watching such shows. Who cares; the point is that there is a definite effect of media influence in the shaping of young minds, over time. This is a no brainer. Shows like Sex and the City have given young women new sophisticated icons to emulate, and they have!

Ian, San Pedro, USA

It doesn't take a scientist to work this out , and if they were 'surprised' by the findings then I think they should get out in the real world. Humans naturally copy others. Scenes of sex, multiple casual relationships, violence and dishonesty in soaps and other TV content are going to be copied!

Paul Scofield, Milton Keynes,

Remember when Dan Quayle was ridiculed for blaming "Murphy Brown" for a spike in single mothers? Looks like he was right.

William Chetwood, Orcutt, United States

Of course the parents of these teens aren't responsible!
That show reruns at 11pm where I live. What are these teens doing up at that hour? Shouldn't they be sleeping or studying?

Sounds to me like we have unsupervised teens watching shows and reproducing simultaneously!

Madness!

E, Redlands, USA

Or, perhaps it was, teens who like to have sex, also like watching these shows. Sex is natural to many. Also perhaps, making teens feel more comfortable with their natural urges.

Jane, Evanston, USA

It isn't TV or Hollywood that has teens pregnant, it is their own upbringing. Too many parents won't talk to their kids, which is the biggest problem! Educate them before "someone" else does or they attempt to educate themselves!

Roni, Apple Valley, USA

"Conservatives pointing to hollywood are so deluted of a world view."

Where is the proof that this was a conservative group conducting the study?

"The study was lead by Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist at RAND, an independent research organisation."

JM Saint, west new york, USA

Conservatives pointing to hollywood are so deluted of a world view. What do you think goes on in other countries? Even nations like Thailand and Russia have shows like these. Are you at such a loss of any thought that you truly believe some entertainment turns your child into a whore? you are sad

Mike, Chicago, USA

The "female empowerment" the women in Sex in the City have, is their own perceived sexual power over men. I'm not sure what point Kim in Knoxville is trying to make.

As for the research itself, I don't believe the authors were trying to suggest causation, simply a correlation.

David, Sheboygan, WI, USA

I 100% agree with the article. The Pornification of America continues and is in a full sprint thanks to Hollywood and our media. As a man, I am shocked with what I am seeing these young girls doing everday, everywhere.

thomas, Tacoma, USA

We can thank Liberal Hollywood for this. They're always against things like family values which counter such things. They mock family values.

Ran, Pennsylvania , USA

what if teens who are attractive and have boys harassing them night and day, also enjoy the female empowerment in sex and the city. Association doesn't mean causation. This is a little too simple. It takes two to tango people, why don't we tell our boys to knock it off.

kim, knoxville, usa

It shouldn't come as a surprise that those most likely to have sex are also most likely to enjoy watching TV programs of a sexual nature. What kind of 'scientists' so easily confuse correlation with causation?

Brent L, Alta, UT, USA

The 3 hours of TV, added to 7 or 8 hours of school and travel makes 10 to 11 hours a day of indoor inactivity, not including internet, & video games. I was a zombie into my 20's with that lifestyle, and a dead brain makes for a lively body. Morality and self-control are higher brain functions.

Ian, Boston, USA,

Saying that people who watch these shows are more likely to get pregnant and saying they have a causal relationship is like saying that kids smoke because a camel in sunglasses tells them to. It may show a correlation, but to say definitively that there is "link" between them is jumping the gun.

Eric, San Diego, CA, USA

Family Guy is just as bad and I know pre- puberty kids like the show. Parents should block many shows, if they care about their children.

E. Hutchison, Westminster,MD, USA

so Dan Quale was right

robert, los angeles, usa

It may show a correlation but I doubt they could make it a CAUSAL relationship- which anyone who has taken a basic psych course can tell you makes a BIG difference. Maybe they should track the shows pregnant teens watch if they want true insight instead of trying to blame Americas problems on TV

Ashley, Gaineville, Fl,

I volunteer at a Crisis Pregnancy Center and talk to the girls who come in for pregnancy tests. Many have the feeling that they are supposed to be having sex or something is wrong with them. I do believe the media, TV, movies, radio, and magazines make these young believe they should be having sex.

Mary, Franklin, Warren

I could not agree with this article more. Yes, part of the problem is poor parenting, thier is no doubt of that. But kids are so bombarded today with sexual images, and beleifs that "showing more skin" and living more boistrous (rowdy for those educated impaired) is ok. NO! It's NOT OK.

steve, New York, NY, USA

I think TV in general is bad for teens. Perhaps if their parents kept them busy with activities like sports or other hobbies, they wouldn't be having sex. In addition, parents need to be ever-present. Talk to your kids. Remind them that sex is great, but that they'll have plenty of time for it later

Melissa , Sacramento, CA, USA

God equips every youth with a moral wall of restraint so that he or she may keep their body in holiness. When watching sex on TV, porn on the Internet, etc., they tear down that wall brick by brick. The end result, if not masturbation, is outright fornication. It will take Jesus to save them.

David Parsons, Metro Atlanta, USA

Anyone who doesn't think that watching softcore pornography (which these shows are) leads to promicuaous behavior, well, doesn't think. Joe Lombardi, that is the type of girl who watched these shows.

Allan, Rochester NH, USA

Surprise! Surprise!. I don't think so!
The media influence on social behavior is a given. Just look at what corporations are willing to pay for a 1 minute commercial.
It's time the public come out of denial... and take responsibility for what the kids watch. What goes in the mind can corrupt!

Peggy , Torrington, USA

I smell an awful lot of denial. Are we really so enslaved to our pleasures that when someone questions them our emotions flare up with indignation?

Really, I think that any responsible person ought to be willing to consider criticism without being dismissive or jumping to hasty generalizations.

Peter, San Clemente,

What age are your "children"?

Jeannie, Minneapolis, USA

Still no cure for cancer.

Bob, Columbia, SC, United States

The article clearly states the research design (a survey, not an experimental study) and then goes on to claim causation. Here, it is impossible to to distinguish whether teens who watch these shows have more sex or teens who has sex watch these shows. Correlation is not necessarily causation.

Florian, Urbana, USA

Perhaps I missed something in the article...the researchers "calculated" the amount of sex that the participants saw, based on their survey results?! How? Based on an assumption that the kids were watching TV, but not necessarily these shows! If you watched 5 hours of PBS, does this hold up?

mb, Wisconsin, USA

This study is whack. I am 19, I have seen girls in my school's getting pregnant all the time. It is not the t.v.'s fault at all, it is bad parenting. All the girls who were getting pregnant were the ones who were hanging out with an older crowd, getting into alcohol early and wearing slutty clothes.

Joe Lombardi, Lake Mary, United States

There is only one reason teen pregnancy is on the rise: Parents are too self absorbed and mentally ill to care for and love their own children. The boomers are egomaniacal, materialistic, intimacy-challenged shells of beings, who'll blame anyone but themselves for their errors and shortcomings.

Erin Tyler, Sedona, Arizona

"We were surprised to find this link", said Anita Chandra(Behavioural Scientist). What an ignoramous.

When is someone going to do a study on the mental capacity of Behavioural Scientists, just a fancy name for a Psychologist? If you ask me most of them are kooks and in need of help themselves

Anita-Duh, West Milford, NJ, USA

Shouldn't they call the show "Friends with Benefits" then?

Jenn, London,

Perhaps the teens who are sexually active are more likely to have an interest in these types of shows?

Robert Joachim, Washington,

NO, this simply is an indicator of the family's values. I would never let my child watch sex and the city or friends or any other ADULT TARGETED show. Parents who do are certainly lax in other respects. Get the blame in the right place people.

kelly, Nashville,