Sex Scenes in Movies Influence Youth Behavior

Movie or television show for children should be free from any elements of violence or sexual scenes. Children who often see sex scenes in movies or television are known tend to have risky sexual behaviors when they were teenagers.

In a study conducted in the United States of 1,200 children aged 12-14 years the researchers revealed a strong link between the impressions of sex scenes with sexual behavior. After interviewing the children about the movies that often they watch, six years later they were questioned again about his sexual behavior.


It turned out that children who watch a lot of sexual scenes in the film grow into teens who start having sex at a young age, having multiple sex partners and using condoms lazy.

To prove how the sex scenes in movies can influence teen sexual behavior, the researchers focused on a personality trait called sensation or search dimensions (sensation-seeking). The nature of this peak occurs between the ages of 10 and 15 years, refers to the tendency to look for something new and intense form of stimulation.

"Exposure to films that profoundly affect their personality (teens) through changes in search of sensation, which has broad implications for adolescents to risky sexual behavior," said Ross O'Hara, from the University of Missouri.

O'Hara and his colleagues argue, the dimensions of sensation seeking does not fully explain how sexual content in movies influence adolescent sexual behavior. However, he said, the sex scenes in movies to make the teens learn a particular behavior of the sex scenes in the film.
For example, many teens use film to get "sexual script" that give them examples of how to behave when dealing with complex emotional situations.

"These findings suggest that parents should limit their children to view sexual content in movies at a young age," said O'Hara.