Blog Discussion: Sexual Content in Media

Sexual Content in Media
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Instructor
Date
Sexual Content in Media
In the media context, sexual content refers to any material showing sexual behavior. The sexual behavior here may be implicit sexual conduct such as flirting; it may be explicit or include sexual language in all or most of its content and maybe euphemisms. In the modern world, sexual content is the largest factor in many content rating systems. The content is most common in the users of television programs, violent video games, and films. The use of the internet in the modern world has greatly contributed to people's exposure to sexual content; the exposure is largely unwanted. Exposure to sexual content such as pornography for a relatively long time affects consumers' thoughts and behavior, especially minors. However, the degree of the effect is unknown. The long exposure may also lead to addiction to the sexual content interfering with the daily lives of these people. Social psychology should be applied to address the effects of exposure to these sexual content and other sexual, violent materials in media since the problem is also a social issue.
The first recommendation especially for parents to help in reducing the effect of sexual content on media on their children is proper parent-child communication. The behavior is common among adolescents; however, communication, sexuality, and sexual health should begin at earlier stages of life. The communication should be kept constant and continue as the minor develops. The sexual content in the media can be used as a starting point for parents to start a conversation with their children about sexuality and sexual health (Ward et al., 2019). Parents play an important role in being sources of sexual information which helps correct misinformation that is displayed in the media. The communication between parents and their children should start at early stages with appropriate materials that can help them. As depicted in the course material, communication and pre-briefing groups lead to decreased rape cases among adolescents. Communication between parents and their children is a way of informing adolescents, especially boys, that they should not be violent with their opposite gender; rather, they should see them as their sisters.
Another way of mitigating the effects of sexual content on media is monitoring consumption of the content. For example, parents need to monitor and mediate the consumption of television by their children. Parents must know what their children are watching on their television and give guidance on th...