New report puts numbers to sexualization of girls on television

You already know that television is full of inappropriate and unhealthy sexual content for children and teens. If you need any more reasons to turn it off and speak out, take a look at a new report by the Parents Television Council that documents the high level of sexualization of young teenage girls on broadcast tv, which backs up what you can see with your own eyes.

Among the findings, many more underage female characters than adults are shown in sexual depictions, and almost all of those are unhealthy sexual situations. At the same time, almost all of the underage female characters are portrayed as accepting their sexualization.

Internet porn: addictive, may have long-lasting ill effects on youth

After I read this disturbing article in Psychology Today about the potentially very harmful effects of today’s brutal, extreme and widely available internet pornography on a young person’s developing sexuality, I immediately gave it to my 14-year-old son to read. He needs to know. The author, Marnia Robinson, finds a correlation between sexual dysfunction and porn addiction. And she has been hearing from more and more young men and boys.

An excerpt:

It has long been known that overstimulating the brain's reward circuit with drugs can cause cravings for more and more. Now, research is revealing that non-drug, "natural" things, like junk food, can alter the neurochemical balance of this part of the brain like drugs—numbing response to normal stimuli. The symptoms heavy porn users report suggest that their brains are experiencing these very changes.

The author offers some suggestions on how to help your kids "steer for balance in today's superstimulating environment."

I wish all children were learning what they need to navigate the world in schools, from trained educators. In the old days, way, way before the internet, we would never toss our children out, defenseless, into the wild. They would have a gun and would know how to use it.

Today, in the absence of comprehensive sex education in schools, combined with a lack of media literacy education, we are effectively tossing our kids out into the wilderness to fend for themselves. And the wolves are bigger and meaner than ever.

Young people are both naturally curious about all things sexual, and lacking in the maturity and context to understand what they are seeing when they come across the deviant pornography that has become so easy to find on the web. I’ve talked to my son about the risks of both unhealthy relationships and addiction. But, as a non-expert in human sexuality, I’m sure I am not the best source of information for him. I told him, lamely, to avoid violent, degrading porn, hoping he will know it when he sees it. He agrees, though, that, “It can’t be good for you.” So this article was a real help to me to explain in more specific terms, just why it isn't good for you.

If you have any ideas on protecting all of our kids from these risks, please share them here.

The best gift: A chance to grow up without limits.

Decades ago, little girls (my sister and I) were playing with Legos, and they weren’t even pink. We also enjoyed playing with trucks, and dressing up in mom’s old prom dress.

My boys have found cars, trucks and construction toys under the Christmas tree. They’ve also found craft supplies. They like to build, and do art! Imagine that. One of them was into baking one year, and he received an electric mixer. He was delighted.

Boys and girls are individuals, with a wide range of interests. So why then, more than 100 years after Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in physics,* are we seeing advertising like this?

Photo of Toys R Us catalog courtesy of Pigtail Pals

At Pigtail Pals, Melissa Wardy's primary research found that in toy catalogs for major retailers, the message to children was overwhelmingly gender-stereotyped, as reflected in this photo.

Body hate is up. Let's change the conversation.

In the latest disturbing news, research published in the December issue of Pediatrics finds that eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are on the rise, and is showing up in new places: among younger children, boys, minorities and lower income groups.

Meanwhile, we are all well aware that the rate of obesity is shockingly high. This news report found concerned parents are focusing on the healthy diet of their babes, a good thing, but some panicking parents are putting their babies on weight loss diets.