Teenagers are becoming sexually active sooner and sooner, so much so that TeenHealthFX reported that most young people have had sex for the first time by 17, when there is no reason for teenagers to be fixated on relationships and sex. In a society that often promotes sexual content, children’s television should be the one place where sexualized content is absent. Productions for younger audiences shouldn’t constantly display sexual innuendos ― after all, they’re supposed to be for kids.
G-rated movies are supposed to be appropriate for viewers of all ages, which is usually why we refer to them as family-oriented. Yet today’s G-rated movies are not content appropriate for preteens and are, at times, even inappropriate for teenagers; they are made for the adults who pay for their teens to get into movie theaters. Not only do the designs of animated characters focus on the curvature of the female body, but the plot of these movies are almost always centered on romantic feelings. G-rated filmmakers never seem to forget to add in a sex-related joke or two.
For example, in the popular kid’s movie “Frozen,” Kristoff makes reference to the size of his genitals, and Anna responds that size doesn’t matter. It is even more common for cartoons to insinuate that the male lead is aroused at the sight of the beautiful female lead, and who could forget the reference to condoms in one of the “Spongebob Squarepants” episodes?
Whether it is a movie or TV show, adolescent programs have one thing in common: sexual references or innuendos. The constant sexual references in shows, such as “The Regular Show” and “Adventure Time,” and the romantic aspects present as in “Austin & Ally” and “Good Luck Charlie” make mature, sexual relationships the norm for the teenagers who watch them. And even though, technically, most of the shows on cartoon network are rated PG-13, how are sexual references appropriate for viewers under 17?
It may seem harmless to have sexual innuendos in productions rated G, PG, and PG-13 because the intent is that younger viewers won’t catch on to the references, but, if we think about how smart and mature our younger generation truly is, not much goes over their heads these days.
We cannot control what filmmakers produce or TV networks choose to show, no more than we can control what magazines put on their covers or what artists choose to sing about.
It seems harmless to let them watch these sexualized movies and shows, but teenagers will mimic what they see, and, if what they see in their favorite TV shows are sexual innuendos and romantic relationships, sooner or later that is exactly what they will do. A lot of the things teenagers learn about sex is not from their parents; it’s from the TV shows and movies they watch. But teenagers should be enjoying their adolescence for as long as they can.
Children have all of thier lives to date — there should be no rush. The teenagers of today are the leaders of our future, so we must enforce and instill the importance of childhood. The entertainment business has done enough damage. Let’s not let them ruin our future, too.
