"

This week, pornographic
movie giant Vivid Entertainment launched Vivid for Google TV, with a sexually
explicit app for Android-brand mobile phones. Vivid’s content can also be
accessed through personal computers, tablets, television sets, DVD players, and
other devices which use Google TV.

Google’s
announcement stands in stark contrast to the policy established by
recently-deceased Apple founder Steve Jobs. Responding to a customer who
complained about the lack of access to pornography on Apple products, Jobs
wrote, “We do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the
iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android.” Jobs later reiterated his
statement publicly, telling a journalist,  “You know, there’s a porn store
for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn. Your
kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going
to go there.”

At the
time, some interpreted this statement as a veiled jab at a competitor, but by
its actions, Google and Android have demonstrated that Jobs was right: not only
is porn accessible on Android, the company is going out of its way to promote
it.

Mobile
phones are a popular gift, and are especially desired by teens. With the
holiday season approaching, the PTC urges parents to consider carefully what
kind of content they want their children to be able to access before deciding
between an Android or an iPhone as a gift. "

For more on this story Click Here

Is Lady Gaga a 21st
Century Hero?



I didn't actually watch the Grammys Sunday night, but it was hard to miss the
report in Monday's newspaper: a performer named Lady Gaga arrived at the event
in a large egg, carried by "slaves"--several men and women dressed in
flesh colored garments.



During her performance she "hatched" and
performed a dance number called Born
This Way:

I'm beautiful in my way,

'Cause God makes no mistakes

I'm on the right track, baby

I was born this way.

Lady Gaga may only be 24 years old, but her creatively outrageous and often
lewd antics have made her one of the most recognizable, controversial figures
on the planet. Case in point: one of her videos on YouTube has more than
340,000,000 views. Yes, you read that number right--340 million. That's more
than the entire population of the United States.



Lady Gaga knows how to get and keep people's attention, and that's no small
thing to a generation for whom "personal fame" consistently polls as
one of life's highest goals.



But does all this mean that Lady Gaga is considered a hero and that those in
the emerging generation want to be like
her?



Who Do Teens Want to
Be Like?



Two weeks ago Barna Research released a new nationwide survey of 602 teenagers
ages 13 to 17 in which researchers asked who the teens' role models were. The
results may surprise you.



Says Barna's David Kinnaman:

"So who do teenagers name as their role models? Even while
limiting the answers to non-parents, family members still comes out on top. The
most commonly mentioned role model is a relative--37% of teens named a relation
other than their parent as the person they admire most."

After "family," teens mention

• teachers
  and coaches (11%),


• friends
  (9%), and


• pastors
  or other religious leaders they know personally (6%).

Add these numbers up and it's obvious that teens most admire those
with whom they maintain a personal connection. This is what we at
Passing the Baton call "relationality." Teens may pay attention to
the Lady Gagas of the world, but who they really admire--who they really want
to be like--are those they're around every day.



What Teens Look For in
a Role Model



What is it that leads teens to choose people they know personally as their role
models? Consider these responses:

• 26%
  attributed their choice to the personality traits of that person (e.g.,
  caring about others, being loving and polite, being courageous, and being
  fun).


• 22%
  said they chose role models they would like to "follow in the
  footsteps" of.


• 11%
  named "encouragement" as the reason for their selection: someone
  who "helps me be a better person," is "always there for
  me," and is the person "most interested in my future."

Other reasons:

• the
  role model accomplished his or her goals (13%),


• overcame
  adversity (9%),


• works
  hard (7%),


• is
  intelligent (7%),


• performs
  humanitarian effort and activism (6%),


• maintains
  strong faith (6%),


• has
  great talent (5%), and


• exudes
  self-confidence (1%).

Teens may have a fascination with wealth and fame, but it didn't show in
this survey. Only 1% of teens mentioned "wealth" as the reason they
admire their role model, and only 1% mentioned "fame."

The findings are deeply troubling: When underage female characters appear on screen: more sexual content is depicted; teen girls seldom showed a negative response to being sexualized; more sexual incidents occur outside of any form of a committed relationship; and there is less accuracy in the TV content rating when teen girls are involved.

Major Findings:
 
• Underage female characters are shown participating in a higher percentage of sexual depictions compared to adults (47% and 29% respectively).
• Only 5% of the underage female characters communicated any form of dislike for being sexualized (excluding scenes depicting healthy sexuality).
• Out of all the sexualized female characters depicted in the underage and young adult category for the entire database, 86% were presented as only being of high school age.
• Seventy-five percent of shows that included sexualized underage female characters were shows that did not have an “S” descriptor to warn parents about the sexual content.
• Based upon a definition established by the American Psychological Association of “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” sexuality, the study findings show that 93% of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred within a context that qualified as “unhealthy.”
• The data revealed that 98% of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred outside of any form of a committed relationship.
• The data show that 73% of the underage sexualized incidents were presented in a humorous manner or as a punch line to a joke. 
 
To read the entire report, visit www.parentstv.org/sexualization.

The results from this report show Tinseltown’s eagerness to not only objectify and fetishize young girls, but to sexualize them in such a way that real teens are led to believe their sole value comes from their sexuality. This report is less about the shocking numbers that detail the sickness of early sexualization in our entertainment culture, and more about the generation of young girls who are being told how society expects them to behave.

Storylines on the most popular shows among teens are sending the message to our daughters that being sexualized isn’t just acceptable, it should be sought after. It is outrageous that TV executives have made it their business to profit off of programs that depict teen girls blissfully being sexualized by casual partners and only showing disapproval for being sexualized five percent of the time.

As the father of a 13-year-old daughter, I am painfully aware of the onslaught of media messages not merely encouraging our children to grow up too fast, but which exploit their insecurities, and prey on their need to fit-in to spread this epidemic.

In February 2007, the American Psychological Association released a report on the sexualization of girls which found that girls’ exposure to hyper-sexualized media content negatively impacts their cognitive and emotional development; was strongly associated with eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression; fewer girls pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and diminished sexual health.

But it's not just our daughters that are being affected by these images. Boys and adult men are also learning to value women only for their sex appeal, leading to increased incidents of sexual harassment, sexual violence, and increased demand for child pornography.

The American Psychological Association (APA) warns that this sexualization of girls is harmful to their self-image and healthy development. "[Girls are] experiencing teen pressures at younger and younger ages. However, they are not able to deal with these issues because their cognitive development is out of sync with their social, emotional and sexual development," the APA reported.

Read More 

Laurie's story is one of many that illustrate the pages of Meg Meeker's "Epidemic: How Teen Sex is Killing Our Kids" (Lifeline Press 2002, 251 pgs.). A pediatrician who has treated teens for over two decades, Meeker sounds the alarm about the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that is killing our kids.

Read More...

1. I'd rather say no to my boyfriend than "Yes, I'm pregnant" to my parents.


2. To avoid STDs.


3. I don't want to feel guilty.


4. I don't want the reputation of being someone that people date because they expect to have sex.


5. I would disappoint my parents.


6. I might lose respect for the other person, he or she might lose respect for me, and I might lose respect for myself.


7. Sex is better in a secure, loving marriage relationship.


8. The thought of having an abortion scares me to death.


9. Sex gets in the way of real intimate communication.


10. Sexual relationships are a lot harder to break up even when you know you should.


11. I'm afraid it may ruin a good relationship rather than make it better.


12. There are better ways to get someone to like you.


13. You won't have to worry about birth control side effects.


14. I'm not emotionally ready for that intense of a relationship.


15. I could become scared of my partner.


16. I don't want to hurt someone I really care about.


17. Sex could become the central focus of the relationship, like an addiction.  At that point it is no longer a meaningful relationship, but we are using each other to satisfy sexual desires.


18. You begin to compare sexual experiences, leading to lots of disappointments.


19. I don't want to make myself vulnerable to being used or abused sexually.


20. If I'm hurt too many times, I might miss out on something great because I'm so afraid of being hurt again.


21. I like my freedom too much.  Sexual relationships are binding.


22. I'm only sixteen.


23. I'm proud of my virginity, and I want to stay that way.


24. Building a relationship in other ways is more important.


25. I don't want to risk becoming someone's sex object.


26. I want my first experience to be a good one with someone who won't laugh at me, reject me, or tell lies about me, and who I know will always be there tomorrow.


27. It's possible to enjoy ourselves without getting sexually intimate.


28. Why rush into something that could be lousy or mediocre now, when it could be great later?


29. I don't want sex to lose meaning and value so that I feel "sexually bankrupt."


30. I am afraid that at this age it might not meet my expectations, and I will be seriously disappointed.


31. I don't want to risk ending a relationship by our hating each other because of it.


32. I might find it painful and the other person rough and uncaring.


33. I don't want the boy to brag about scoring with me.


34. It's the safest way not to become pregnant.


35. You may feel invaded, and you can't take it back after it's happened.


36. You may have to grow up too fast and too soon.


37. Sex may become the only thing that keeps the relationship together.


38. You may have sex too early to really enjoy or understand it.


39. You lose the chance to experience the "first time" with someone who really cares for you.


40. I want my most intimate physical relationship to be with the one I marry.


41. Sex brings feelings of jealousy, envy, and possessiveness.  Every relationship changes.