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Article: Sitcom as sex educator?(FYI)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Article date:
- January 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Entertainment television, especially when supplemented by parental discussion, can be "a positive force in the sex education of youth." (1) In 2001, a character on the sitcom Friends had an unintended pregnancy after a single act of intercourse with an ex-boyfriend; during one episode, a conversation between the couple revealed that they had used a condom, but they acknowledged an awareness that condoms are only 97% effective. What messages did the episode's 1.7 million 12-17-year-old viewers take away? One-third of a sample of 323 youngsters surveyed 3-4 weeks after the episode aired recalled that the characters had used a condom; 15% remembered hearing that condoms were ...