Tune In Or Turn Off: Teens Make Moral Choices Over TV

By ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: September 18, 2003

ATLANTA—Tamara Huntley just got out of a relationship.

“MTV and I had a very nasty break-up,” she said.Tamara isn’t the only teen who is trading MTV and other popular TV shows that promote sex and poor moral choices for more wholesome programming. Teens by the millions are tuning into family-friendly shows, which some say better reflect the situations they encounter in their everyday lives.

Tamara, a senior at Chamblee High School and parishioner of St. Paul of the Cross Church in Atlanta, said she has grown weary of the adult situations that teenagers have to deal with on TV.

“I do think there is too much negativity on TV these days. Issues meant for adults to deal with can now be seen on TV as early as 8 p.m.,” she said. “The adult subject matter is hardly insinuated; instead it is openly stated so that all people, even the childlike, can understand the plot and adult situations.”

Teens desiring to watch shows that portray teenagers acting like teens are taking action. And their voices are being heard.

The Family Friendly Programming Forum is a group made up of 48 of America’s largest companies, all members of the Association of National Advertisers. Marketing their products and services to people of all ages, members of the FFPF are concerned with the dwindling number of family-friendly television programs shown during prime viewing hours. They speak to heads of networks and at industry meetings and have developed a fund to finance new family-friendly shows.

Through the Family Television Awards, they also award shows that are paving the way for others that families can watch together.

At the Family Television Awards last month, shows such as NBC’s “American Dreams,” FOX’s “American Idol,” The WB’s “Everwood” and CBS’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” were honored as shows geared toward the whole family.

Megan Sennett, 16, a sophomore at Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta who attends St. Brigid Church with her family, said that teens are constantly bombarded with immoral images through TV.

“I think it’s hard for both myself and the other children and teenagers growing up today to be exposed to all this inappropriateness at such an early age, especially those who have no parents or church leaders from whom to learn right and wrong, only the TV,” she said. “Any programs rated TV-14 or TV-MA have no place. Whenever the TV has to be switched to another channel when young children enter the room, that’s wrong.”

As a family, the Sennetts have been proactive.

Every week Megan’s father, Tom, tapes shows such as The WB Network’s “7th Heaven,” “American Dreams,” “Everwood” and “Gilmore Girls.”

“My entire family watches them together whenever we all have the time. However, a rule is that none of us can watch the shows until we’re all together,” Megan said. “Despite the very busy and very different schedules of each of our family’s five members, we always make time for each other to sit and just enjoy quality programming that everyone in our family--from my 45-year-old dad to my 7-year-old brother--can enjoy and learn from. I love the characters and story lines of these shows.”

Tom Sennett believes that his family’s time in front of the TV should be about quality. Though he realizes that the percentage of shows that families can watch together is just a “narrow slice” of the television world, it’s enough for his busy family. After they watch the shows together, they discuss and relate to what they just saw.

“For us, it’s really about the sharing aspect. With today’s busy lives, it’s a great asset to get us all in the room at the same time—of course, we do that at dinner and at church, and we like to play board games together—but watching television together is just one more segment of our family life,” he said.

In a media study conducted in 2000, it was shown that 68 percent of all television shows contain sexual content. Nearly one in 10 shows contained sexual content involving teens. A Harris Interactive Poll of 2,500 young people between the ages of 13 and 24 showed that they spend an average of 13.6 hours a week watching TV.

“American Idol,” a show in which contestants compete against each other for a recording contract, has earned high ratings in its first two seasons. Selected by the Family Friendly Programming Forum as the best reality show, it was given the OK by advertisers as a show for the whole family.

Huntley said that she thinks it’s a show she can watch with her family and laugh about together.

“I love it,” she said.

But not everyone agrees.

Aimee Plauche, a freshman at Brookwood High School and a parishioner at St. John Neumann Church in Lilburn, worries that shows like “American Idol” can create unrealistic expectations for teens.

“Competitions such as ‘American Idol’ make people dream of a life that looks so pleasing from the outside and can make them dissatisfied with their own life, no matter how good it is,” she said. “And that to me is a very negative effect.”

Though programmers and networks can’t hope to please everyone, it is teenagers who hold the power that can create winds of change.

Because teens typically have the greatest amount of expendable income they are the largest target audience for many advertisers. By tuning in each week, they increase the ratings of family programming and create a greater demand for shows of that nature.

And despite what the media may think, there are teens who are hungry for that.

“Although I know many risque and inappropriate shows are saturated all over the airwaves, especially on HBO and other cable stations, I make a point to avoid anything that I don’t believe in,” Megan Sennett said. “I’ve been fortunate to have loving, concerned parents and a strong foundation based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, so I know right from wrong. Instead of wasting my time watching trash on TV, I instead read a book, play a game with my brothers, or do something with my Mom. Since I single-handedly can’t change the entire entertainment industry, I instead focus on the other choices besides TV.”