Feature Story

May 10, 2007

Parents Preach Prudence -- Peers Promote Pleasure

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

If you have teenage boys and are unsure about what topics to cover when discussing 'the birds and bees' with them, it may be worth reading the latest piece of research about sexual communication and teenage boys by Marina Epstein and L. Monique Ward from The University of Michigan.

The study,1 just published in Springer's Journal of Youth and Adolescence, shows that parental communication, if indeed there is any, more often than not focuses on the negative aspects of sex compared to the rather more positive sexual messages teenage boys receive from the media and their peers.

The authors' goal was to determine whether there is a difference in the information gleaned from parents, peers, and the media, and if the information provided by each group differed in the types of sexual values expressed.

The authors conclude that this study raises several important questions, namely: How do young men negotiate these conflicting opinions" What messages win" What might make men heed their parents' advice and not the sexual advice of their peers and the media" But perhaps the most important question for future research is: Which types of messages from which sources are the most influential" Once these questions are answered, we may have some idea of the complex processes of adolescent development and decision making.

Thus, we may be better at influencing our teenage sons to make choices that are right for them and help them negotiate peer and media pressure that encourages them to conform to unhealthy stereotypes.

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