sex education

Media expert Michael Rich, MD, MPH, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston answers your questions about media use. Last week, Rich tackled the issue of how much screen time is too much for teens.

And now, here’s this week’s Ask the Mediatrician query:

Q: How do we handle all the barely clothed adults that we see on billboards, in the form of underwear, perfume, and even soft drink ads? My 7-year-old finds it “funny” that all the young people in the ads always have their pants unbuttoned—that is, of course, when they are indeed wearing pants.
Baffled by Billboards, in San Francisco, CA

A: Dear Baffled by Billboards:

It’s always tricky to navigate your kids’ exposure to these kinds of images. Most kids, particularly young ones, don’t really get it. To them, the half-naked models just look silly—like they forgot to finish getting dressed. But even though it might seem like the messages are going over their heads and are therefore no problem, you are right to be concerned. I’m not saying that these ads will change a child’s behavior immediately.  But over time, kids get the idea that these kinds of sexual images are what’s normal. Full story »