Earth to Hollywood: Teens Tired of Sex on TV

LOS ANGELES (October 30, 2023) – The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) said that a new UCLA survey of teens and young adults finding that they “think sex and romance are too prominent in TV shows and movies” sends a message to Hollywood that sexual content should be greatly reduced and/or eliminated.

The survey found that “almost half of adolescents 13–24 felt that romance is overused in media (44.3%) and sex is unnecessary for the plot of most TV shows and movies (47.5%).”

“Hollywood must understand this message loud and clear: our children are tired of sexual content in programs they watch, and the entertainment industry must stop using this kind of content. This UCLA survey exposes a logical connection between COVID quarantines and entertainment for youth – they were deprived of real-life time to learn about relationships during lockdowns, and now they need to see and understand how all kinds of relationships work, not just portrayals of romantic or solely sexual relationships,” said Melissa Henson, vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council.

“Concurrently, Hollywood should also stop marketing explicit sexual content to teens – as HBO has done with Euphoria and The Idol, and Disney-owned Hulu has done with PEN15, and Netflix has done with Sex Education. These survey results prove that teens are tired of being saturated with sexual content. It’s time for a new playbook, Hollywood, and it would be a monumental and welcome change.”