TEEN SNAPSHOT- February 2025

Sex Education on TV

This survey is part of CSS's regular Teen Snapshot series, which are quick pulses on young people's media tastes, interests, and opinions about current events. Learn more here.

Key Takeaways

  • Teens who watched the most sexual and reproductive health (SRH) content on TV felt the least sexually empowered

  • Twice as many teens said that seeing this type of content makes them feel less confident than more confident

  • Teens want to see sexual and reproductive health portrayed more authentically on TV, with several expressing an interest in storylines on consent, STI/STD screening, and connections to real-life resources.

  • Teens continue to report an interest in seeing more platonic relationships on screen.

Stories have the power to educate teens and demystify taboo topics like sex and reproductive health — but not all content is equal when it comes to portraying these subjects authentically, sensitively, and responsibly. In a world where sex education is being cut back, books that talk about sexual and reproductive issues are being banned in educational settings, and basic reproductive rights are being denied, the role entertainment media plays in adolescents’ education and our culture at large, is more important now than ever.

To better understand how many teens are turning to television for insights on sexual and reproductive health (SRH), how the content they see is making them feel, and how this content can be improved, Esther-Priscilla Ebuehi, M.S., a fellow here at the Center, conducted a multi-methods study consisting of a national survey and qualitative interviews.

Definitions:

  • Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH): We defined this to participants as “understanding and taking care of your body, emotions, and relationships as you grow and develop. Sexual and reproductive health includes learning about puberty, healthy relationships, consent, and protecting yourself from potential risks.” Future of Sex Education Initiative. (2020). National Sex Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12 (Second Edition)

  • Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment (SRE): Researchers define sexual empowerment as the ability to make your own choices about sex and reproductive health, including using birth control, feeling safe from pressure or coercion, and being able to communicate openly about sex. In this project, SRE was measured using the Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment (SRE) Scale for Adolescents and Young Adults. The scale was created for researchers and clinicians to measure young people’s level of empowerment when it came to their sexual and reproductive health.

  • Television (TV): This project focused on SRH content featured on television rather than movies or other types of on-screen representation. We defined this for participants as “what you see on TV and TV shows you watch on streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, etc.).”

What Teens Have Been Watching

We asked teens “What is a TV show that helped you learn more about sexual and reproductive health?” and got the following responses:

*Bolded and larger text shows were mentioned the most.

Watching More Sexual and Reproductive Health Content on TV Made Teens Feel Less Empowered

The more SRH content teens reported watching, the less sexually empowered they felt. On average, the participants scored 66 out of 102 on an adapted version of the Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment (SRE) Scale for Adolescents and Young Adults that we developed using teen-specific subscales. To calculate how much exposure teens had to SRH content, we asked them “How often do you watch TV to get SRH info?” and we used multivariate regression modeling to examine the relationship between SRH content exposure and their SRE scores. After accounting for differences in factors like age, race, and gender we found that teens who had the highest exposure to SRH content on TV had a 15-point lower average SRE score than those who had no exposure to SRH content on TV. 

When we examined how exposure to SRH content on TV impacted SRE, we also found that Black teens had a lower average SRE score than White and Multiracial teens. This could stem from a variety of factors, including both underrepresentation and inaccurate representation of Black people on screen, which can have a negative impact on Black viewers.

Research shows that TV and movies often show romance and sex in unrealistic ways, making relationships seem effortless, passionate, and destined to work out without much communication or conflict while often reinforcing gender stereotypes. When shows don’t showcase real-life challenges like consent discussions, contraception, or emotional struggles, they can give young viewers misleading ideas about love and intimacy. Teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual content may feel less empowered because they are repeatedly exposed to these kinds of unrealistic messages. Over time, these messages can shape what teens see as "normal," making them less confident in making their own choices about sex and relationships.

In fact, our study also found that watching sexual and reproductive health content negatively impacted self reported confidence as many teens as it positively impacted.

About 31% of respondents said that watching SRH content “decreased” their confidence in themselves, while only 16.7% of participants said it increased their confidence.

What Teens Want to Watch

Our research also highlighted what teens want from television. As CSS research consistently finds, they want to see more on-screen character development and overcoming challenges outside of romantic relationships. But that doesn’t mean teens aren't interested in seeing sex portrayed on screens. Through qualitative interviews conducted in tandem with the survey, we interviewed three Black teens to learn more about what they were watching and how they felt about it. In these interviews, teens were asked how they would define sexual empowerment, which they described as “self-confidence, self-acceptance, not feeling judged, and authenticity.” All teens shared a desire for storylines that dealt with consent, STI/STD screenings, and connections to real-life resources:

Conclusion

Counterintuitively, watching more content that features sexual and reproductive storylines makes teens feel less sexually confident!  When we speak to teens, they tell us they don’t want stereotypical depictions of either platonic or romantic relationships, they want an honest reflection of this critical moment in their lives - warts and all. As they told us, teen content is important because it depicts that specific moment of being “in-between” being a kid and an adult. This moment is also critical for understanding one’s own sexual identity and development. 


As always, the answer to how storytellers can make their content more authentic and empowering is complex. At CSS, we believe there are two things creatives can do to make their content positively impactful: (1) include the voices and opinions of teens themselves, and (2) use research-informed storytelling tools. As the teens we interviewed told us, they were most informed about SRH through the lens of humor and tragedy.

Additional Resources

Hear More About What Teens Want

At the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, our Youth Media Representation (YMR) Program is focused on amplifying youth voices at the intersection of scientific research and the entertainment industry to promote inclusive and authentic representation. Please connect with us to learn how you can bring diverse and authentic adolescents' lived experiences into storytelling.

Research-informed Tools

Are you a storyteller? You can use our tipsheets, which feature a wide range of topics, to inform your storytelling. You can also look at resources that our collaborators make, including the resources compiled by our friends over at Storyline Partners and fact sheets written by the writing experts at Think Tank For Inclusion & Equity: TTIE.

Tools for Sexual and Reproductive Health Storytelling

Check out Power to Decides’ Bedsider.org website for resources on a wide range of sexual and reproductive health topics. You can also learn more about young people’s knowledge of SRH and levels of access to SRH resources by reading Power to Decides’ Youth Reproductive Health Access Survey.

How to Cite This Report

Ebuehi, E.P. & Uhls, Y.T. (2025). Sex Education on TV. Center for Scholars & Storytellers. https://www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/sexual empowerment

Special Thanks to:

The Funders For Adolescent Science Translation (FAST)

Authors

  • Esther-Priscilla Ebuehi, M.S.

    2023 Creative Collaboration Think Tank Fellow

    Esther Priscilla Ebuehi is a PhD Student in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research interests include sexual and reproductive healthcare delivery, access, and decision-making across the life course. 

  • Yalda T. Uhls, MBA, PhD

    Founder and CEO

    Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, Dr. Yalda T. Uhls is an internationally recognized, award-winning research scientist, educator, and author, who specializes in studying how media affects young people. She received her MBA and PhD in developmental psychology from UCLA, is a former movie executive at companies like MGM and Sony, and is a proud Gen Z parent.

Acknowledgments

We thank the CSS Youth Media Representation teen advocates: Sofia Ayesta Hollstein and Yaiden Perez Cabrera and media professional advisory council: Susan Cartsonis, Nancy Kanter, Johanna Stein, Elise Schuster, Stephanie Herold, and Sanaz Alesafar for helping conceptualize this study by sharing their personal and professional experiences.

 

METHODOLOGY 

  • In March 2023, CSS hosted the Creative Collaboration Think Tank Conference with researchers, youth advocates, and media industry professionals. This interdisciplinary collaboration led to the conceptualization of this project. Esther-Priscilla Ebuehi, M.S., a fellow at the Center for Scholars and Storytellers, conducted this project as part of our Funders for Adolescent Science Translation (FAST) Think Tank. The main objectives of this multi-method study were to (1) examine the association between sexual and reproductive health (SRH) content on TV and adolescent sexual and reproductive empowerment (SRE) scores, and (2) explore factors that contribute to adolescent SRE.

    A small team conducted a literature review and developed survey questions and interview guides. After consulting with experts in survey design and methodology, CSS piloted the survey both internally and externally, and programmed the final survey on Alchemer. UCLA’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved all materials and procedures of this study before data collection began in October 2023.

  • Eligibility criteria for both phases of the study included English proficiency, US residency, and age 13-17 years. For the quantitative phase, a nationally-representative, random sample of participants (N = 275; ages 13-17) completed a 26-item, 10-minute online survey that was administered in October 2023. The final analytical sample included 237 participants with complete data. The survey asked participants about how much TV they watched and what they learned from it (“How often do you watch TV to get SRH info?”), as well as questions about empowerment that were adapted from the Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment scale (Upadhyay et al., 2021). These subscales included parental support, comfort talking with partner, and sexual safety.

    Survey participant demographics were as follows: Age: 18.1% 13 years old, 20.7% 14 years old, 19.8% 15 years old, 19.4% 16 years old, 21.9% 17 years old; US Region: 36.7% South, 22.8% Midwest, 21.9% Northeast, 18.6% West; Race/Ethnicity: 52.3% White, 20.3% Black (African and/or African American and/or Black), 13.5% Latine (Hispanic and/or Latine), 6.3% Asian and/or Asian American and/or Pacific Islander, 0.8% Middle Eastern and/or North African, 1.7% Native American, 5.1% Multi-racial; Gender: 54.9% Girls, 41.8% Boys, 1.7% Non-binary, 1.7% Genderfluid; Transgender: 94.9% No, 5.1% Yes; Sexual orientation: 53% Heterosexual, 26.5% Not heterosexual (homosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or pansexual), 3% Asexual. Religious/Spiritual: 26.6% Not religious/spiritual, 28.7% Slightly religious/spiritual, 29.9% Moderately religious/spiritual, 14.8% Very religious/spiritual 

    For the qualitative phase, a convenience sample of Black teens (N = 3; ages 13-16) who lived in the Northeast and Southern regions of the US were selected for in-depth interviews. Interviewees were asked how they feel about the SRH content they are exposed to on TV. These semi-structured interviews were conducted in September 2023 and lasted approximately 1 hour.

  • Participants were recruited using the Alchemer survey recruitment platform. Parental consent and adolescent assent was required to participate in the survey. Parental permission and informed assent/consent were obtained from adolescent participants prior to conducting in-depth interviews via Zoom. Survey participants were compensated for their time via the Alchemer survey platform, and interview participants were compensated for their time with a $25 gift card.

  • Survey data was cleaned to remove incomplete or inaccurate responses. Descriptive statistics, including means and percentages, were calculated for all survey questions across the entire sample. Inferential analyses, such as t-tests and ANOVAs, were conducted to assess statistical significance and to explore variations across sociodemographic groups. Multivariate analyses were conducted using linear regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. Quantitative data was analyzed using STATA (version 17.0) with a standard significance level of 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals.

    Interviews were recorded via Zoom and transcribed using Otter. Analyses were conducted using reflexive, rapid qualitative analysis (Guest et al., 2006; Hamilton & Finley, 2019). For qualitative data, template summaries and matrix analyses were created in Excel, which were used to identify novel and recurring concepts and domains. 

  • These are a number of limitations to this study. Firstly, the cross-sectional design of the survey makes it challenging to determine the temporal relationship between exposure to SRH content on TV and sexual and reproductive empowerment. Secondly, due to the survey panel platform and potential self-selection of participants, selection bias may limit the generalizability of findings. The small sample sizes in the extreme subcategories of the main predictor variable contributes to high variance and potential instability in estimates. Outliers were retained to preserve the integrity of the dataset. Additionally, the small sample size of the qualitative phase may also limit the generalizability of findings. Despite these limitations, the overall trends align with prior research and provide valuable insights that call for continued exploration.