But I maintain my point that the study didn’t go far enough in investigating protective factors against teen pregnancy - maybe good sex ed is helpful, maybe highly active and talkative parents are helpful, maybe (as is suggested in a comment in the Washington Post today) “OR, maybe the kids with hot pants are coded by nature to have more frequent sex & hotter sex resulting in more pregnancies.
No TV required.”

The point is that we don’t really know - but we need to keep talking. That is the way to make biggest impact, regardless of whether it is the parents or the schools doing it.

What we’re seeing here with the correlation between sexually titillating TV habits and risky sexual decisions may be something as simple as differences in libido.

The youth who enjoy sexual themes on TV may also have a greater sexual appetite and may be more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors.

The solution here may not be to restrict TV content but rather ensure that all youth regardless of sexual appetite have access to comprehensive sexuality education and access to safer sex supplies.