LOL and Sexual Education

Media can serve as a healthy sex educator and can work in to improve adolescent sexual knowledge. Media is a successful channel for sex education.

According to Jane D. Brown in her research, Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media, “Young people use digital media for exploring and maintaining social, sexual, and romantic relationships because of presumed safety, perceived anonymity, transcendence from adult control, 24/7 availability, and the ability to communicate with peers" (Brown, 2009).

There is even a study out there that says, “hundreds, if not thousands, of sexual health sites are maintained online, and studies show that about a quarter or more of online teens access the Internet to find information about sex, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy” (Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005).

That being said, it is safe to say teens are using the Internet to seek out sexual knowledge. However, Brown discusses two concerns associated with the use of new media to learn about sex and sexual health.

1.    “The possibility that the information teens access and/or receive is inaccurate or misleading.

2.    The use of new media to learn about sex and sexual health is that teens who turn to the Internet for answers may turn away from real people in their lives” (Brown, 2009)

I feel as if there is another major limitation associated with using media for sexual education, that is, the presence of humor. Humor is great, it is what makes us keep watching, it brings a smile to our face. But it makes me wonder if the presence of it takes away from the important information that is trying to be said.

I began looking for sexual education videos and came across this one:

This video made me laugh harder than I should have, and I did not want to admit that. Then I had a complete epiphany. Humor doesn’t take away from the message, humor enhances it. All day I was thinking about that silly video. The reason I didn’t turn it off after 20 seconds was because it was entertaining to me. Resulting in me getting to the end of the video, and seeing most important message.

Using humor to educate does a various amount of great things. Humor is attention-gaining, which causes the viewer to store it in their memory. Humor makes things more comfortable, causes cognitive retention, and makes things more enjoyable. Humor is an instructional tool that can help increase the effectiveness of the message.

Who would’ve thought a message about HIV would have made me smile so much? I think humor is a very effective tool, and should be integrated into more media messages regarding sexual education.

Work Cited

Brown, J. D., Keller, S., & Stern, S. (2009). Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media. Prevention Researcher, 16(4), 12-16.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZogqgxH4Mc

Lenhart, A., Madden, M., & Hitlin, P. (2005). Teens and Technology. Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet & American Life Project.