Reduce Sexual Content in Teen-Targeted Movies

Dear Sir or Madam:

We, the undersigned, are concerned about the level of sexual content in movies directed at pre-teens and teens, and would like to see it greatly reduced.

We believe that media depictions of sex and sexual humor, including scenes that imply that two characters have engaged in sex, are having a negative affect on America's youth. The effect that the media (including movies) has on children has been documented by professional studies and is a concern of many professional and social organizations. The following are examples:

*A 1995 poll of ten-to-sixteen-year-olds found that the participants recognize that "what they see on television encourages them to take part in sexual activity too soon..." (Source: "Sex and Violence on Television" by Kerby Anderson - http://www.probe.org/docs/sex-viol.html),

*Sixty-two percent of ten-to-sixteen-year-olds also agreed that sex in movies and television influences their peers to have sex when they are too young. (Source: The Parents Television Council's "Sex and Violence in the Media Fact Sheet" - http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/facts/mediafacts.asp),

*"Young people tell me that the media is one of their leading sources of information about sex. Each year television and movies offer 14,000 sexual portrayals, of which only 165 deal with risks of pregnancy, HIV or other STDs." - Michael Rich, M.D., a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Public Education. (Source: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/washing/sex%5Fin%5Fmedia.htm),

*Most young people are concerned about this type of content. Seventy-seven percent of the participants in the previously referenced 1995 poll said that television shows too much pre-marital sex. (Source: "Sex and Violence on Television" by Kerby Anderson - http://www.probe.org/docs/sex-viol.html).

It is our sincere hope that the movie industry will consider the above examples, and take steps to reduce the level of sexual content in teen and pre-teen targeted films. We, as parents and/or concerned citizens, care deeply about the messages movies are sending to our youth, and are not interested in movies that portray sexual content in an inappropriate or irresponsible way. There are many movie review websites (such as http://www.family.org/pplace/pi/films/ , http://www.moviemom.com/ , and http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/publications/moviereviews/main.asp ) that list the amount and types of sexual content and references in movies and we will use these to decide if we will see a film, or let our children see a film, regardless of its rating. Thank you very much for your time, and we hope that you will consider our suggestion.