The media is missing opportunities to promote safer sex

 

The recent decision to make condom use mandatory for adult entertainment actors in Los Angeles is an important step toward protecting this population against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Recently, the Huffington Post published an article that brought up an interesting point, namely, that the condom mandate is also important for getting the message of safer sex out to young adults, who are increasingly exposed to pornography on the internet.

"Perhaps these new laws about using condoms in porn will have an effect. If teens see condoms being employed in hard-core sex scenes, maybe they will begin to realise just how important safe sex is. And hopefully other forms of media -  other films, TV shows, and literature - will soon start emphasizing the employment of protection, as well," said HP contributor B.J. Epstein.

Epstein pointed out that the media is an important tool to educate young people about STD prevention, yet safer sex is rarely represented on TV or in movies. It's true that, when characters in the media are engaging in sexual activity, it is rare to see them stop and have a discussion about using protection. Moreover, it's even rare to see a character reach over and grab a condom.

This may be giving young people the impression that in the "heat of the moment" it's not necessary to use protection, because it may ruin the romance. Teenagers are spending more and more time glued to some form of media, and so it's important to make sure that they understand that mimicking the sexual behavior they see on TV could have serious consequences.

Planned Parenthood states on their website that using a condom every time significantly reduces a person's chances of contracting an STD. The rates of these infections are particularly high among people between the ages of 15 and 24, which suggests that more needs to be done to stress the importance of safer sex to this population. Using the media could be a good way to get this message out.