One of the critical challenges facing young people today is developing a healthy understanding of their sexuality. The U.S. Surgeon General has underscored the importance of this task as one of the nations leading public health concerns. Such knowledge developed in the formative years builds the foundation for beliefs and attitudes about sex that can influence each individuals life-long pattern of sexual behavior. Parents peers and schools play a central role in the process of sexual socialization today just as they have long in the past. Yet in contemporary society young people also encounter another important element likely to contribute to their sexual socialization: the mass media and in particular television. Indeed some have labeled the media a "sexual super peer" because of its role in establishing norms and expectations for young people in this area. Televisions treatment of sexual content in recent years has grown increasingly frequent and prominent raising important societal concerns in an era when decisions about sexual behavior inevitably involve public health issues. Each year in the U.S. one of every four sexually active teens is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (Institute of Medicine 1997). From a broader perspective approximately 19 million STD infections are diagnosed annually with nearly half of them afflicting teens and young adults between 15-24 years of age. In addition the rate of unplanned teen pregnancy in the U.S. remains among the highest of all industrialized countries despite recent declines driven by the fact that one-third (34%) of young women become pregnant at least once before reaching their 20th birthday. (excerpt)