Introduction Television, radio, films, newspapers, magazines, books, and other media are increasingly persuasive and influential

in peoples lives around the world. New technologies such as the Internet, cell phones and chat rooms, have changed the nature of the media experience in significant ways. According to Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi (1990, p. 58), People of the world spend more than 3.5 billion hours watching television everyday. Some scholars explain this enormous expenditure of time and mental activity by arguing that television viewing involves a transfer of information that enriches the viewers store of knowledge. Others emphasise that television provides viewers with much needed entertainment, relaxation and escape. To which degree these other things happen when people view television is the cause for much debate. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore how television influences the sexual attitudes and behaviour of adolescent girls. Though the area of adolescent sexual behaviour has been researched to a considerable degree elsewhere, there seemed to be lack of information regarding adolescent sexual behaviour and attitudes relating to Africa, especially Nigeria, which inspired me to embark on this study. The results of this study indicated that adolescent girls from Nigeria feel that television does influence their sexual attitudes and behaviour. They also indicated that television does not display the consequences of sex, thus influencing adolescents to engage in such behaviour. Factors associated with adolescent sexuality Werner-Wilson (1998) comments that factors associated with sexual behaviour within the person include individual factors such as psychosocial characteristics (e.g., age at first intercourse, selfesteem), gender, and attitudes towards sexuality and peer and family (e.g., number of siblings, number of parents in the home, communication with mother and father, family strengths, parental contribution to sexual education, parental discussion of sexual values, and the sexual attitudes of mother and father). Individual factors Psychosocial influences: Miller, McCoy, & Olson (1986) and Thornton (1990) comment that adolescents who begin to date earlier go on more dates, which is positively associated with sexual experience, number of sexual partners, and level of sexual activity during the later teens. Thus early initiation is one of the factors that predict sexual frequency. Age at first intercourse is related to later sexual behavior. Self-esteem: also influences adolescents sexual behaviour and can be related to sexual attitudes. For example, self-esteem is positively related to sexual intercourse for adolescents who believe that intercourse is always right, but negatively related for those who believe it is wrong (Miller, Christensen, & Olson, 1987).

Gender differences: adolescent males are much more likely than adolescent females to report that they have engaged in sexual intercourse (Newcomer & Udry, 1985; Werner-Wilson, 1998). Furthermore, adolescent males are less likely to consider affection as a sign of sexual intimacy than adolescent females (Whitbeck, Hoyt, Miller, & Kao, 1992) and are more likely to believe that sexual coercion is justifiable (Feltey, Ainslie, & Geib, 1991), as well as being more likely to respond to peer pressure by engaging in sexual activity (Brown, Clasen, & Eicher, 1986). Attitudes about sexuality: although adolescent males and females hold different values concerning sexuality (Plotnick, 1992), personal values and attitudes contribute directly to sexual expression for both genders (Plotnick, 1992; Rotheram-Borus & Koopman, 1991). Sexual behaviour that contradicts personal values is associated with emotional distress and lower self-esteem; these values are likely to match local social norms (Miller et al., 1987). Peer and family influence Peer pressure is related to age as it signifies the persons current milestone or developmental stage as well as her or his maturity. Furthermore, adolescent males and females display similar perceptions of peer pressure, but males are more likely to submit to it than females (Brown et al., 1986). Although there are strong resemblances between the sexual behaviours of peers, the similarity may not reflect peer pressure. Family influence: According to Wright, Peterson and Barnes (1990), the strength of peer influence on sexuality is mediated by parent-adolescent communication. Although adolescents rate friends, school, and books as more important than parents as sources of information about sex, parents are rated as exercising greater influence on sexual attitudes (Sanders & Mullis, 1988). In addition, Miller et al. (1986) argue that sexual permissiveness and intercourse are related to parental discipline and control, a relationship that is not straight or clear. Sibling relationships are also associated with adolescent sexual activity. Earlier sexual experience is connected with having older siblings who are sexually active (Werner-Wilson, 1998). Thus earlier sexual activity of younger siblings may occur due to role modelling (East, Felice, & Morgan, 1993), or it may result from greater parental permissiveness (Rodgers, Rowe, & Harris, 1992). Influence of Television on Adolescents Television has proven to exert a large influence on peoples attitudes and behavior (Lund & Blaedon, 2003). It has been found to reflect and possibly shape the attitudes, values, and behaviours of young people (Greeson, 1991). According to Chapin (2000), this medium has become so influential that it serves as a teacher, often providing a common source of information to young people. The role of media in adolescents lives has raised concerns in many respects, such as violence, sexuality and body dissatisfaction. However, aggression/violence and sexuality are key research areas (Lund & Blaedon, 2003). Disquiet has been mentioned by researchers with regards to television as a teacher (Ward, 1995) of sexuality. According to Chapin (2000), even parents think that television has a large impact on adolescents attitudes and they recognise that many adolescents spend more time watching television than they do with their parents.

Impact of Television Along with the examination of media usage, several researchers have attempted to explain the relationship between adolescent sexuality and media. Correlational studies indicate that exposure to sexually suggestive materials is associated with premarital sex, although whether sexually active teens seek out sexual content or whether sexual content increases sexual activity remains uncertain (Brown et al., 1990; Brown & Newcomer, 1991; Donnerstein & Smith, 2001; Lackey & Moberg, 1998; Malamuth & Impett, 2001; Strouse & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1987). Other researchers have found sexual content in the media to exert minimal, if any, impact on the sexual activity of adolescents include the differing characteristics of adolescents discussed earlier in this dissertation and additional factors such as the perceived reality of the content viewed, the media's portrayal of the consequences (or lack thereof) associated with sexual behaviour, and the influence of other role models. Studies of peer group interaction (Durham, 1999; Milkie, 1999) suggest that learning from the media is not only an individual process, but that messages received during peer group interactions may also contribute to how adolescents learn from and interpret media messages. According to Donnerstein and Smith (2001), research shows that parents who openly communicate and actively co-view television may protect adolescents from potentially detrimental effects of exposure. Frequency of viewing (Malamuth & Impett, 2001) appears to be important as well. Love songs and romance have always been popular (Durham, 1999). However, the music that is popular today is often harsh and sexually explicit, and many fear it is contributing to teen pregnancy, sexual assault, substance abuse, depression, and suicide (Durham, 1999; Klein, Brown, Childers, Oliveri, Porter, & Dykers, 1993; Ward, 2003). Furthermore, the music videos that are also shown on television nowadays tend to be sexually explicit as well, as noted previously. Social Learning Theory Definition Social learning theory, also called observational learning, takes place when an observer's behaviour changes after viewing the behaviour of a model (Prochaska & Norcross, 2007). An observer's behaviour can be affected by the positive or negative consequences termed the vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment of a model's behaviour. Social learning, thus, refers to all learning experiences in which social and cognitive factors play a role (Meyer, Moore & Viljoen, 2003). It suggeststhat learning occurs through four main stages of imitation, namely, close contact, imitation of superiors, understanding of concepts and role model behaviour. Social learning theory explains human behaviour in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioural, and environmental influences (Bandura,1997). The component processes underlying observational learning are: Attention: various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid, including modelled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement).

Retention: remembering what one paid attention to, including symbolic coding, cognitive organisation, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal. Motor reproduction: reproducing the image, including physical capabilities, self observation of reproduction, and accuracy of feedback. Motivation: having a good reason to imitate, including external, vicarious and self reinforcement. These will be discussed in greater detail at a later stage. In light of the aforesaid, the most common examples of social learning situations are television commercials, movies and music videos. Sexual content displayed in these programmes may suggest that certain sexual behaviour renders girls more attractive and admirable (Brown et al., 1993). Depending on the component processes involved (such as attention or motivation), one may model the behaviour shown in the commercial and buy the product being advertised. Social learning theory suggests specific mechanisms through which the observation of media (television) examples may shape attitudes and beliefs (Huit, 2004). Firstly, observational learning is believed to be stronger when the behavioural model occurs frequently. Viewers who regularly observe similar examples of sexual request situations may begin to perceive the strategies used as the proper and normal approach. In this respect, content analysis has suggested that the rate of occurrence of sexual request situations on television is high. Television exhibits the tendency to imply sexual intercourse through frequently repeated, formulaic representations of behaviours that typically precede sexual most common type of sexual imagery on television is verbal insinuation that aims to communicate sexual desire. When television characters talk about sex, 59 to 74% of the conversations are about prospective appeal and attraction (Kunkel, Cope, & Colvin, 1996). When television actually displays sexual behaviour it most often does so in terms of physical acts such as flirting, hugging, kissing, and erotic touching, which are precursory to sexual intercourse (Kunkel et al., 1996; Ward, 2003). Therefore, for the purpose of this study, the social learning approach is used as a lens through which to interpret the data. The approach aims at emphasising the importance of modelling the behaviour, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others (Bandura, 1977; 1986; 1997). According to Escoban-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel & Thickstun (2005), television is regarded as an increasingly influential instrument of socialisation that produces its effects through the tendencies of children to learn by imitation. This study, from a social learning perspective as mentioned, attempts to understand the perception of adolescent use of television as a guide. Qualitative information about the sexual content of television programmes affects the emotions, attitudes and behaviour of adolescents, and the kinds of sex or sexuality related stories they are likely to encounter, as well as the messages conveyed by those stories Approximately one of every seven programmes (14%) includes a portrayal of sexual intercourse, depicted or strongly implied (Brown et al., 2005; Eggermont, 2005; Ward, 2003; Werner-Wilson et al., 2006). According to the study conducted by Eggermont (2005), previous research has suggested that an adolescents perception of how peers behave may have some bearing on his or her intentions or actual behaviours. Eggermont (2005) and Heintz-Knowles (1996), further state that this may be due to several reasons, and may be partly attributable to adolescents television viewing. One reason could be the

continuous occurrence of sexual examples on television, and according to social learning theory, as already mentioned, the more one observes behaviour, the more likely one is to model it. The modelling process The component processes underlying observational learning are: (1) Attention: People cannot learn much by observation unless they attend to, and perceive, the significant features of the modelled behaviour. Attentive processes determine what is selectively observed in the profusion of modelling influences to which one is exposed to and that which is extracted from such exposure. Mischel (1993) states that various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid, including modelled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement). The people with whom one regularly associates, either by preference or obligation, restrict the types of behaviour that will be repeatedly observed and hence learned thoroughly. For example, opportunities for learning sexual bhaviour depnds on d manner of friends u ve. (2) Retention: refers to, according to Hergenhahn (1994) remembering what one paid attention to, including symbolic coding, cognitive organisation, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal. People cannot be influenced by observation of modelled behaviour if they do not remember it. In order for observers to profit from the behaviour of models when they are no longer present to provide direction, the response patterns must be represented in memory in symbolic form (Mischel, 1993). It is the advanced capacity for symbolisation that enables humans to learn much of their behaviour by observation. Observational learning relies on two representational systems: imaginary and verbal (Liebert & Spiegler, 1990). Imaginary - some behaviour is retained in imagery. Sensory stimulation activates sensations that give rise to perceptions of the external events. As a result of repeated exposure, modelling stimuli produce enduring, retrievable images of modeled performances (Bandura, 1986). Thus, later, images of events that are physically absent can be summed up. Therefore, reference to an activity that has been repeatedly observed usually arouses its imaginary counterpart (Liebert & Spiegler, 1990; Mischel, 1993). Visual imagery plays an important role in observational learning during early periods of development when verbal skills are lacking. Verbal - most of the cognitive processes that regulate behaviour are verbal rather than visual. Details of an observed behaviour are acquired, retained and later produced by converting the visual information into a verbal code (Bandura, 1986, 2001). Observational learning and retention are facilitated by symbolic codes because they carry a great deal of information in an easily stored form. After modelled activities have been transformed into images and readily utilised verbal symbols, these memory codes serve as guides for performance (Liebert & Spiegler, 1990; Mischel, 1993).

Adding to symbolic coding, rehearsal serves as an important memory aid. When people mentally rehearse or actually perform modelled response patterns, they are less likely to forget them than if they neither think about them nor practise what they have seen. Yet most behaviour that is learned observationally cannot be easily established by overt enactment because of either social prohibitions or lack of opportunity (Bandura, 1997). It is therefore of interest that mental rehearsal, in which individuals visualise themselves performing behaviour, increases proficiency and retention. (3) Motor Reproduction: this involves converting symbolic representations into appropriate actions, thus reproducing the image, including physical capabilities, self observation of reproduction, and accuracy of feedback. Behavioural reproduction is achieved by organising ones responses spatially and temporally in accordance with the modelled patterns (Hall, Lindzey, Loehlin & Manosevitz, 1985). Behavioural enactment can be separated into cognitive organisation of responses, their initiation, monitoring, and refinement on the basis of informative feedback. The initial phase of behavioural enactment begins with responses being selected and organised at the cognitive level (Bandura, 1986). The amount of observational learning that will be exhibited behaviourally depends on the availability of component skills. Learners who possess the constituent elements can easily integrate them to produce new patterns, but if some of these response components are lacking, behavioural reproduction will be faulty. (4) Motivation: people are more likely to adopt modelled behaviour if it results in outcomes they value than if it leads to unrewarding or punishing effects. Thus, people need to have a good reason to imitate, including external, vicarious and self reinforcement motives (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Observed consequences influence modelled conduct as well. According to Mischel (1993), the behaviour that seems to be effective for others is favoured over behaviour that is seen to engender negative consequences. The evaluative reactions that people generate toward their own behaviour also regulate which observationally learned response will be performed. They express what they find selfsatisfying and reject what they personally disapprove of.

Recommendation parental restriction: Parents shld as much as possible monitor the videos their kids watch on tv and the amount of time spent in front of the screen television stations shld apply more discipline on the kind of tv programmes shown wen adsolescents wld be bak from skul or at a tym wen they wld b watching. Tv shld show consequencies 4 early sexual involvement conclusion Television portrayals surrounding adolescents indicate that they are intensely interested in sexuality, romance, and relationships. The few available experimental studies show that television has the potential to change viewers' attitudes and knowledge. However, while some studies provide weak

evidence that television viewing is linked to sexual behaviour and beliefs, the measures of viewing are crude at best. There is also some evidence that personal factors such as interest in sexual content, level of understanding, perceived reality, and parental mediation modify the influence of sexual messages. However, much more work of an empirical nature is needed to substantiate the theory that naturally occurring sexual content on television, and in the media generally, does cause changes in attitudes and behaviour. What those changes are needs to be examined as a function of what individuals are watching, the messages they are receiving, how they are interpreting them, and other factors that influence an adolescents sexual persona.