International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2015 1 ISSN 2250-3153 www.ijsrp.org The Effect of Parental Mediation and Television Co- Viewing on Adolescents Sexual Initiation in Kenya Sammy Yaah Baya * , Dr. Hellen K. Mberia ** and Dr. Julius Bosire ** * PhD Candidate at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya ** Lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Abstract- This paper examines the effects of parental mediation and television co-viewing on adolescents’ sexual initiation. Television plays an important role in the sexual socialization of adolescents. In Kenya, it has been established that sexual activity starts early, that 42 per cent of girls aged15-19 years have had sexual intercourse and 17 per cent are sexually active. Early sexual initiation (before age 16) is likely to involve sexual risk- taking and expose young people to unwanted sex, sexually transmitted infections, and teenage pregnancy. Research has revealed that in Kenya early sexual behaviour is manifested in the youth's high incidence of pregnancies, abortions, stress and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The paper sought to investigate the effects of parental mediation and TV co- viewing on adolescents sexual initiation by addressing the following three fundamental concerns, (1) how television influences early sexual initiation of adolescents, (2) the extent to which parental mediation and television co-viewing may influence adolescents sexual initiation, (3) whether television can play a major positive role in promoting adolescents sexual awareness. The paper revealed that Watching TV shows with sexual content apparently hastens the initiation of adolescents’ sexual activity.TV shows with content about contraception and pregnancy can help to educate teens about the risks and consequences of sex and can also foster beneficial dialogue between teens and parents. The paper also revealed that parental TV co-viewing of sexual content serves as an endorsement of the material for adolescents, restrictive mediation is best in moderate amounts, and that active mediation is most effective when it is paired with an open, conversational delivery style. Overall this paper concluded that there exists a relationship between parental TV co-viewing of sexual content and the sexual initiation of the youth. The study therefore recommends that media literacy as a skill needs to be improved to enable the youth to interpret TV media content correctly in order to avoid the possible effects that are sometimes not intended by the media practitioners. Index Terms- parental mediation, parental TV co-viewing, sexual initiation, adolescents I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND elevision plays an important role in the sexual socialization of adolescents (Buerkel- Rothfuss & Strouse, 1993; Pinkleton, Austin, Cohen, Chen, & Fitzgerald, 2008; Ward, 2003;Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999). Adolescents who watch more sexual content are more likely to perceive less serious consequences of sex (Farrar, 2006), become sexually active (Brown et al., 2006), and experience greater risk of pregnancy (Chandra et al., 2008). Little research has examined parents’ role in mitigating these effects. And yet, the work on parental mediation of television has shown that parents can play a significant role in reducing youngsters’ susceptibility to other undesirable outcomes, like aggression and stereotype formation (Huesmann, Eron, Klein, Brice, & Fischer, 1983; Nathanson, 1999). In Kenya, it has been established that sexual activity starts early, that 42 per cent of girls aged 15-19 years have had sexual intercourse and 17 per cent are sexually active (CBS, 2004). The median age in Kenya for first sexual intercourse rose from 16.8 years in 1998 to 17.8 years in 2003 (CBS, 2004).A study conducted by the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) (1993) among female adolescents in various schools in Kenya found out that majority of the school going female adolescents are sexually active and some of them had multiple sexual partners. A study by Kamaara (1996/1997) conducted in Uasin Gishu County in Kenya had similar findings with the other studies. According to the study, 51 per cent of the youth interviewed were sexually initiated before the age of twenty and about 65 per cent indicated that they were currently having sexual relationships with more than one partner. Research done in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Nairobi, Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA) and the Family Planning private sector (FPPS) concurs that about 80 per cent of the youth between ages 15-25, are sexually active (CSA, 1994). Out of these, 4 per cent engage in sexual relations before the age of 10; about 55 per cent become pregnant by the age of 20 and 60 per cent of them have multiple sexual partners (Aggarwal & Mati, 1982). The high incidence of premarital sexual behaviour is further manifested in the high number of youth being affected by HIV/AIDS. The Kenya National AIDS control council and the ministry of health in Kenya (NACC, 2010; Ministry of Health, 2001). They have established further that more than 75 per cent of the AIDS cases occur between ages of 15 and 45 years, with the peak for AIDS being 25-29 for females and 15-25 for males. The implication of this is that HIV infection is prevalent at the age group between 15-25 meaning that majority of the youth contract the virus when they are still in their adolescence. It is against this background that this paper sought to examine the role of parental mediation and television co-viewing on adolescents’ sexual outcomes. 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Sex is common on television and becoming more prevalent over time (Kunkel, Eyal, & Finnerty, 2005). Programs often T