750,000 girls in the United States will get pregnant before the age of 20. Research has shown that teens who become pregnant are more apt to be from disadvantaged backgrounds. They may live in single parent homes, deal with poverty or struggle with substance abuse. Often, they have uneducated parents who have a difficult history, suffer from low self-esteem, or were pregnant at a young age. Being miseducated by peers of even family members may be a contributing factor in teen pregnancy. High rates of teen pregnancy burden us all: teenagers, their children, and the society at large. The number of television shows with sexual content incremented significantly from 1998 to 2000. Only one in ten shows that contain sexual content included a reference to safer sex or to the possible risks and responsibilities that go along with having sex. .
However, there is a trend toward including more of these messages according to the third "Sex on TV: Content and Context" report (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003) "a study of the amount and nature of sexual material on television. The report found that the amount of sex on television remains high, but TV programs are more likely to include some reference to issues such as waiting to have sex, utilizing contraception, or the possible consequences of unprotected sex. The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, released a study on television and adolescent sexuality in November 2003. Results of this study revealed that teenagers in the United States absorb sex education messages from television programs, and visually examining and discussing television programs with an adult reinforces the sex education messages (Alters). .
Many Americans consider the promotion of birth control as an encouragement to teens to be promiscuous and advocate abstinence instead. In January 2004, the results of "Sex Education in America " revealed that fifteen percent of adult Americans believe that schools should use an abstinence-only approach in sex-education classes (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004).
