From On Air - Winter 2003

Teens and Television

TV producers, writers, and network executives from the ten daytime weekday dramas gathered in Los Angeles on October 26-27 for PCI’s Soap Summit VI, which looked at youth and the way U.S. teens are portrayed on television. The annual event raises awareness within this broadcast community about its abilities to shape attitudes and behaviors.

The Summit began on Friday evening with a welcome by Irwin “Sonny” Fox, PCI’s senior vice president of U.S. programs. In an impassioned keynote address, Martin Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center and associate dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, reminded the audience that they are “the nation’s storytellers” with the power “to inflame our fears, educate our hopes, and tell us what is good or bad.”
Dr. James D. Marks, assistant surgeon general, was on hand to present the second annual Sentinel for Health Award for Daytime Drama. The award was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and recognizes exemplary portrayals of story lines in daytime soap operas that inform, educate, and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives.

The finalists were “Joe May Be HIV-Positive,” from Port Charles; “Ecstasy and Agony,” All My Children; “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,” Days of Our Lives; and “Raul’s Diabetes,” from CBS’s The Young and the Restless, which received the award.

Leading experts on adolescence opened the Saturday sessions with an examination of how teens are viewed in U.S. society. Dr. Rae Simpson, working with the Harvard School of Public Health, pointed out that the media often portray teens as rude, selfish, violent, and materialistic. She cautioned the audience that these stereotypes are damaging, and suggested that adults need to reach out and share the struggle with teens.

Dr. Gordon Berry of UCLA emphasized the impact on young people of television’s “modeling” behavior. He stressed the need for parents to help adolescents learn to be wise consumers of this broadcast information.

A lively panel of teenagers startled and educated the audience with their frank views on sex, drugs and, most important, their parents. Most of the teens felt that their parents were overly protective, and that they were fully capable of making their own decisions regarding these complex subjects.

Dr. Laura Kann, director of the Youth Risk Behaviors Survey at the CDC, gave a disturbing presentation on health risks to teenagers. She analyzed a representative class of 30 students for risk of obesity, pregnancy, early sexual activity, smoking, dating violence, drug use, and suicide. The presentation was stark, but Dr. Kann noted that suicide and homicide are declining. She reminded the television community of their power to teach teens the skills required to journey through the maze of adolescence. And as an avid soap watcher, she counseled them, “I’ll be watching.”

In the final morning panel, the audience was surprised to learn that, in many states, teens have legal access to reproductive health services without parental consent. Dr. David Kaplan, pediatrician and chairman of the Adolescent Health Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, underscored the need for pediatricians to maintain confidentiality of reproductive health services and other medical issues for teens.

A feature of the day’s sessions was a sobering look at a particularly bad mix of drugs in Houston last summer. Sgt. Bill Stephens of the Houston Narcotics Division vividly described how far drugs travel, how many hands they pass through, and how little control there is over what is passed on to the buyer.

Dr. Joye Carter, chief medical examiner in Harris County, Texas, explained how her office determined that the public had to be notified of this “bad” drug on the street. The clear warning from both presenters was that, aside from the inherent danger of using illegal drugs, people who buy drugs have no guarantee of what they are buying and ultimately ingesting.

The day ended with breakout sessions where participants interacted with panelists to further explore teen behaviors, teen health, and drug risks.
The daytime drama community was once again reminded of the powerful medium that they use to impart their message, and the opportunity they have to make a substantial impact on the attitudes and behaviors of their audiences.

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