Garbage in, garbage out

A cynic would say it's hard to believe money is being wasted on such things, but even truths that many people consider self-evident can stand a good dose of scientific verification. That's especially true when the subject concerns violence, teen sex and morals in general.

Three studies were released in recent days. One, conducted by Rand Corp., in Pittsburgh and published in the current issue of Pediatrics, concluded that teenagers who listen to a lot of raunchy music with suggestive lyrics end up having sex earlier in life than teens whose musical tastes are milder. A second study, conducted by a team from Wake Forest's Baptist Medical Center and also published in Pediatrics, found that teenagers who watch a lot of pro wrestling on television tend to behave more violently than others their age.

Finally, all of this was brought into perspective by a study out of Brigham Young University that found teenagers tend to have the same moral values as their parents.

Bad behavior comes from bad sensory stimuli, and parents have a huge influence on their kids' behavior. For this, we need studies?

Well, yes. To understand why, you need look no further than the way the music and wrestling industries responded to the studies. According to the Associated Press, the head of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network said explicit lyrics reflect reality and are a cultural expression. A spokesman for World Wrestling Entertainment said the violence in pro wrestling provides family entertainment.

So many conflicting voices are found in today's loud, overhyped and self-validating world that parents and teens alike can have trouble remembering basic truths.

Sure, critics may attack these finds by saying that violent kids tend to gravitate toward wrestling programs, or that kids who are prone to be promiscuous will most likely seek out songs with explicit lyrics.

No doubt a number of environmental factors are at work when it comes to teen behavior, but the researchers who looked at song lyrics, for instance, took pains to account for these. They first questioned the teens in 2001, when most said they were virgins, then compared their answers and their behaviors today.

Besides, doesn't it make sense that what we hear and see influences how we act? Isn't that a basic premise of advertising?

A previous generation would have found this obvious. Today, it helps to have evidence.