How Teen TV Dramas Portray Sex and Sex Education

Teen television is one of the most visible places where sexuality gets discussed in popular culture. Canadian audiences grew up with Degrassi, a long-running franchise known for blunt treatment of hard subjects. A columnist once set that tradition beside two later series, Glee and the American version of Skins, and the contrast shows how differently one topic can be handled on screen.

The Degrassi approach

The original Canadian series followed students through pregnancy, abortion, infidelity and the AIDS crisis. In the columnist's memory, it treated these matters plainly and with compassion. Comedy had a place, and a much-remembered scene involved a teenager buying condoms from the mother of a girl he liked, yet the lesson was never buried under the jokes. The columnist had grown up close in age to the original cast, so the characters' struggles often mirrored those of real friends.

A later spin-off, Degrassi: The Next Generation, carried the name forward. The columnist never warmed to it, a reaction common among viewers loyal to an original version.

Glee and a single sexual health hour

Glee, an American musical comedy-drama, aired an episode devoted to sexual health. Within about forty minutes it touched on teen pregnancy, school sex education, a celibacy club, education for queer youth and a character's dawning self-understanding. The columnist praised some scenes, such as a gay student getting information from his father, but judged much of the hour a clumsy stab at teaching.

Two complaints stood out. Celibacy came across as a joke, because club members had secret or unrelated motives and the adult leader disliked sex, so celibacy as a sincere personal choice went unshown. A coming-out scene also linked a character's sharp temper to her hidden identity, a pairing the columnist found unfortunate, particularly as the episode aired on International Women's Day. The columnist also wondered why a series with a sexual thread from its early days saved so many issues for one episode.

Skins and the realism question

The American Skins adapted a British drama that had stirred controversy over its portrayal of adolescents. The columnist had not watched the original and doubted the outrage was warranted, though agreed the series was frank about adolescent life and perhaps not very true to it.

That raised a question about accuracy, namely how far television drama reflects the real experiences of young people. The column left it open.

Entertainment against information

The columnist welcomed the end of the one-hour special that raised an issue and tied it off neatly, and noted that both newer series at least placed youth sexuality in public conversation. The reservation was that show tunes, broad humour or gritty excess seldom supply the background that supports informed choices. Media scholars and sex educators have long debated that tension, and it remains unresolved.