Netflix Show ‘Sex Education’ – A New Low for Teen-Geared Shows, by Tina Griffin

Over the last decade, I’ve noticed more and more sex glamorized in teen-geared shows, but Netflix reached a new low with their newly released “Sex Education” TV series. In the last 2 years, Netflix has pumped out many graphic original series like “13 Reasons Why,” which glamorizes suicide and has been linked to several teen deaths. The worst so-called puberty-geared show “Big Mouth” is also a very graphic adult cartoon watched by millions of young people. “Riverdale” season 3 just kicked off last fall, and their trailer depicts witchcraft and ends with a scene of potential baby sacrifice. And these are all top shows watched by teens in America.

However, on January 11, a mere 3 weeks ago, a new teen Netflix show called “Sex Education,” has now been added to my worst ever shows to hit the airwaves. This British comedy drama was created by Laurie Nunn. It starsGillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Connor Swindells, and Kedar Wiliams-Stirling.

Hailed by secular entertainment reviewers as the best show ever created for discussing the topic of teen sexual issues, I would highly disagree. Case in point, WomenEntertaiment.com states, “A teenage virgin who lives with his sex therapist mother teams up with a smart and edgy high school classmate to start their own health clinic. But what happens when the inexperienced (and sexually repressed) son of a sex therapist starts counseling his fellow high-schoolers?”

My answer would be, a disaster!

Here are the major issues I have with this new raunchy sex-saturated “Sex Education” TV show:

First, our “entertainment” industry today hardly puts our children’s best interests at heart. These shows glamorize sex, which then causes kids to be sexually active themselves. Would we ever allow two teens to have sex on our living room carpet in front of our kids? Absolutely not. But there’s hardly a difference between that and watching this scene on a screen. I also can’t remember a time when Hollywood showed the consequences of what happens when you engage in sex outside of marriage. Where is the scene in which a person gets an STD, or becomes pregnant at 14 or even has a meltdown because they feel guilty about what they just did?

In real life, when I travel the country speaking on this topic of media influence, I am bombarded by teens telling me their horror stories of what they’ve gone through because they engaged in sex. Hollywood creates programming portraying that it’s horrendous to be an “inexperienced” teen and makes this lifestyle seem fun and glamourous. Yet many studies have proven that when young people watch shows filled with sex, porn, violence, etc. the chances of them engaging in these activities sadly skyrocket.

Michele Ybarra MPH, Ph.D. recently wrote an article in Phychology Today in which she concludes that the amount of sexual content kids consume in media and the level of sexual activity among peers definitely appears to be related.

My second major concern is that in the first 30 seconds of season one, episode one of this TV series “Sex Education,” there is a full on pornography sex scene between two teens with nothing left to the imagination – all grunts and groans included. Woefully, most parents have no clue what this show entails. This scene lasted what seemed like several minutes and the girl’s chest takes up half of the television screen. Millions of children scroll through Netflix daily to find their favorite cartoon (which there’s not many to choose from) but if they mistakenly or curiously click on “Sex Education,” the damage is done. Before parents are even aware of what their kids are watching, the porn scene would have taken place.

We can’t simply erase these scenes out of our minds. In fact, the porn industry hopes they can get us addicted at a young age, so they have us as customers for life. There are many damaging psychological and physical health problems from viewing pornography, according to The American College of Pediatricians. Netflix should know this. Why else would Netflix include the aforementioned scene in the very beginning of a series? “Let’s get them hooked on sex and porn at an early age.” Contact Netflix and tell them to remove this harmful content and consider dropping their service. Many people have.

Today’s entertainment is causing a cesspool of depressed, suicidal, sex-addicted teens. We can’t keep Hollywood from dishing out this poison to our children. However, we can choose what enters our home. A media diet filled with positive, uplifting entertainment promoting a healthy mindset and lifestyle we want our kids to emulate, will create children we are all hoping to raise.

Counter Culture Mom, Tina Griffin, is a former Hollywood actress, speaker, author, host of “Hollywood Insider” and resides in Nashville, TN where she homeschools her four munchkins and is busy saving America with her husband Luke.