CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

There is no single universal definition for the word "Youth". Some define it as persons whose age bracket ranges between the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood, while others fix age limits to express it. On the other hand, there are also others who define the term ‘youth’ from biological and psychological developmental perspectives as well as by considering both physical development and maturity. Therefore, it is important to define the “youth” in order to provide the framework of this research. In doing so, Strelitz, (2005) notes that “the concept of childhood and adulthood do not [necessarily] refer to fixed points on a continuum as they are not physiological facts but social constructions.” (2005:52) on the other hand, Swedish youth researcher Fornas cited by Strelitz (2005) pointed that there is little agreement among researchers on an exact definition of the term youth. Fornas, however, pointed to three different discourses that frame the concept as, Firstly, youth refers to a particular stage in physiological development; secondly, it is a social category framed by particular social institutions and rituals, and thirdly, youth is culturally determined by its interplay with musical, visual and verbal signs that mark this stage as being different from that of the child or adult. (Strelitz, 2005:53) However, Strelitz, (2005) noted that “much of the literature on youth points to the centrality of the media to the creation and sustenance of individual and group identities’’. It is widely acceptable that the youth express themselves to an unusual degree in texts, pictures, music and styles. These are important points because, it is in the assumption that pornographic media would potentially create youth identity. On the other hand, Jennings, 2004 cited by Assefa, (2005) stated that the most commonly used international definition of youth is between the ages of 16-24. Assefa, (2005), “adolescence is a very dynamic and unstable phase where the individual has to acquire the skills to fulfil adult roles and norms and has to search for and develop an identity. It is a period of rapid physical and intellectual development and emotional intensity.

The proliferation and mainstreaming of pornography over the last 2 decades, especially through the Internet, have influenced youth culture and adolescent development in unprecedented and diverse ways (Lofgren-M ¨ artenson & Mansson, 2010; McNair, 2002; Paul, 2005; Peter & Valkenburg, 2007). ˚ Internet-enabled devices have indiscriminately allowed people of all ages to encounter, consume, create, and distribute sexually explicit content, and a growing body of data reveal these phenomena are increasingly common for adolescents worldwide (Flood, 2007; Haggstr ¨ om-Nordin, Sanberg, Hanson, ¨ & Tyden, 2006; Lo & Wei, 2005; Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2007). Relative ´ to other media, the Internet is considered a highly sexualized environment (Cooper, Boies, Maheu, & Greenfield, 1999; Peter & Valkenburg, 2006a), and research has shown significant increases in the number of youth who are intentionally or accidentally encountering pornographic material online (Mitchell, Wolak, & Finkelhor, 2007; Wolak et al., 2007). Given these circumstances, one may assume that adolescents’ access to pornography via the Internet is unmatched by any other medium (Mitchell, Wolak, & Finkelhor, 2007); the volume and range of sexually explicit content available on the Internet is remarkable. The evolving nature of technologically mediated pornographic content (e.g., real-time and interactional) provides novelty and variety at unprecedented speeds (Coopersmith, 2006). Additionally, the risk of cyberbullying, sexual victimization, or harassment from others is real and pervasive (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2011). Furthermore, the Internet is present and prioritized in the lives of many youth (Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell, 2010; Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickur, 2010; Mitchell et al., 2007). For example, in the United States, 93% of all adolescents ages 12 to 17 use the Internet; 63% go online daily and 36% are online several times a day (Lenhart, Purcell et al., 2010). The World Internet Report surveyed 12 to 14 year olds from thirteen different countries and found that 100% of British youth, 98% of Israeli youth, 96% of Czech youth, and 95% of Canadian youth reported using the Internet regularly (Lawsky, 2008). Given that the average American teen owns 3.5 mobile devices (Lenhart, Purcell et al., 2010), it can be assumed a great deal of their online activity is portable, and therefore, largely unmonitored (Roberts, Foehr, & Rideout, 2005). This increasingly ubiquitous access to the Internet can be positive; for example, people of all ages are turning to this medium for information on sexual education and sexual health (Barak & Fisher, 2001), social connection (Cooper, Boies, Maheu, & Greenfield, 1999), work, shopping, entertainment, news, and 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Approximately one-third of the world’s population is made up of 2 billion young people under 18. They make up half the population in the least developed countries; less than a quarter in the most industrialized ones (UNICEF, 2004:61). Nevertheless, it is believed that youth everywhere share universal traits. They are fundamentally more optimistic, more open and curious than their adult counterparts. Youthful age is a time when individu 5 real life (Escobar-chaves, 2005:303). When sexual activity is mostly portrayed as a common behavior that can be done with little thought for emotional or physical repercussions, youth might see it as the thing to do. Collins, et al, (200:280) has identified the phenomena of media cultivation which is the initiation of sexual activities resulting from TV portraying sex as a focus of daily life when it may not be the reality. Wartella (2010:144) states that sexual images in the mass media can lead to homosexuality, prostitution, abusive sexual attitude, premarital sex, unprotected sexual practice and other abusive behaviour. Research findings (Watkins, 2008:36; Zaechuiz, 2002:10; Tejuoso, 2009: 20 Ijaduola, 2007:8) have shown that sexual activities among the young people have become regular occurrence, due to the increasing portrayal of sexual messages in the media especially television. Television programmes and shows most times depict risky sexual behavior as cool, fun and exciting with no discussion of the consequences. There is an increasing portrayal of sexual messages in television shows and movies in the Nigeria society today. This is combined with the vulnerable sexual nature of young people in relation to their exposure to sexually explicit media messages. The lack of studies in Nsukka urban area as to how these phenomena may have influenced the sexual behavior of young people is the problem that motivated this study.

The rate at which the immoral sexual behaviour of youth is increasing in Nsukka from the researcher’s observation is a source of concern. This is because most families have this category of persons in their homes and even if you don’t have youth in your home, you can access the rate of their immoral sexual behaviour from what you see on 4 the road, in schools, churches, markets, etc. Youth appearances and behaviours most of the time are not in order or acceptable. Some of the youth, because they want to belong, will do things that are unbelievable and disgracing to anyone that will hear or see them. These incredible things most of the time were learnt through watching television shows/movies or at times from friends and if they are not attended to now, will do our society more bad than good as time goes on. Therefore, this study envisions filling the above mentioned gaps and providing explanatory results regarding the factors that influence pornography watching among the youth.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to investigate the factors that influence pornography watching among the Nigeria youth. Specifically the study intends to:

1.     Find out factors that prompt youth into pornography watching

2.     Investigate and determine the relationship between pornography and rate of youth’s immoral sexual behavior.

3.     Investigate the effect of pornography on youth sexual orientation

4.     Find the relationship between pornography watching and their academic performance of youth

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions guides the researcher to achieve the stated specified objective

1.     what are the factors that influence youth to pornography watching

2.     Is there any relationship between pornography and rate of youth’s immoral sexual behavior?

3.     What are the effects of pornography watching on youth sexual orientation

4.     Is there any relationship between pornography watching and their academic performance of youth?

HYPOTHESIS

1. Ho: there is no significant relationship between pornography watching and of youth’s immoral sexual behavior

H1: there is a significant relationship between pornography watching and of youth’s immoral sexual behavior

2. Ho: there is no significant relationship between pornography watching and academic performance of youths

 H1: there is a significant relationship between pornography watching and academic performance of youths

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

 Television, according to Filani (2001:9) has been found to greatly influence the attitudes, moral value and behaviour of the youth. In Nigeria, pre-marital sex among the youth is on the increase. Young people 7 seem to delight in accessing television show and movies that are rich in sexual messages and the rate of consumption of this content is increasing day by day. Besides, this research will benefit mainly youth focused organization, policy makers and programme implementers, as well as organizations engaged in the fight of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria area of study. Pertaining stakeholders, researchers, media institutions government and non – governmental organizations that are involved in sex education and reproductive health communication will get supplementing explanatory facts and recommendations from the findings of this study. Finally, this study will help for better understanding of the youth and their interaction, sexual messages and show the influence of their exposure to sexual content on Television and this will focus policy makers and programme implementers to better identify the needs and challenges of the youth especially in relation to reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education. This study will show the enormous influence of the mass media especially TV shows/movies on the society. It will also show how young people could be properly socialized into managing their sexuality well and the role of church in this fight against immoral sexual behaviour of youth. The study finds a strong predictor of abuse of sex and advancing non-vital 8 sexual behaviours are related to exposure to television sexual content. In addition, sexual talk and sexual behaviour on television have similar outcome for the initiation of sex on a youth.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study essentially focuses on the variables that are implicated in the topic, they include: youth and their nature, illegal sexual content on television, media uses, influence of the media on youth behavior, the relationship between television sexual messages and youths’ sexual behavior and the effect it has on their performance in school. In terms of space, this study is limited to Nsukka urban from where data for the study will be gathered though reference could be made to other areas.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The major constraint that affected this research is limited time and insufficient fund to finance the project, due to this the research is limited to one local government area.