Motivation, Social Context and Parental Mediation of Nairobi Adolescents’ Seeking Sexual Media Content

Abstract

The Kenyan media is awash with sexual content. This media diet mostly sought after by young people permeates TV and radio music shows, soaps, radio breakfast and afternoon drives. This study investigated motivational, contextual and parental mediation factors predicating Nairobi City County public secondary school students’ use of sexual radio and TV content. Its objectives were 1) to find out the association of Nairobi adolescents' motivations for seeking out sexual media content with extent of exposure to sexual radio and TV content. 2) to investigate the association of the social context of Nairobi adolescents' intake of sexual radio and TV content with the extent of exposure to that content and 3) to explore the association of parental monitoring of Nairobi adolescents' media use and the extent of exposure to sexual radio and TV content. The study used Users and Gratification theory as a theoretical framework. The theory explains how people use media to gratify their needs, their motives for media behavior and functions or consequences that follow from needs, motives, and behavior. The study used a mixed method design which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. Quantitative data were collected using self-administered questionnaires through cluster sampling procedure. FGDs were facilitated in the five clusters of secondary schools in Nairobi City County through convenient sampling. Data was collected amongst Nairobi City County secondary school students who include boarders and day scholars of both genders in form one to form four. A sample of 546, 13-20 year old secondary students was drawn. Quantitative data was posted through SPSS and associations between variables statistically assessed using t-tests, ANOVAs, bivariate correlations and regression analysis. FGDs were transcribed, key themes and emerging patterns coded, analyzed and interpreted. Results revealed that Nairobi adolescents sought both sexual radio and TV mostly for fun and companionship. Frequent attendance of religious services and attending mixed-gender schools were associated with taking in less sexual content. The bedroom was the context most associated with higher levels of sexual media content exposure. The most effective parental media restrictions were forbidding certain programming and limiting time used. Respondents indicated the best way to keep them away from sexual content was to empower them with media literacy, friendly tutelage and discouraging use of sexual media in their bedrooms. Findings are beneficial to parents and educators, policy makers, scholars, media owners and teenagers. Both parents and teachers should facilitate media literacy to teenagers and encourage the habit of attending religious events to act as a filter and moral compass for media consumption and facilitate a media literacy curriculum in schools. The cross-sectional nature of the study was its key limitation. However, the mixed method design allowed for a representative sampling and triangulation thus results could be replicated. The study calls for creation of African culture - sensitive motivational scales and for further research to explore the association of exposure to sexual media content with early initiation to sex and casual sexual relationships amongst young people