Using PG-13 to Groom Kids for an R-rated World in My Super Ex-Girlfriend and John Tucker Must Die
by Marc T. Newman, Ph.D.

Barna Research in 2002 revealed that less than 10% of teens believe that there are such things as moral absolutes to guide their actions. These teens were initiated into this "value-free" environment by their parents – adults who believed in moral absolutes made up only 22% of the research sample. So perhaps it is fitting that My Super Ex-Girlfriend and John Tucker Must Die were released as this summer's one-two PG-13 punch. If we are going to encourage a new generation of morally ambivalent teens, after all, we need to make sure they can attend the instruction.

The stated purpose of the "R" rating for films is to shield youngsters from material that is unsuitable for their age. Neil Postman, in The Disappearance of Childhood, notes that unrestricted access to sexuality by children and adolescents blurs the line between kids and adults, and may irreparably damage children in the process. Some may argue that what is on the screen is no different than the material these kids are exposed to on cable television, but that begs the question. Should children be exposed to a mechanistic view of sex before they are of an age to discern its moral quality?
the rest