if you think teens are using social media to stay connected, what happens when it creates a disconnect? New studies show teenage exposure to aggressive hard-core pornography is changing the way boys perceive relationships. Connect that to the growing sexualization of girls from lingerie lines for 4 yr olds, to the pressure to perform. Today, we speak to the director of a new documentary Sext Up Kids airing tonight on CBC television.

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Part Two of The Current

Sext Up Kids - How children are becoming hyper-sexualized

We started this segment with a scene from a new documentary called Sext Up Kids, that airs on CBC Television's Doc Zone tonight.

From push up bras for pre-teens to hard core porn on cell phones, the film looks at what effect this is all having on young people-- really young people. We're going to talk about the film this morning, and a warning, some of its subject matter is very explicit -- even for adults.

Maureen Palmer is the Director of Sext Up Kids, and joined us from Vancouver. And Ralph Di Clemente is a professor of public health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who specializes in research on adolescent sexuality. He's featured in Maureen Palmer's documentary Sext Up Kids. And Ness Fraser blogs about sex and teens for SPARK, a non-profit group which promotes healthy sexuality and self-esteem for girls and women.

Sext Up Kids airs tonight at 9 o'clock on Doc Zone on CBC Television. Maureen Palmer will be live blogging on Facebook in the Eastern and Pacific time zones. And by the way, the website mentioned, 4chan, has content intended only for adults. But also offers general discussion boards on topics such as technology, sports and music.

This half-hour segment was produced by The Current's Liz Hoath and St. John's Producer, Heather Barrett.

Related Links:

• Dangers of young love in the age of sexting By: Denise Ryan - Postmedia News
• Interview with Maureen Palmer, director of Sex't Up Kids By: Ilka de Laat - CBC Doc Zone
  
  

Other segments from today's show:

• A widow's will, the Halifax Mayor and the fallout
• Thursday's Checking-In