This is a film of conversations about sex and sexual attitudes from high school youngsters in different environments, from suburb to inner city. They describe some of their experiences and express their sexual relationships. Widely-varying topics-virginity, birth control, physical appearance, emotional environment, acceptance, sexual abuse, masturbation, self-confidence-are all dealt with in their open and frank remarks. John Brown, a well-known therapist and adolescent consultant, comments on some of the thoughts and feelings revealed. Good 1970s fashions.
Montage of teens, title of series "Youth Under the Influence".
Silhouette of 2 teens kissing. White suburban teenage kids sitting outside rapping about sex. The girls start with talking about virginity. Teenage boys voice their opinions. The conversation moves to contraception. Boy talks about how he has no conversations with his parents about sex. Except "Don't get her pregnant." Kids want their feeling recognized.
Urban African American teenage boys playing basketball. Girls hang-out on the court. Boy & girl ride off on a motorcycle.
CU African American boy. Talks about whether or not he is having sex. African American girl (nice afro) talking about her relationships with guys. More teen interviews, most are girls, Latina & African American. Nice hair & fashion. Teens play basketball & hangout on the court. Talking & flirting. More interviews with the teens about dating & sex.
Train speeding past. CU of feet. A young woman walks barefoot near the railroad tracks. She is wearing jeans & a t-shirt. CU of a patch on the back pocket of her jeans. She talks about the bad experiences she has had with men (physical abuse & psychological abuse). She can not talk to her parents.
Teens walk along a pier. Nice fashions, they all wear jeans. Boy talks about having had sex many times, but never using contraception. Boy walks around the harbor. Voice over continues to talk about teen sexual experiences. Teens running are goofing around.
Teen couple walking through a wooded area. They have their arms around each other. They kiss briefly. Voice over talks about the development of their relationship. They feed some ducks in a pond.
2 Caucasian girls talk about not believing in birth control. The girls walk along a beach. The voice over talks about one of them being raped at the age of 11. Another young woman talks about being a victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by her father, starting when she was 14. Teenage girl talks about her feelings that masturbation is natural. Girls walking along the beach.
Family sitting at the dinner table, saying grace. Serving food & eating dinner (lasagna) together. A teenage couple, the boy touches the girl's hair. They kiss. Silhouette of kissing. Nice shots of jeans. People gathered around a table. They start to sing.