Youths in Poll Say TV Is Harmful Influence : Media: Programs encourage sexuality and antisocial behavior, majority think. Study queried children 10 to 16.

Most children believe that what they see on television encourages them to take part in sexual activity too soon, to show disrespect for their parents, to lie and to engage in aggressive behavior, according to a survey being released today.

The nationwide poll, funded by Children Now, a national children’s advocacy group, asked youths ages 10 to 16 how television shapes their values.

“I think it pressures people my age,” said Rayelyn Rodriguez, a 14-year-old South Gate girl who was among the 750 children in the survey. “They think if they see it on TV, they want to go do it too.”

More than two-thirds of the young people said they are influenced by television. Seventy-seven percent said there is too much sex before marriage depicted and 62% said sex on television and in movies influences their peers to have sexual relations when they are too young. Two-thirds said that shows such as “The Simpsons” and “Married . . . With Children” encourage youthful viewers to disrespect parents.

“With a show like ‘Married . . . With Children,’ kids talk back to their parents and they always hit them up for money and stuff,” said Jesse Lunn, a 13-year-old Mission Viejo respondent.

An overwhelming majority of young people polled also said that television should help teach them values, but instead often shows people getting away with--and sometimes triumphing by--deceitful behavior or physical aggression.

The survey was conducted last month under the sponsorship of Children Now, whose board of directors includes television producers, academics, former California Supreme Court Justices Allen E. Broussard and Cruz Reynoso, former Los Angeles Raiders football player Jim Plunkett and the chairman of Warner Bros. Records, Danny Goldberg.

Researchers interviewed an ethnically balanced sample of children nationwide via telephone, with a margin of error of about 3%, and focused on cable and broadcast programs airing during the evening, said Paul Maslin of an independent survey firm.

The purpose, according to James P. Steyer, Oakland-based president of Children Now--which has several offices around the country--was to examine the lessons imparted by the young characters on entertainment shows.

“We ought to listen to what kids themselves say and 82% of them say the media should teach them right from wrong,” Steyer said. “Kids seem to be suggesting that antisocial behavior should not be rewarded.”

The findings have prompted Children Now to ask television programmers to show viewers the consequences of antisocial behavior and to depict children dealing with real-life problems credibly--and making wise decisions. The organization is also calling on program producers and writers to include less sexual activity, especially avoiding sex before marriage and at young ages, Steyer said.

“We’re not suggesting that television should be the scapegoat for all these heavy issues relating to kids and values, but they can’t be a scofflaw either,” Steyer said. “This is a positive challenge, not an indictment.”

To that end, the organization will offer suggestions on story ideas to television producers and has organized a conference this week at Stanford University, with industry heavy-hitters scheduled to discuss the role of the media in shaping children’s values.

“There’s a general sense that the values in society are declining and that kids growing up today are facing much more difficult choices at earlier ages,” Steyer said. “Therefore, they need much more solid foundations of values to deal with these very heavy choices.”

Steyer said his organization readily acknowledges the role of parents, schools and the community in teaching values to children, but emphasizes that the entertainment media also play a critical role.

TV executives may not necessarily agree.

“Television is entertainment,” said Leslie Ray, executive producer of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” a program ranked in the top five in popularity among the children surveyed. “It’s not our responsibility to police what children watch. Our job is to entertain. We’re just writing television situation comedy. We’re not the parents. We can’t make people turn it off.”

On the other hand, some television producers say they are mindful of their influence.

“We are acutely aware that we help define or shape the values of children,” said Matt Williams, co-creator of the top-rated show “Home Improvement.” “We consciously write the boys on the show a little more innocent than the world really is. They’re not going upstairs and having sexual intercourse with teen-agers. One of the turning points on our show was when one of the characters got kissed by a girl. . . .

“I think anyone who puts anything on television has the utmost responsibility. But responsibility doesn’t mean you have to be prudish. You can deal with gritty issues, but do it in a responsible manner. Don’t just parade it out there for the prurient interest.”

The study’s results were not always clear-cut. For instance, based on their TV viewing, 49% of the children said they think that people are mostly dishonest and 54% said people are concerned about money over anything else. But in response to another question, 54% also said people are responsible for their actions and are mostly moral.

In addition, 63% of the children polled said there are a sufficient number of positive minority role models on television, although the researchers noted that Latino children are grossly under-represented on television.

The study found that 60% of the teen-agers questioned had television sets in their bedrooms, 65% have three or more sets in their home and 44% said they watched different programs when alone or with friends than when they were with their parents. When away from their parents, those polled most frequently watched MTV.

The majority of respondents (58%) said they watched two to four hours of television daily. But 14-year-old Rodriguez said she watches television “almost all day,” mainly MTV.