Sex, drugs, parties. The new controversial television show, “Skins,” which airs on MTV, takes a look at the life of teenagers who deal with these situations on a daily basis. The program has been flanked with controversy since it was announced that the popular British series would be making the jump to American television. However, the content that airs on screen isn’t the only controversial issue surrounding the series.

Accusations of child pornography are being brought towards the actors on the show, all of whom are between the ages of 15 and 19, because a number of scenes in the series show the actors in sexual positions and acts. There is no explicit nudity on television, mainly because of FCC regulation on basic cable; however, the scenes that are shown do not leave much to the imagination and are, by some, considered pornographic. Lawsuits have been filed and the show is under investigation.

Despite the sexual content of the show, the characters deal with real-life situations every episode. The idea behind the show is to bring these situations to the forefront of media. The producers of the show claim that people should stop pretending that sex, drugs and other problems brought forth in the show do not exist in high schools across the country.

They believe that bringing these situations to television will let kids in real life, dealing with these real-life situations, see that they are not alone and that others go through the same problems they experience. However, Dr. Janet McMullen, an ethics professor at UNA, thinks that, “They are glamorizing the sex, drugs, etc. I’m not sure very young teens will know the difference, and I’m not sure that a lot of older ones would care,” she said.

The show has already had numerous sponsors drop and more are anticipated to over the next few weeks. This is a high indication that the show will not survive very long due to lack of money brought in from these sponsors. Also, groups such as the Parents Television Council are calling MTV to cancel the show and take it off the air.

This season of the show is still young and has more episodes to come. Only time will tell if MTV breaks under pressure and edits their show in a less provocative way-or even cancels the show. However, one thing is for sure, the show has caused the controversy MTV was looking for,;whether that is good or bad is for the viewers to determine.