Too Young OR Too Old??

Seeing romance in T.V. shows is nothing new. Almost every television has its main characters involved in some type of romance sooner or later. Not every show makes romance one of the main plot lines though. In a show like Greys Anatomy romance is arguably perhaps the biggest plot line throughout the show; however, on a show like Criminal Minds, romance is occasionally brought up but it is more of a background story to the individual character rather then the main plot line.

Although we've been seeing romance in the primetime spotlight for years, is perhaps the element of adult romance being pushed on a much younger audience to soon? On abc family, popular shows such as Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game depict teenage girls only ages 16-17 in very adult situations. Although I watch both shows, and they are both equally entertaining the girls are portrayed as adults rather then minors. In both shows there is a larger mystery that takes place and at every moment the girls' secrets are being threatened to be exposed. Some of the secrets even include, one of the girls is dating her teacher. The targeted audience for these shows is girls ranging from high school-college. Although the shows are good from a mystery point, I believe that these shows encourage girls to act and dress much older then they already are. This could cause high school girls to miss out on pivotal years just because they are trying to act older and be something they're not. In fact I believe the show would still have the same effect if the girls were portrayed as acting there own age.