Gabrielle on "Desperate Housewives" has sex on a table with her teenage gardener, and Julie and Jimmy on "The OC" roll around under the sheets, passionately kissing.

TV executives say that they're not pushing sex on children and that if parents don't want their kids to see certain shows then they have all the tools they need, including the "off" button.

Examples of sexual content cited ranged from discussions of sex on the WB's "Gilmore Girls" and "Jack & Bobby" to depictions of oral sex on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and sexual intercourse on Fox's "The OC."

The study did not offer an opinion on whether sex on TV is harmful to children. But lead researcher Dale Kunkel said it's generally established that TV influences kids.

Kaiser released the study's findings at a news conference with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., followed by a panel discussion with executives from NBC and Fox, Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy of the Federal Communications Commission and others.

"We don't teach our children that healthy relationships involve drunken, naked parties in a hot tub with strangers - but that's what they see when they turn on 'The Real World,'" he said, citing a show on MTV.

Tony Vinciquerra, president and chief executive of Fox Networks Group, said parents already have the controls they need on cable and satellite to block channels or programs they deem inappropriate.

Parents with regular over-the-air TV can use the V-chip, technology that's built into televisions and works with an electronically coded rating system to identify programs that contain sex, violence or crude language.

Vinciquerra also said network executives are aware of parents' concerns. "We have debates every minute of every day about what goes on television," he said.

Vicky Rideout, a vice president at Kaiser, said the number of shows that included a message about the risks and responsibilities of sex is still very small, and has remained flat since 2002.

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