16 and Pregnant Craze
Sarah Cox
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Perspectives
The MTV reality show "16 and Pregnant" and its spin- off "Teen Mom" were both created to deter teenagers from becoming mothers. This is an issue that faces this generation, as teen pregnancy rates go up for the first time in more than a decade.
"16 and Pregnant," follows adolescent mothers as they struggle to raise their children. This aspect of the show is suppose to help teenagers see that raising a child is nothing to take lightly. But is that really what it is doing?
What many wonder is, can a television show really convince teens that they should wait to become mothers? And even if it can, is it worth the cost of offering up a handful of young women as public examples during perhaps the most vulnerable stage in their lives.
Honestly, these girls struggle with relationships, homework deadlines, and the ridicule at school. But it is worth making their lives headline stories in the media, to save our children? Not really. What message are we truly sending at this point? That those girls are what our children should never strive to be? Well, when it comes down to nothing, those girls are someone's children and just like ours they have struggled with this situation and will forever, possibly, forget the idea of bring a child into the world this early in their lives.
Research has shown that shows like these have impacted teen sexual behaviors. It has founded also that college age women who watched an episode of the O.C. have depicted a pregnancy scare and were more likely to use birth control than women who watched a show in a news format about the hardships of teen motherhood.
But we come back to the same problem, at what price does "16 and Pregnant" get its message across? There are worries that a pregnant minor would face putting her life out there and some wonder whether she could really understand the consequences with that hovering spotlight. Also, while MTV maybe aiming to send a good message with earnest shows about teen motherhood, the message get muddles when it is in the content of the networks other reality programming like the hilarious and tacky show, "Jersey Shore."
"16 and Pregnant," follows adolescent mothers as they struggle to raise their children. This aspect of the show is suppose to help teenagers see that raising a child is nothing to take lightly. But is that really what it is doing?
What many wonder is, can a television show really convince teens that they should wait to become mothers? And even if it can, is it worth the cost of offering up a handful of young women as public examples during perhaps the most vulnerable stage in their lives.
Honestly, these girls struggle with relationships, homework deadlines, and the ridicule at school. But it is worth making their lives headline stories in the media, to save our children? Not really. What message are we truly sending at this point? That those girls are what our children should never strive to be? Well, when it comes down to nothing, those girls are someone's children and just like ours they have struggled with this situation and will forever, possibly, forget the idea of bring a child into the world this early in their lives.
Research has shown that shows like these have impacted teen sexual behaviors. It has founded also that college age women who watched an episode of the O.C. have depicted a pregnancy scare and were more likely to use birth control than women who watched a show in a news format about the hardships of teen motherhood.
But we come back to the same problem, at what price does "16 and Pregnant" get its message across? There are worries that a pregnant minor would face putting her life out there and some wonder whether she could really understand the consequences with that hovering spotlight. Also, while MTV maybe aiming to send a good message with earnest shows about teen motherhood, the message get muddles when it is in the content of the networks other reality programming like the hilarious and tacky show, "Jersey Shore."
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