16 And Pregnant: An Analysis Of Teen Pregnancy

Reality shows that are based on teen pregnancy like 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom sheds light about the troubles on becoming a teen parent, finishing high school and struggling to buy the baby’s need and wants. Lately, these shows are stirring a debate if they are trying to support or avoid teen pregnancy. And this topic is important to the public, because it relates to the young community’s future. Young girls and boys can watch these shows and have different outlooks about having a child. Sometimes, glamorizing teen pregnancy on television might confuse the young community, because they can be fickle at times. They might think it is acceptable to be pregnant so young and others will consider waiting until marriage. Reality shows can either encourage or discourage teen pregnancy based on the individual’s mentality.

What girl wouldn't want to be on TV right? Teenage girls today are bombarded with tabloids and news about teen pregnancy. This causes a sort of fame to be associated with it. Sixteen and pregnant may be an exception to this but there are still other movies and shows that came out in the 2000’s that promote teen pregnancy. For example, the show Gilmore Girls shows a young mother and daughter’s journey in life. What this show tells the youth of today is entirely different. It shows that if you get pregnant in high school it’s not a big deal. In fact you will have an amazing mother daughter relationship that would make anyone

They also found that the show ‘16 and Pregnant’ led to more searches, tweets and Facebook posts on abortion and birth control…Hopefully educating teens on how not to get pregnant! The question “Could exposure to these media images of pregnant teens and very young new mothers have had an impact on how teens think about pregnancy and ultimately on whether they become teen mothers themselves?” does present itself. The timing of the introduction of ’16 and Pregnant’ could have helped the rapid decline of teen pregnancy over the past few years. An economic study argues that ’16 and pregnant’ may have contributed to one-third of the decline in the 18 months after its release. The researchers also looked to see whether high viewership in certain areas corresponded with a bigger drop in teen births…yes it did! “The results of our analysis indicates their exposure to ’16 and pregnant’ was high and that it had an influence on teens thinking, regarding birth control and abortion” the researchers write. That’s all well and scientific, but could a television show really have that big of an impact on teen birth rates? “It’s an extraordinary study done by two very cautious economists” said Bill Albert, chief programme officer at the national campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy. While the researchers said they did a lot of” fancy economic work” to make sure their conclusion was one hundred percent accurate, the most compelling evidence came from the teens social media. The researcher had quoted some of findings to CNN. “This reminds me to take my birth control” and “watching sixteen and pregnant, going to take my birth control”, she said she had remembered reading…of course no one is crediting MTV alone for the declining teen birth rate, “About half of the recent dramatic decline can be attributed to the recession” the researcher said.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 86 percent of mothers who give birth out-of-wedlock are teenagers. MTV’s show “16 & Pregnant,” which has only been on air since June 2009, is already reflecting the rapid boom in teenage pregnancy across various cities in America. Since the early eighties MTV has been considered somewhat of a cultural phenomenon for American adolescents and its depiction of gender has a strong impact that continues to this day (Holtzman 2000). Created by Morgan J. Freeman (director of teen shows Dawson’s Creek and Laguna Beach), the show “16 & Pregnant” has been said to be guilty of exacerbating, normalizing and even glorifying teen pregnancy. Perhaps, it’s just reflecting a current social dilemma

The MTV show, 16 and Pregnant is a reality TV show that depicts the life of teen mothers through pregnancy and the early months and years of their child’s life. In Teen Mom, MTV follows the moms depicted in 16 and Pregnant: Catelynn, Farah, Amber, and Maci on the challenges they face as young mothers with regards to marriages, relationships, family support, adoption, finances, education, jobs, and moving out to start their own families. Throughout the series we learn about the psychological and physical toll pregnancy has on teen moms as well as the struggles of being a teen parent and the importance of a support system in raising a child. This paper examines Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model and research on different families such as single parents, teen parents, and incarnated parents as well as the mental health of teen moms. Although the show dramatizes the issues of being a teen mom, Teen Mom depicts a realistic portrayal of the experiences of teen moms and how they utilize their family and other professional resources, such as therapy to cope with the challenges they face in relationships, adoption, single parenting, incarceration, and family conflicts.

n the past young ladies were shunned if they became pregnant, were sent into hiding, and when they gave birth the baby would be sent away, now some girls are put on T.V. because of teen pregnancy. “In 2014, a total of 249, 078 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years, for a birth rate of 24.2 per 1,000 women in this age group” (About Teen para. 1). Pregnant teens are often put into stereotypes and are put down. Throughout their lives they are told that their life is ruined so often that she (or he if they impregnated a girl) start to actually believe it and they end up not living up to their full potential.

Popular media submits many teens to sexual content and influences their views on subjects such as teenage pregnancy. The article Evaluating the Impact of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant on Teen Viewers’ Attitudes About Teen Pregnancy takes a closer look at the relationship between the viewers of the show and their attitudes towards teen pregnancy. Three major weaknesses found after the review of the study are listed as follows; The study has several confounding variables, the sample group is rather small and taken from a single state within the US, and lastly, it makes claims without having sufficient evidence from its own findings as well as other studies. However, the way the study was conducted is relatively very

The Article “UA Researcher Finds Negative Impact of MTV Show ’16 and Pregnant’” proves that the show doesn’t have the impact it hoped to have. In the article there are two groups, one group of girls watched an episode of “16 and Pregnant” and the other an episode of “Made.” Aubrey, head researcher, states “Girls who watched ‘16 and Pregnant,’ when compared with the control group, reported a lower perception of their own risk, for pregnancy and a greater perception that the benefits of teen pregnancy outweigh the risks” (Harwood). MTV thought teens would see the hardship of the girls starred in “16 and Pregnant” but all they seen where the benefits of having a baby. The group of teens that seen “16 and Pregnant” didn’t care about how having a baby would change their

The first reason that Tv promotes harmful stereotypes is by airing bad shows. Teen Moms show encourages teens getting pregnant and how they should deal with the solution.. Among other tv shows that did the same thing in some way. When other people or even kids watch Teen Mom, they get so involved in the show. That the individual starts to believes that they would have handled the situation completely different. According to Time Magazine “ The New YorkPost pointed out in 2011 that three of Teen Mom 2 star Janelle Evans' friends had gotten pregnant within a year of Evans starring on the show. Nobody knows whether these friends purposely became pregnant to follow in Evans' footsteps”(Dockterman). These shows have encouraged people to get pregnant even if the MTV did not intend too. People are to influence by these shows even if they do not realize at first. I had a friend that use to watch

This has shown all of the teens that watch the show what really happens during teen pregnancy. The MTV show is a reality and the teens who watch it see that when carrying a baby around isn’t a fun thing to do. It is not fun to be in school while pregnant. While being pregnant in your teen years you don’t know if the father will be

Did you know your show’s are manslaughter? The story line is great for grabbing an audience attention and for grabbing their life.As in killing I mean ruining their life.Shows like Teen Moms and 16 Pregnant make pregnancy look amazing. They are displaying a powerful negative message about sex being positive and leading to a great life.Instead of the shows displaying the hardships of pregnancy the show's focus on glamorizing pregnancy. It seems you are more worried about money rather than getting teens to see the truth about pregnancy.

By eliminating the glamorous lifestyles of teenage parents, we will help teens face the reality that being a parent is ultimately difficult. The teen parents should help send out the message that it is hard to live life as a teenage parent and that television shows don’t fully depict the hardships that come along with raising children. Instead of having shows that glamorize pregnancy, we should have shows that educate teens on the real facts of being pregnant. Too many shows out there demonstrate how teen moms have help from their parents, baby’s father, and their friends. By showing teens that such outcomes are rare, and the truth is most of them don’t have the cash flow that celebrities have, they’ll end up struggling and facing the fact that raising children is complicated. Many of the teen moms have parents and nannies to help care for their children and this wouldn’t be the case for most teens. Cases such as Jamie Lynn Spears show how a teenager can be put into the spotlight while making pregnancy seem fun and cool. Teens want to replicate celebrities if they see that they are living a fun lifestyle. Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol Palin, was on the cover of many magazines during her pregnancy. After the pregnancy, she participated in the show, “Dancing with the Stars.” This leads teens to believe that being a mom might

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a literature review of teen pregnancy and public perception. The chapter will begin by examining the decrease of teen pregnancy in America. It will transition to understanding the emotional effects on teen mothers and depict how a pregnant teen’s life could be altered. It will conclude by discussing how the topic of teen pregnancy has caused the President of the United States to take a closer look. This chapter will end with a summary of my research findings.

While it is easy to summarize teen pregnancy with statistics that offer an insight into the current situation in America, the numbers aren’t able to capture how difficult it truly is for young parents to cope and succeed in their new environments. Televisions shows such as “Teen Mom” aim to shed light and a bit of truth on the subject, but as all reality television is, the editing often misconstrues what it’s actually like. The editing process eliminates many of the mundane daily tasks that must be completed for the wellbeing of the child, including all of the prenatal care that is suggested by doctors. If anything, the importance of prenatal care should be showcased in order to stress how vital it can, especially since so many go without. “Pregnant teens are among the age group most likely to receive no prenatal care or to receive inadequate care, and the younger the teen, the lower the level of care.” (Statistics 2). Those who opt out of such care, are thirty-percent more likely to give birth to a child with a low birth weight (2). Also, the children of teenaged mothers have a fifty-percent higher infant mortality rate compared to the children of mothers’ who were over the age of twenty years old (2). “Low birth weight raises the risk of other health problems for the child, including blindness, deafness, chronic respiratory problems, mental illness, cerebral palsy and mental retardation.” (2). Instead of working to help educate the public, reality shows that picture

The social issue I will be addressing throughout my paper is teen pregnancy. The term teen pregnancy is referring to teens between the ages of 13-19 who become pregnant (Akella & Jordan, 2015). Despite the fact that teen pregnancy rates have dropped within the past twenty years, United States continues to have the highest rates of teen pregnancy in comparison to all other developed nations ( Akella & Jordan, 2015). Teen pregnancy is a serious issue for a multiplicity of reasons. A teenager who has a baby is more susceptible to face many social issues in their future such as poverty, poor education, bad behaviors, health issues, and child welfare (Akella & Jordan, 2015). A multitude of persons throughout the United States are continuously questioning what can we do to reduce the rates and negative affects of teen pregnancy within our country. Many continue to also question whether or not our present-day social policies regarding teen pregnancy are practical.