Relationship Between '16 And Pregnant And Teen Mom' Glamorize Teenage 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

Teen pregnancy rates have dropped during the 1990s as a result of the fact that the authorities implemented programs meant to instruct teenagers concerning the risks associated with unprotected sex. The fact that safe sex-related programs have also experienced progress thus means that teen pregnancies should have continued to drop throughout the 2000s. "Controversies are battled out over whether or not television shows such as "16 and Pregnant" or "Teen Mom" are warnings of this phenomenon to others in the same age group, or if the premise of the shows manages to glorify young motherhood instead" (Fenster). The authorities consider that the success experienced by safe-sex programs during the 1990s means that it would be wrong for them to invest more resources in these agendas.

    Dating back to the early 2000’s, over 1,000,000 teens a year have had children during high school (Source A). Teenagers are depending on others to rely on their children and not the effect of their education and their future career. As the years tick by, the teen pregnancy rate has reduced a solid 9%; becoming the lowest rate in over a hundred years (Source A). Since teen pregnancy has dropped and the amount of tax dollars have increased, the fight to find the time and place for their children's own education, is still a matter of struggles (Source

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.

Many believe the children are solely responsible for their carelessness that results in early pregnancy. Looking at this problem more broadly, one can see all of the social changes that influence teen pregnancy. For example, the media promotes sex and relationships. According to the RAND Health researcher, Jeffrey Wasserman, children ages 12-18 who saw the most sex on television were twice as likely to initiate intercourse within the next year as to those who saw the least amount of sex in the media (2017). Many television shows and movies contain sexual scenes, but most of them don’t explain the risks of sexual activity. Moreover, teen pregnancy has become more widely accepted. While many still believe it’s wrong, this problem has become unfortunate but acceptable. With shows like 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, the mass media even rewards these teenages for their early pregnancies. The acceptance of early pregnancy has increased, but people are still embarrassed to talk about sex to children and teenagers. Teen pregnancy can be prevented, and it starts with a change in

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.

Teen pregnancy is a growing epidemic in the United States. Teen girls are becoming pregnant at an alarming rate, with a lot of the pregnancies planned. With television shows broadcasting shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”, it is giving teenage girls the idea that it is alright to have premarital sex and become pregnant. It is in a way condoning teen pregnancy.

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

I. Attention getter: (show slide of pregnant girls) How many of you have ever seen television shows like “16 and Pregnant”, “Teen Mom”, or “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”?

When it comes to the topic of teen pregnancy, some of us will readily agree that shows like “Teen Mom OG” and “16 and Pregnant” promotes teen pregnancy. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of do these types of shows promote or discourage teens across the country from becoming teen moms. Whereas some are convinced that “Teen Mom OG” and “16 and Pregnant” have reduced teen pregnancy rates, others maintain that the producers have made stars out of these teen moms, with financial compensation most teen moms would not receive. But the deeper problem was once “16 and Pregnant” was successful, they did a spin off show called “Teen Mom OG.”

Magazine after magazine and tabloid after tabloid. There is something essentially wrong with the media business. The lines that differentiate news and vital information from dramatic, entertaining and fictionalized stories have been obscured, and are for all intents and purposes nonexistent on numerous fronts. Although teen pregnancy is at a two-decade low, teen pregnancy is not an issue that should be ignored. In an effort to reach teenage girls with messages about pregnancy and its consequences, MTV produced the documentary reality series 16 and Pregnant and later Teen Mom in an effort to communicate to teenage girls about pregnancy and its costs. But, despite MTV's hard work, Teen Mom has inspired controversy. While the show has won acclaim within the entertainment community, some viewers and critics think that MTV is glamorizing teen pregnancy and encourages girls to become pregnant hence the documentation of their lives that include rumors, drugs, and, of course,

The media glamorizes sex and unknowingly encourages teen pregnancy. I come from a school with the majority are minority and generally we listen to Rap, Hip hop and other sexually explicit music. I feel that this is sending a misleading message to the upcoming generation. Almost 750,000 U.S. teens aged 15–19 become pregnant. At my school in the year of 2012 six high school females became pregnant. Then 2013 school year eleven female students got pregnant. Last year 2014 a staggering twenty-four girl got pregnant six had a miscarriage. This number is alarming. And even though this school has just started

There is a great debate on whether or not mass media has an influence on teenage pregnancy. A study done by the RAND Corporation shows that teens are twice as likely to have sex or engage in sexual acts if they see similar sexual behavior in the media. Many objects in the media that involve sex target teens. Reality TV shows and teen dramas often portray the "cool kids" as the ones who are having sex (Chandra).Today’s teens are highly influenced by what they see in the media and this can change their behavior and choices. Some will argue that the media doesn’t influence teenagers, but how can we be sure of that? Today, the media portray teen pregnancy in movies, television shows, magazines, music, news reports, and books. The problems