Victoria Okafor
Dr. Stainbrook
English 111-121
02 December 2015
Do TV Shows Like 16 and Pregnant Promote or Discourage Teenage Pregnancy?
Teenage pregnancy has become a major issue in today’s society for our adolescents. This is a major problem for all who are involved. It creates hurt and a struggle for on the parents, especially for the mother (Gonchar and Schulten). Also for the parent(s) of the teenager this creates struggles for them because more often than not, they end up with the load of caring and looking after the child while the teenage parents are at school or out doing other things that teenagers do. Raising a child as a teenager is not easy. Teen parents are more likely to struggle to deal with parenthood, and the child
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The television show 16 and Pregnant was initially created to try to symbolize the hardship of being a teenage parent (Taylor). The stories of these young girls are often times very similar being that they have a miserable nine months of pregnancy just to give birth as a single mother, no longer with the father of their child. This show displays the sorrow and struggle that the mother has in just the first few weeks into being a new mother.
On the other hand, some view that these types of shows somewhat “glorify” the reality of having a baby as a teenager. Both Teen Moms and 16 and Pregnant offer the young teenage girls that they document great deals of money in order to record their pregnancy, birth giving, and first couple of weeks of motherhood. This in itself, to some teenagers, shows that it isn’t all that bad. Many teen moms believe that they could possibly become one of the documented females if they end up in the situation of being a teen parent and could earn money off of it and a little fifteen minutes of fame (Henson). Also, they think that they could be featured in Teen Moms, the spinoff of 16 and Pregnant. This would just introduce even more money to the teen. The show is not intentionally trying to promote teenage pregnancy. This is just the viewpoint that some uneducated teenagers take from watching it. This is definitely not the realistic and commonsensical way of viewing teenage pregnancy.
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Sexual thoughts pop in and out of most people’s mind, but especially teenagers, and there’s nothing they can do about it. It is normal for teenage boys and girls to experience this, more than ever when they are hitting puberty. The hormones in the body begin to act up and teenagers want to experience other things on their own. Males begin to grow pubic and facial hairs, and their voice starts to deepen, while girls’ breasts begin to develop and their body begins to take shape. After hitting puberty, teenagers are now at the point where they want to experience things. ‚Don’t go out there and get pregnant‛ a mother
This source discusses the true meaning of Gaby Rodriguez’ project and why she felt it was the right thing to do. She also talks about in the interview of what her opinion is on the show 16 and pregnant, and how she thinks it reveals much of the struggles of being a teen mom, but not all the struggles. Gaby also talks about how she felt during the project and how she was treated. This source is credible because it is coming out straight from an actual person who tested the ways of people reacting towards teen pregnancy. Her info. is useful in studies as well.
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 Mom II is the second incarnation of MTV's number one rated reality mini-series 16 and Pregnant. The show documents the lives of four teenage mothers as they struggle to cope with the every day challenges, financial and emotional, a woman faces while raising her first infant child. All while trying to navigate through the journey of adolescence.
For example, ““16 and pregnant,” and its spinoffs may have prevented more than 20,000 births to teenage mothers in 2010.” After the show was aired, as seen in my previous example a lot of teens saw how difficult it was to raise a baby and prevented themselves from getting pregnant. Whether it was using a condom, being on birth control, or just not having sex at all those teens have stopped getting pregnant at such a young age. Some may say the TV show “16 & pregnant” only promotes teens to get pregnant at such a young age but it is not true. As I’ve watched the show and even went on their website it shows a lot that they are trying to discourage young teens to not get pregnant. For example, 16 and pregnant was originally designed by MTV to show viewers (mostly young women) what life as a pregnant teen was really like. Every time the show airs, MTV promotes a website calledStayTeen.org that “encourage[s] you to enjoy your teen years and avoid the responsibilities that come with too-early pregnancy and parenting.” The site provides information about birth control, STDs and dating abuse. This quote was originally found on their website and after every show, they always promote the website (stayteen.org) so teenagers can go take a look and see what they can do to prevent from being
Married couples that have a baby think it is a gift from God, but it can be the exact opposite for a teen. Statistics show that almost 750,000 U.S teens become pregnant and 79% are unmarried each year (Facts On American Teens) Teens don’t think of the conflicts that come with raising a baby, they just imagine themselves being parents. Having a baby as a teenage mother is very difficult. It affects with your education, work.
“MTV executives deny it, but when their young subjects vie for space with J-Lo and Jolie on the covers of People and Us Magazine, it's hard to say the shows aren't glamorizing teen motherhood”(Vlahos) Television providers are contradicting the cause via magazines. We are now constantly seeing the stars of popular shows such as 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom appearing constantly in the media. The number one example of glamorization of teen pregnancy is magazines. ‘“16 and Pregnant was originally designed by MTV to show viewers (mostly young women) what life as a pregnant teen was really like. Every time the show airs, MTV promotes a website called StayTeen.org that “encourage[s] you to enjoy your teen years and avoid the responsibilities
This article offers light to the negatives of the show, "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant." America is infamous for its high rate of teen pregnacies, and because of the showcasing, and big name that is presently showcased with being an adolescent mother, increasingly young ladies are attempting to take after these young lady's footsteeps and get to be high schooler moms themselves. While these shows do demonstrate the battle of being a high school mother, the young ladies highlighted in these shows are all over magazine covers and are even offered book bargains. This article clarifies the risky of the developing notoriety of adolescent parenthood and the young ladies who are seeking to be much the same as the young lady on
Over the past decade, teen pregnancy has become a more common occurrence. C. Write Mills explained the concept of the social imagination as the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and a larger society. The social issue of teen pregnancy can be looked at from a personal and public perspective. As a result of women becoming pregnant so early in life, many young women as well as their child and family can struggle emotionally and physically. Society is also changing due to the increasing amount of early
Times. http://www.nytimes.com.2008/02/19/world /americas/19iht-princeton.1.10175351.html Fitzsimmons, W. 2014. Time out or Burn out for the Next Generation. Retrieved from
This shows that since the premiering of the show “teenagers have learned that having a child comes with a lot of responsibility and stress(docterman)”, they've also seen that after having a child you have to give up alot,which most tenagers are not willing to do, it also showed some of the teens complaining about how much their “bodies were changing”and how much they had to “sacrifice just to make sure the baby is good”(victoria ). Another source claims that the show does is shows the insight of the drama and all of the conflicts teenage mothers face,like “the father of the child being absent because they are not ready to take on the responsibility of having a child”(Murphy ),this is very common among these teen moms and it often leads to conflicts with the family of the teenager.. I watched an episode of 16 and pregnant and it really made me think about all of the struggles that comes the teenage pregnancy. Like for example ,the episode i watched one of the teen moms was depressed because her mom isn't supportive,her dad told her she had to get out of his how and the babies father abandoned her. She ended up attempting suicide and it was just a lot to deal with ,any teenager who watches that will not want to go through the same so they do all they can to avoid it. I showed 5 of my teenage friends at different times 5 minute clips of the show and got their reactions. After showing the first person a clip of a day in the life of a teen mom of the show she was surprised about how much adjusting had to take place.and i asked her “after seeing this clip do you see teenage pregnancy the same way” she replied ,“i didn't know they had to go all that , i'm not willing to give up anything”. This represents the reply of the other four people interviewed the all were not willing to adjust to any baby at this point in their lives. This shows the impact this
Do you believe shows like ‘ 16 & Pregnant ‘ and ‘ Teen Mom ‘ glamorize teen pregnancy ? Or do you think they present a cautionary tale ? Studies began to show that in fact they don't glamorize it , yet they caused teenage pregnancy to decrease . Also teenage mothers have been showed as abused or in jail . Also some of these mothers haven't even finished school .
This article talks about the effects that 16 and pregnant has had on society. The writer has researched a variety of the effects that the show has had on the viewers and has backed the statements it has made up with all of the statics on teenage pregnancies since the show first started. The article talks about how the purpose of the show 16 and pregnant was to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in America and it did just that. After the show first aired in June 2011 teenage pregnancy rates in America dropped 5.7 percent in the first eighteen months after it was aired, which meant a third of the pregnancies in America were reduced in that time frame.
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
There are multiple television shows involving teenage pregnancy. On ABC Family, there is a show called “The Secret Life of the American Teenager. On Music Television (MTV), there are three reality shows based off of teenage pregnancy. One of them is the show called “16 and Pregnant,” showing the lives and hardships of girls while they are pregnant. There are also the two shows “Teen Mom” and “Teen Mom 2,” showing the lives of teenage mothers after they have given birth. It’s almost impossible to ask a teenager if they have at least heard of at least one of these popular television shows and their response be “No, I have absolutely no idea what they are.” Almost every teenager has at least seen at least a few seconds of these widely known series.