The MTV show “16 and Pregnant” and their spin-offs such as “Teen Mom” and “Teen Mom 2”, it was started in 2009 and is still airing new episodes. The program shows teenage girls dealing with the repercussions of being pregnant while in high school and after delivering their baby. MTV follows around several teenagers in their everyday life, whether it is dealing with the father of the child or their family and friends. Furthermore, after an episode airs the show promotes a website named Stayteen.org, it is meant to educate teens on sexual health, give advice and promote teens to stay teens. Stayteen.org believes that “The more you know about issues like sex, relationships, abstinence, and birth control, the better prepared you’ll be to make informed choices for …show more content…
“Only 40 percent of teenage mothers ever graduate high school; two-thirds of families begun by an unmarried teen mother are poor. So what does MTV do? It shows how cool teen pregnancy is with a new reality series,” says Media Research Center. The Media Research Center sees MTV normalizing pregnancy in ages of 15 to 19.
In response to critics of “16 and Pregnant”, MTV uses “Teen Mom” to give a realistic view of life with a child while “16 and Pregnant” just showed moments of the pregnancy and the baby shower. “Teen Mom” shows the struggle the teenagers go through which ranges from backlash from their family to financial issues, and they show this through the many arguments on the show such as between mother and father of the child or mom versus teenager. However, even though “Teen Mom” showed another side it still received criticism. “MTV chooses to focus on the girls' volatile relationships with the babies' fathers or their new body piercings and tattoos”, says Melissa Henson director of communications at Parents Television Council in an interview with
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
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
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.
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.
Teenage Pregnancies have become more prevalent in modern times due to the changing attitudes of society. Alcohol, drugs, media exposure, and peer pressure are but a few of the contributing factors that result in teenage pregnancy. Many teens find themselves pregnant due to a lack of knowledge and parental guidance. Programmes like ’16 and Pregnant’ and ‘Teen Mom’ show and may influence the impressionable audience watching these shows that by having experienced numerous sexual partners, you can be accepted amongst friends, be cool, show that you’re an adult and not a child along with many more attributes, therefore showing acceptance and encouraging the youthful viewing
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
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
Social media has taken the world by storm for the last couple of years and because of that a lot of major league sport teams have needed to revise or make up a brand new social media policy for their players to adhere to. Many major league players, no matter the sport, love using social media to primarily interact with their fans and with social media growing, having stricter policies on the professional players are needed in order to have control of some of the things that are being said on social media. In March of 2012, the Major League Baseball (MLB) association constructed a new social media policy, which consisted of two different policies, one for the major league players and another one for minor league players. For this paper alone,
American teenagers take a lot of things for granted, but what we don’t take into consideration is what would happen if these things suddenly disappeared. Teenage life consists of school, jobs, driving, friends, sports, and going out with friends. We never consider others’ way of life. In some cultures, they are just fighting to stay alive, while others don’t have the freedom to go out with friends, or play a certain sport. They are so consumed in family life or their future jobs that they have no social life. No one ever thinks what would happen if their way of life was completely turned around. This concept is shown on a reality television show called 16 and Pregnant. It follows a group of teenage girls throughout their pregnancy and a
Many teenagers of today are sexually irresponsible, leading to pregnancy. Often, these teenagers then use abortion as a form of birth control. MTV’s Teen Mom first appeared on the network in 2009. It almost immediately ignited a series of controversies between viewers all over the United States. This show allowed viewers to face the reality of the fact that many teenagers are unprepared due to the fact that they are not well informed by their schools on the topic of sex. When the first season of Teen Mom aired, the teen birth rate declined by nine percent, which was the biggest drop since 1964 (Maerz, 2012, p.1). This reality show gives individuals coverage of the lives of four teenage girls who are going through pregnancy, followed by life after the birth of their children. According to Maerz, 90 percent of teenage viewers have stated that the show makes pregnancy look “harder than I imagined” (2012, p.1). This shows that the reality show was
Many teenagers of today are sexually irresponsible, leading to pregnancy. Often, these teenagers then use abortion as a form of birth control. MTV’s Teen Mom first appeared on the network in 2009. It almost immediately ignited a series of controversies between viewers all over the United States. This show allowed viewers to face the reality of
Growing up in Houston, Texas I found getting around town with good transportation was important. In 1981 I remember my grandpa saying “If the traffic is a fuss, Get on the bus” and I wasn’t about to ride my bike or get on another Metro bus again. I had my first vehicle in 1981 and my days of seeing the world and traveling the highways had begun; little did I know I would use every means of travel to see the world. Traveling was in my blood, by land, air, or sea; I had to do it all.
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
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.
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