Teenage Pregnancy And Teen Pregnancy

We all have seen many young women between the ages of fourteen to eighteen years becoming pregnant. Teen Pregnancy is something that has been around for ages, and isn’t all that uncommon now day in our society. Teen Moms are often portrayed in a negative light in popular culture media. Consequently, reality TV shows have been around for a while, but has changed completely. The first “reality” shows were considered good for almost everyone. Today many of these shows are not appropriate for children. Even though reality television may seem to be unconscious, it has created a culture where people are presented what is really happening in the society. Thus,

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

“MTV has a long history of reflecting the lives of our viewers with compelling reality stories," says Tony DiSanto, MTV's president of programming. The program’s featured girls come from rural Mid-Western or Southern states, usually from small, working-class towns, in attempt to appeal to teenage girls of the same background. The implicit message at the

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.”

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

It is believed that teens who watch shows with people around the same age, who have kids, do not see the difficulties of a teen pregnancy. MTV has aired multiple shows of daily lives of the young moms. Numerous surveys have been given to teenagers to see how they view TV shows like “16 and Pregnant”, or “Teen Mom’, the results show that the teens see an unrealistic view of teen pregnancies and how they work.

The study was lead by researcher Jennifer Aubrey, Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Arizona and Kyung Bo Kim, a post-doctorate student in communication. The study found that teens who watched 16 and Pregnant regularly versus the control group reported having a lower perception of actually getting pregnant themselves and a greater perception that the benefits of teen pregnancy outweigh the risks. The study also found that teens who regularly watch the show find themselves to be similar to the teen moms and maintain a more favorable attitude toward teen pregnancy. An interesting aspect of this study highlights how the show sends mixed messages to teens. On one hand the semi-scripted show premier’s teens saying things along the lines of, “if I could go back I would do things differently” but on the other hand embellishes the positive attention teens get with their newborn. The research also found that the money and celebrity endorsement the show embodied appeals to

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

INTRODUCTION: There are reality TV shows for everything. There are reality shows for surviving Reality TV does not depict real life struggles accurately. They do not show the daily struggle of some issues that families, adults, and teenagers have. If people say reality TV is a good source of education, why are there still teens getting pregnant today? If teens are still getting pregnant, it shows how little they care of the outcomes of unprotected sex. Especially when it comes to teens that are pregnant. Teen pregnancy shows should not be aired on television because the episodes falsely convey the hardships of being a mother, omit delivery and financial complications that may arise from giving birth too young, and inaccurately depicts the social impact that having a baby as a teen may have on the young family.

This issue explores whether or not reality TV shows portray responsible messages about Teen Pregnancy. Amy Kramer argues the pro side and Mary Jo Podgurski argues the con side. Surprisingly, both support aspects of the reality TV shows and both recognize that shows such as MTV’s “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant” are not substitutes for parenting or educational programs. However, Amy Kramer believes that these shows are playing a critical role in how teens view teen pregnancy because of their popularity and the connection that teens make with real characters. She believes that traditional sex education and parenting would be less effective. However, she recognizes that these reality shows do provide a unique opportunity for parents and educators

The rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States is often blamed on social media, whoever this is not the case. According to Elizabeth Schroeder’s article Blaming TV For Teen Pregnancy Is A Convenient Excuse” she states reasons for the world to be skeptical “whenever any research claims that there’s a direct cause and effect relationship between one thing such as television viewing, and something as complex as teenage pregnancy. Elizabeth Schroeder`s also stated that “ Regardless of what is in the media adults need to be educating young people earlier about sexuality and sexual health,” so they make the right