Jene Thomas – Special to the Southern News
If you turn on MTV, you’re sure to see shows such as Teen Mom, Teen Mom 2, and 16 and Pregnant on the air. This has raised a few eyebrows. Critics of the show believe that it is just the media publicizing and promoting teenage pregnancy–when in actuality, the opposite has happened.
Studies have shown that these shows these shows have aired, teen pregnancy statistics have steadily declined.
On June 11, 2009, MTV aired 16 and Pregnant for the first time. With the premiere, parents across the country were outraged. Carol Yeh-Garner, a mother, complains that “I think the shows glamorize teen pregnancy and if teens are watching them, they could get mixed messages, i.e. ‘Teen pregnancy is hard, but if I get onto a TV show, I could make a lot of money.’”
To be honest, I felt the exact same way about the show. When I heard of its premiere, I could not help but laugh at the idea. Producers said that the show’s purpose was to show how hard it was to be a teenage mother but like Garner, I thought the show would cause for young women to see out new ways of becoming famous. I’ve seen far too many attempts to get into the spotlight, this was just another option.
I did not go into this blindly-just look at some of the show’s first characters. Not only could they influence young girls to become pregnant to get on the show, but they were just bad influences in general. One of the girls, Farrah Abraham, was on the show in 2009 and is known for her constant cries of her struggle birthing and raising her daughter, Sophia. What else is she known for? Oh nothing major, just a sex tape. Explain to me how that is supposed to help young girls to act responsibly. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Let’s not even talk about how her co-star Amber Portwood was in jail.
The show has spun off into Teen Mom, and then Teen Mom 2. This really drove me crazy. I just could not put my finger on what the producers over at MTV were doing. If you could cast all of these girls and their boyfriends on the show, the attempts to just get on the show must be unbelievable. I actually wanted to see the number of skyrocketed teenage pregnancies and write a letter to MTV with the statistics to shut down the operation. I would have too-had I found an increase in pregnancies.
When researching the topic, I found that, perhaps, MTV knew what it was doing. According to CNN, the National Bureau of Economic Research released a study that “16 and Pregnant” ultimately led to a 5.7% reduction in teen births in the 18 months after its premiere on TV. Ok-maybe it is time to actually watch the show and see how that could be.
I watched the premiere of Teen Mom, and at the end, all I could really do was feel sorry for the girls. It was particularly one couple, Catelynn and Tyler. They had given up their baby for adoption but were still facing some of the same struggles as the other parents, like trying to find out what to do with their futures, maybe finishing school. The couple has been together for over 5 years.
I had it all wrong. The girls aren’t promoting teenage pregnancies so much as bringing awareness to it. There are a few girls that should not be in the spotlight, but there are young mothers at there trying to make it but seeing how hard it is.
The show didn’t lead to a decrease in teen pregnancy. There may be a correlation, but surely population, access to birth control and awareness of the risks are all possible contributors to the decrease.