Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of Teen Pregnancy reality shows on Teen Childbearing,”
‘I didnt think that it could happen to me!’, the teen girl cries out to the doctor.This is voiced by thousands of pregnant teens around America and many are wondering if there is a cause to the decline in teen pregnancies.Some studies show that what teens hear and see in the media is the cause. Reality tv is a genre of television programming in which "real life" people are followed in a situation,. In 2010, the National Bureau of Economic Research,says that the show 16 and Pregnant cut the teen birth rate by six percent.Based on teen pregnancy statistics, studies showing links between teen pregnancy and sexual content on television, and shows such as 16 and pregnant show that media is effecting teen birth rates in a positive way.
Adolescents TV USE
Some may ask, well how much media are teens watching?According to Washington.edu, the average American teen watches about 20 hours of television a week. By age 18, a teenager will have seen 350,000 commercials; 100,000 may be advertisements for beer.
”New polling data from a nationally representative survey commisioned by The National Campaign,asked teens their opinions on media and teenage pregnancy and their views about 16 and Pregnant.Six in ten teens have watched some of 16 and pregnant.Among those teens who have watched the show,82% think that the show helps teen better understand the challanges of teen pregnancy and parenthood,compared to 15% who thinks that it glamorizes teen pregnancy.In addition,the clear majority of teen boys (67%) and girls(79%)agree with the statement”when a TV show or character I like deals with teen pre...
... middle of paper ...
...About one-fourth of teen moms have a second child within 24 months of the first birth—which can further delay their ability to finish school.Whether you choose to have sex or not, it is important to be able to talk about it with your partner. Having direct conversations about sex can be difficult but if you are confident about your facts and able to express openly how you feel it should be easier. So take some time to get informed and to think through what feels right for you. It may be helpful to talk these decisions over with a close friend, parent, doctor, or other trusted adult before you talk to your partner. When you are clear about your own feelings, it will be easier to communicate them to someone else. And don’t wait until you’re in the heat of the moment to make these decisions—having a plan means being prepared before you’re in the moment.(Stayteen.org)
16 & Pregnant is a TV show aired on MTV that as the name suggests, focuses on the lives of various teens who are pregnant whilst still in high school; each tells a different story. In these episodes, viewers are able to observe the struggles these teens face as a result of pregnancy during pubescent development. Controversy has been made as a result of the release of this show; this left viewers torn between whether 16 & Pregnant discourages teen pregnancy or shrouds it within curiosity. There is more than sufficient evidence to say that 16 & Pregnant, does in fact discourage teen pregnancy for various reasons. According to the New York Times report, the National Bureau of Economic Research compared Nielsen television ratings to birth records, and concluded that in areas where teens viewed MTV more after the debut of 16 & Pregnant, there was a rapid decline of teen pregnancy rates when compared to other areas that viewed it less frequently although some believe the show glamorizes the subject matter. Some also believe that it encourages the teens to disrespect their parents in every way possible; quite to the contrary, watching 16 & Pregnant is very beneficial to discouraging teen pregnancy and family problems by displaying the hardships these teens face, teaching the importance of completing high school and encouraging viewers to use various contraceptives methods or practice abstinence.
The MTV series 16 And Pregnant and its follow up series titled Teen Mom is a documentary like series that first aired in 2009 on June 11 and since then has had many seasons and sequels to follow it. Each episode in the series focuses on several young girls for 5-7 moths while they have to deal with the struggle of teenage pregnancy and “life after labor”. The initial idea or the show was to promote teen pregnancy prevention but, with many of the girls behaving scandalously and recklessly during the series, the show has become one of the most controversial on MTV.
When it comes to the topic of “16 and pregnant," most of us will readily agree that it is a debatable topic amongst teens and adults. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether, 16 and pregnant promotes or discourage teen pregnancy. Whereas some are convinced that it does not discourage, others maintain that it promotes teen pregnancy, because some girls just want to get pregnant to become famous. I agree that the show promotes teen pregnancies because, the show does not show how it really like to be a teen mom.
Imagine juggling the stress of graduating high school and the stress of embracing parenthood at the same time. “In 2009, six pregnant teens allowed MTV to film their pregnancies in the hopes that youngsters watching the resultant show--16 and Pregnant-- would learn from their mistakes and wait to start families” (Dockterman 1). This is the reality for many teens today. According to the March of Dimes, about three in ten teenage girls become pregnant before the age of twenty. (Slocum 1). MTV hosts many different tv shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. In broadcasting the lifestyles of young teenage mothers, these shows also allow others to see the struggles that the young teen mothers face preparing for and caring for a baby. While many
Teen Mom II is the second incarnation of MTV's number one rated reality series 16 and Pregnant. The show documents the lives of four teenage mothers as they struggle to cope with the burden of childrearing in a financially demanding society while trying to navigate through the journey of adolescence. Once catering to a music oriented teenage consumer, MTV has reinvented itself as a teen reality television powerhouse, with many of its reality shows, including Teen Mom II, consistently dominating in the ratings. Although advertisers eagerly race to gain the attention of the much sought after 18-49 demographic, critics question the stereotypes that may be reinforced through the television program and the negative sociological effects, the show could have on its viewers.
A common complaint about today’s teenagers is that they don’t have strong morals. People see televisions shows like MTV’s 16 and Pregnant and assume that this is a common theme among teenagers in the United States. But the truth is just the opposite. According to a recent study by the Guttmacher Institute, Teen pregnancy rates are at a 25-year low, and they’re continuing to fall. (Guttmacher). The Boston Globe observed that “In 2010, about 614,000 pregnancies occurred among teens ages 15 to 19…which is about half the 1.3 million pregnancies that occurred in 1990.” (Kotz) A drop off that large in such a relatively short span of time is remarkable. This essay will analyze this trend of declining teen pregnancy, and try to investigate its potential causes.
These shows make millionaires out of people who become famous for all the wrong reasons. Being selfish and dysfunctional seems to be the criteria for being on these shows. Watching these people get rewarded for bad behavior sends the viewer the wrong message. MTV promotes teen pregnancy on TV by making it look like a good and fun thing. As reported by Doctor Logan Levkoff, a teen development expert, although MTV portrays the consequences of teen pregnancy, “They are on the cover of magazines, getting paid, getting endorsement deals, and becoming calendar models. Even if MTV shows all the hardships, they’re still being supported in so many ways. The way we bring people into fame for really not doing anything has created a culture where it is exciting to be a pregnant teen and the fact of the matter is that most teens who are pregnant do not have the same experience that the girls on those shows have” (cite 1) MTV sends a positive message and makes teens believe that high risk behaviors as a teen are not only tolerable, but the gateway to fame. Some teens might even think that girls could get pregnant purposely just for the publicity and money. There are also other shows, for instance “Jersey Shore” and “Real World”. On these shows, you see attractive young men and women going to bars, partying till they can’t even walk, picking up strangers and taking them home and sleeping with them and all these behaviors are shown without co...
"Teen Pregnancy Reality Shows Reduced Teen Births, Study Says." UPI Top News (2014): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
For example, Aubrey, Behm-Morawitz and Kim state, “Girls who watched "16 and Pregnant,"… reported a lower perception of their own risk for pregnancy and a greater perception that the benefits of teen pregnancy outweigh the risks” (qtd. in Lori Harwood). In other words, due to the fanciful perception this program transmits,
Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.
It is interesting to notice that two popular medias come together to make an impact in a cause. Although, initially when these shows were aired, many believed they are only going to contribute to the problem. However, as the shows progressed, the curiosity among the teens increased to learn the outcome of the teen’s life in the stories. The teens started communicating with their friends through the social media on what they have seen in these shows. As the show progressed, it did not only show the reality of the social and economic hardships faced by teen moms after giving birth to a child at a very young age but also educated teens by making them realize the hardship that lie ahead of a pregnancy. The critical part of realization comes from the discussions with their social media friends and the discouragement they receive which helps in educating the teens of pregnancy. This is evident from a spike in the Twitter and Facebook activities among teen population following the day of the shows.
Kearney, Melissa S., and Phillip B. Levine. "Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on Teen Childbearing." NBER. Jan. 2014. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
A number of teens do not want to become pregnant, although some are not opposed and other has ambivalent attitudes (Bruckner, Martin, & Bearman, 2004, p. 535-557). Therefore having a healthy understanding of factors associated with a desire for pregnancy among teens, health care providers may better predict the most at risk teens. Many teenagers from the age of 15-19 carry mixed feelings concerning childbirth. Although the optimistic teens increase the risk to unprotected sex, and some were negative against the spectrum to protect against early pregnancy. A careful details study on attitudes indicates a small number of adolescents embraced pregnancy in the future; a large group of teenagers is unsure about becoming pregnant.
Attention Getter: Nowadays, no one is astonished by the presence of pregnant or parenting teenagers. In fact we have a fascination with pregnant adolescents which is evident in the creation of “16 and Pregnant,” a MTV series that follows the real-life stories of American youth who have engaged in sexual activity and who have realized that reproduction system works because they are or will be parents to a cute baby boy or girl. We watch this series in anticipation of the child’s birth and to witness how the teen parents cope.
Sexual activity in the mass media is another negative influence on teenagers. The first example is early sexual intercourse. According to Stockwell, a research shows that teenagers who are exposed to a lot of sexual content on television are more to likely to have sex by 16 years of age than those with limited exposure.