Watching MTV's 16 & Pregnant for the Right Reasons

c. April 2010


Earlier this year the teen pregnancy rate in America rose for the first time after a decade of decline.
Yet late last week The Washington Post reported a drop in the rate with “Births among U.S. teens ages 15 to 19 [falling] 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the federal analysis of birth certificates nationwide, reversing two consecutive years of increases that had interrupted a 34 percent decline and caused alarm that one of the nation’s most successful social and public health successes was faltering.”
The ping-ponging nature of the statistics lead to no small amount of hand wringing or back patting, depending on which way the numbers sway.  One of the latest hot spots for controversy has been the popularity of shows on MTV that either promote or chastise the situation.
If you have never tuned in, you might think shows like Teen Mom and 16 & Pregnant make pregnancy for teens seem chic, but it’s hard to sustain that argument after actually watching.  The young couples profiled (if the male stuck around and that’s a big if) argue with each other and their parents while trying to cope with an emotional and intellectual reality beyond their aptitude. Rational thought and comprehension are rare, but teens who failed to use any sort of protection are near universal.  In fact, each episode of season two has started with a requisite ‘chatting with the girlfriends’ scene where the pregnant teen owns up to failing to use protection.
If you feel like you’re seeing more and more programming that features pregnant teens, it isn’t your imagination.  The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has formed over 200 organizational partnerships, including many in the entertainment field. They work in concert with groups (2009 list) to help spread the message of prevention. (As an aside – if you find that at all alarming this will really freak you out).
Say what you will about this practice – some feel that the depiction of teen pregnancy on any TV program instantly ‘glamorizes’ the issue thanks to the medium (if it’s happening on TV it HAS to be cool).  Others feel it’s important to start a dialogue any way they can since many parents are reluctant to initiate ‘the talk’ (40 percent of adolescents say they have already had sex by the time parents get around to it).
It is not an easy discussion to have, especially since the issue of unplanned parenthood leads to discussions of sex education and abortion, hotly contested in their own rights.
Still, it’s better to start a conversation through an episode of ‘Teen Mom’ than never have one at all.

Did your parents have 'the talk' with you? Have you had to talk to a younger relative about sex? Do you think 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom glorify teen pregnancy or make it appear unattractive?