New MTV reality show a pregnant teen’s reality check
by intern Andy M.
MTV is launching a new reality TV series entitled 16 And Pregnant, premiering June 11.
According to Hot Indie News:
16 & Pregnant will follow the lives of teenage girls for 5-7 months as they navigate the unfamiliar territory and uncertainty of being pregnant. MTV was able to capture every moment and reaction in real time, including some of the births and how the young mothers and fathers deal with new parenthood. The series tackles a variety of issues including marriage, adoption, attending school, and dealing with gossip. Cameras will continue to follow the teens for a significant time after the births to show how the new parents cope with taking care of their infants in addition to balancing adult responsibilities with teenage life….
The series has been produced in association with The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (TNC), which is a pro-contraception organization that also has a bit of time for abstinence education.
On a cursory glance, TNC appears to be reaching out to teens with a positive and powerful message.
Sarah Brown, CEO of TNC, is excited about the show, and in an interview with UPI.com, said:
We applaud MTV for using their unique and compelling style of storytelling to bring this important programming to their devoted audience. The show provides an honest portrayal of the challenges of too-early pregnancy and parenthood. The stories in 16 & Pregnant are full of hope, heartbreak, and real-life consequences and should be a must viewing for teens nationwide.
Reading between the lines, however, the message may not be as positive as it first appears. Will the underlying thrust of the series be “do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t get pregnant”? How much emphasis will there be on the negative aspects of pregnancy and motherhood? While abortion may not be openly promoted as an option, it may well be promoted subliminally by listing all the reasons why being pregnant is so hard for a young girl who’s not ready to be a mother. Will the adoption option be presented in a positive light, or as a solution fraught with difficulties and trauma?
The show may make use of one, or both of the following messages: “You don’t want to get pregnant,” and “You are not ready to be a mother yet.” The first is a good message, however it is unlikely the show will present this message as well as it could. Rather than discussing the moral and psychological aspects of sex outside of marriage, it is more likely to focus on the use of contraceptives to avoid getting pregnant. The second message is the most concerning. It applies to girls whether they are pregnant or not, impressing upon them the importance that they do not become mothers. For girls taking in this message, it will seem that they have no choice but to abort their babies if they wish to move on with life.
Some will criticize MTV for “invading” the private lives of these girls, but this is not a fair assessment. In this globalized and fast-paced world, many young people are missing out on receiving advice on such matters from their parents. TNC reports that 700k teenage girls in the US become pregnant each year. TV programs such as this one could be effective in helping to reverse this awful trend.
We will have to wait and see.
View the trailer below:
As an aside, it looks like Pregnancy Help Online has made the most of the upcoming TV series by creating a crisis pregnancy website, 16andPregnant.com.
[Photo attribution: MTV.com]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Oh God. Obviously I haven’t seen the show, but so often these types of things paint an absurdly bleak, unrealistic picture of teen parenting.
I can just imagine the type of girls they’ll follow. I highly doubt they’ll be the honor students. Oh, and yes, honor students get pregnant too. There were several very intelligent girls in my graduating class who had children before or directly following graduation.
My worry is that this will lead to more judgement for the girls across the country who are pregnant and subsequently more abortions. I have no issue with an honest portrayal of teen pregnancy/parenting, but I really worry if this will be at that standard.
Rather than discussing the moral and psychological aspects of sex outside of marriage, it is more likely to focus on the use of contraceptives to avoid getting pregnant. The second message is the most concerning. It applies to girls whether they are pregnant or not, impressing upon them the importance that they do not become mothers. For girls taking in this message, it will seem that they have no choice but to abort their babies if they wish to move on with life.
yes I think this is an accurate assessment.
There was one girl (16 years old) pregnant at my child’s school. Seeing this girl day in and day, getting bigger, and then leaving to have her baby has made an incredible impression on students. It has reaffirmed my daughters decision to remain chaste until marriage.
This seems like a good program for parents to sit down, watch, and discuss with their children. Although, I guess if parents were actually doing this in the first place, we wouldn’t have shows like this, would we? But then again, my parents never really talked to me about it. I found out the grim reality when I was about 12 or 13 and mom started taking me with her to her mommy/baby class appointment things at the hospital when she was pregnant with one of my siblings that unfortunately was miscarried at 7 months. It was a hard way to learn, and didn’t teach me nearly as much as I needed to know at that age. Luckily for me, I was always more goal-oriented in jr. high/high school, so I’d pretty much counted out relationships at that point. Don’t need to know much about behavior you’re not engaging in and not intending to partake in, anyway. Come to think of it, maybe if we spent less time focusing on stuff like this and more time getting kids focused on their life goals and everything they need to do to reach those goals, maybe this would be come a moot point.
Come to think of it, maybe if we spent less time focusing on stuff like this and more time getting kids focused on their life goals and everything they need to do to reach those goals, maybe this would be come a moot point.
Posted by: xalisae at June 8, 2009 1:17 PM
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I agree. I think we do more “early preparation” of them with sex ed than we do with career mentoring or of enabling them to hone their skills and talents for the future.
BTW, the only thing I liked at all about the trailer was the teen considering adoption. The rest of it seemed reminiscent of the Jerry Springer show. :(
Let’s not judge before we see. I happened on one MTV show called “True Life’s I’m Placing My Baby for Adoption.” I don’t know whether this was one episode in a series or not, but anyway the one I saw followed two young birthmom’s who were considering placing for adoption or parenting. It showed some interaction with the prospective adoptive couples, but was really about the young women.
I was floored by the follow-up after the show: the young woman who was very emotional about placing, but decided to place in the end–she had an excellent open relationship with the adoptive family (even breastfeeding the infant), had gotten her GED, and was going to pursue college with the goal of becoming an open adoption social worker. The young woman who decided, with the full support of the baby’s father, to parent at the last minute–she had walked out on the baby, who was now being raised by the father and his parents. She was sleeping on people’s couches, and really regretting that she had not decided to follow her adoption plan.
I did not expect MTV to show such a positive view of adoption. It was an important overview of the open adoption relationship that I hope young women in crisis pregnancies got to see. It’s emotionally draining at the time of placement, but it is a brave decision and can be such a positive thing for everyone involved.
So, don’t discount MTV just because they’re MTV. They might surprise you!
I suppose what concerns me about this show is that they can approach it one of two ways:
1-Pregnancy, labor, and motherhood are too much for you. They’re bad.
2-Pregnancy, labor and motherhood are a lot, but you can do it and you get a beautiful little baby at the end.
I think it’s obvious to most on this blog why #1 is a terrible message to send.
Now, message #2 at a glance appears to be the best message you can send, right? Except we’re talking about 16-year-olds. And I guarantee you there are going to be 16-year-olds watching. So now we’re telling these young girls, “It’s ok. Have sex. These other girls did it, and look at how things worked out for them!”
When approaching the subject of sex out of wedlock, we must be very careful to strike a happy medium between sex is good and sex is bad. We must be careful to encourage young women to value themselves enough to wait. We must encourage young women to understand the necessity of responsibility. At the same time, we must let these young women know that sex is a good thing, and that motherhood is a gift.
It is so very difficult to bring about all of these messages to young girls. I suppose I’m quite cynical of the ability of a tv series to do so.
Or the show could just be completely honest and say that sex in general has pro’s and con’s, and be honest about what those both are. Why does it have to be an endorsement OR condemnation? How about the truth?
Anon, I’m not saying that everything is rosy. I’m just concerned that it will not be a realistic view of teen pregnancy. Reality tv tends to be pretty unrealistic in their presentation of everything. I just don’t have too high of hopes that they’ll get it right when it comes to something so complex.
I agree. I think we do more “early preparation” of them with sex ed than we do with career mentoring or of enabling them to hone their skills and talents for the future.
Posted by: Kel at June 8, 2009 1:25 PM
True that. High school wasn’t so long ago for me (well, maybe 7 years is a long time, I don’t know) and I clearly remember the tone of career mentoring: “Just go to college and everything will be easy. If you don’t go you’ll end up homeless and starving.” That was the extent of it. But I remember numerous discussions about teen sexuality – some of them relatively informative, most of them questionable.
It is quite baffling how public education involves very little job training or skill development, treating those things as a personal or family decision, but is very intrusive when it comes to the personal and family decisions of sex education.
“The show may make use of one, or both of the following messages: “You don’t want to get pregnant,” and “You are not ready to be a mother yet.” The first is a good message, however it is unlikely the show will present this message as well as it could….The second message is the most concerning. It applies to girls whether they are pregnant or not, impressing upon them the importance that they do not become mothers. For girls taking in this message, it will seem that they have no choice but to abort their babies if they wish to move on with life.”
-I’m really unclear on why it’s not a good idea to press upon 16 year old girls that, “You don’t want to get pregnant,” and “You are not ready to be a mother yet.”
Anon. I would much rather a girl get pregnant because of a rosy painting than kill because of a bleak one.
The reality is that teen pregnancy is a complicated issue that does not lend itself to the absurdity of reality tv.
Also, please choose a name. Anonymous comments are usually deleted.
Danielle,
The problem is that “yet” doesn’t always get across. See Jill’s original blog.
Danielle,
The problem is that “yet” doesn’t always get across. See Jill’s original blog.
Posted by: MaryRose at June 8, 2009 4:55 PM
-No, I read it before…I just still don’t get it. I can’t comprehend why you would not convey this to a child.
Danielle, the problem is that the reality of parenting will have both good and bad. However, children are always a blessing, even when they come during times when the bad may cause significant challenges.
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with explaining to teenagers how raising another person is a huge responsibilty that should wait until you are mature yourself. The problem is that if parenting is presented as something terrible, and already pregnant girl may feel overwhelmed and feel like she must abort.
Also, if the girls they follow are of the typical reality show type, teen mothers may be further characatured as slutty idiots.
Anon, just letting you know that your posts will keep getting deleted unless you pick a name. I’d imagine you don’t that to happen.
You know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that reality tv paints an unrealistic picture of life. Trust me, a teenager knows when someone is slutty and they know when she’s an idiot. I really hope that this is not what the producers are hoping to show, but I would be shocked.
If, for example, they just take a girl from My Super Sweet 16, we’re in trouble.
Danielle, the problem is that the reality of parenting will have both good and bad. However, children are always a blessing, even when they come during times when the bad may cause significant challenges.
Posted by: Lauren at June 8, 2009 5:10 PM
-That’s clearer – thanks.
I’t might be interesting to watch.
Danielle,
I apologize if it wasn’t clear.
I guess my intent was to say that a tv show is not the way to address issue of parenthood at 16. It’s difficult to get a point across and runs the risk of either demonizing or glorifying parenthood for 16 year olds.
Tired and rundown from a loooong day, sorry *sheepish grin*
I guess my intent was to say that a tv show is not the way to address issue of parenthood at 16. It’s difficult to get a point across and runs the risk of either demonizing or glorifying parenthood for 16 year olds. Tired and rundown from a loooong day, sorry *sheepish grin*
Posted by: MaryRose at June 8, 2009 8:38 PM
-No, got it…my response wasn’t meant to be sarcastic at all. I don’t agree, but I do understand your position after explaining. Dealing with teen pregnancy is perilous, to say the least.
I’m run down as well…ready to hang it up for another day…Good night.
This is actually really terrifying for me because I just turned sixteen a couple of days ago…and I can’t imagine having a child.
Hopefully the lives portrayed in this show are not outside of the norm too much: I know a lot of pregnant teenagers, and it is difficult, though life is possible, and it is possible to have a future outside and after pregnancy. Reality: that’s what people need to see.
But…since this is MTV, also known as home of the fake reality shows that follow all of those Beverly Hills kids around…reality may not be a guarantee.
Happy Birthday, Vannah. You seem much older than your age. I would say that there may be things you can do to help the pregnant students at your school. Ask your counselor if there’s any programs for the students or anyway you can help. I think a fellow compassionate student would be really helpful for those girls.
Danielle,
I can agree to disagree :)
Have a lovely time sleeping =)
I need to come up with better ways of ending sentences… I *must* be tired.
Thanks, Lauren. :D
I never thought about doing something for my fellow students, I’m ashamed to say. Thanks for the ideas.
That’s definitely something that I want to look at. No one here considers abortion, and since there are a lot of teenage pregnancies, it seems kind of second nature, as though it’s typical and therefore the quintessential alarm that pops up when people hear of pregnant teenagers seems to be so trivial, so dull.
But I never thought that some girls could possibly have a difficult time. :(. Thanks for the suggestions, Lauren. Pregnant adolescents could always use compassion. :)
MTV is all about the shameless promotion of promiscuity.
To MTV, BABIES are the problem, not teen sex that caused the babies. So teens will see that parenthood is hard and just abort the babies.
16 year-olds should not be having babies and this will be evident. The difference between MTV and myself is that I say that 16 year olds should not be MAKING babies. MTV will never say that.
Vannah, I remember standing in the hallway before my graduation with a girl who was about 8 months pregnant. Another girl (also a teen mom, albeit one who was very determined and was graduating a year early) was doing little things to help her.
I remember this because people weren’t really being very nice to the two of them, and I remember thinking that I was glad that someone was reaching out to the pregnant girl.
Now, when I got pregnant in college all of my friends were very supportive. I really appreciated it. I think we can definitely support pregant students without encouraging more teen pregnancy.
Agreed, Lauren.
Oh, and, just because I’m a baby dork, was your baby a boy or a girl? Baby!