Friday, May 27, 2011
Teen Mothers on T.V
Whether it is "reality" television or sitcoms, teen mothers are all over television; the most popular shows of this topic are "Secret Life of an American Teenager", "16 and Pregnant", and "Teen Mom". The latter two shows are reality TV, which follow teenage girls who are pregnant and then follow up on their lives post-birth. The "Secret Life" is along the same lines but it is a scripted show and involves many woes that teenage parents must face. The argument that surrounds these types of shows is whether or not the shows send a good message or bad message to the people watching them. Throughout each episode of these shows messages are sent to the audience through the characters. The shows provide websites and telephone numbers that can be used for additional information about teen pregnancies and how to avoid them. I, personally, watch these shows because I am a TV junkie, not because I need to learn about teenage pregnancies. I went to high school just as everyone else and sat in a classroom for years and listened to teachers preach about the consequences of having unprotected sex. I do not need a television show to tell me what the consequences are or how to avoid them. I think that the reason for these shows is to make money and not to inform young girls. I learn nothing new from watching shows like these; the message is Don't have unprotected sex...Cool, I've known that since I started health class in 8th grade. In my opinion the shows on MTV about the teen moms is doing nothing but providing fame for the girls involved. Everyone makes mistakes and teenage pregnancies happen, but the lives of these girls are turned upside down and exploited just for entertainment purposes. It is pathetic that we have nothing better to do but watch the miserable lives of teenage parents that are just trying to get by.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It's hard to comment on this because I don't want to sound like i'm against pregnancy or talking negative about people, but I do not understand what possesses people to put teen moms on television. Whether it's reality or not I do not think that teen moms should be put on television no matter what the situation is. We are told our whole lives not to get pregnant until we are in love blah blah blah. Now you have these girls who are getting pregnant at such a young age and even though the shows such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant are trying to help teens to NOT get pregnant, they still glamorize it in some ways. It is rare that you watch one of these shows and don't see the parents embracing their pregnant daughters and their boyfriends or sometimes even husbands. If a young girl was to watch one of these shows I don't think that they would be turned off from getting pregnant. I think that they would see the weddings, the family love, the money that comes from who know's where, and the cars and apartments they have and think that getting pregnant isn't such a bad thing. My biggest concern about these shows that MTV is producing is that they don't show how expensive having a baby is and how many bills you gain when you have a child (health insurance, rent, car payment, etc.). Money is an important part of growing up and being successful and it's important that these shows start showing the REAL struggle of having a child at a young age, not the glamorized one.
ReplyDelete