Are MTV’s hit series “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” the new quick and easy way for teenage girls to feel the glimmer of fame? For the series’ recent stars, it most certainly was. What started out as a show about the struggles of being a teenage girl dealing with the stress of having a child while being so young, has quickly spiraled into a follow-up series of the now teen mothers and the continuance of the original series, “16 and Pregnant” with a new cast of young, pregnant teens.
These recent breakout stars have taken over magazine covers, news stories, even Facebook and Twitter pages; they’re our new celebrities.
Farrah Abraham who was on the original series of “16 and Pregnant”, as well as “Teen Mom,” struggled with her finances very publicly on the show, having to support herself and daughter as a single mom. But she just recently had a breast augmentation and quit her restaurant job to become a model. Where did Farrah’s money problems go? They were replaced by the fat check she receives fromthe MTV series.
This show seems to glamorize teen pregnancy and becoming a teenage mother, two things which should be far from the minds of teenage girls. Girls aspire to be on this show, get their 15 minutes of fame and get paid just to live their lives. These teen moms are no role models to our younger generations, and unfortunately the media keeps them at the top of the stack. The premiere of “Teen Mom” in February of last year had 3.4 million viewers, most of which were assumingly teenage girls.
These shows seem to be sending the wrong messages to viewers, seeing as girls are aspiring to be on the hit series and might therefore be actually trying to get pregnant at a young age. All the efforts made by the media trying to discourage girls from teen pregnancy and unprotected sex seem to be contradicted by these two successful series.
In the end, the shows may still go on, but hopefully the outcome will no longer be a new young celebrity to look up to and admire and will instead teach viewers a valuable lesson.
Gemma Santamaria can be reached at [email protected].
Racheal • May 16, 2013 at 8:48 am
I am 37 years old but was pregnant by 13 and had my son at 14. Without my parents support I would not have been able to keep my son, we were a pay check to paycheck family with no money at times before my son. I sometimes wonder how my parents had the will power to help me through this. I wasn’t even old enough to work in the state we live in. My life went from dolls to real babies in a matter of a few months! I remember going to a new school after I found out that I was pregnant because the current one said I couldn’t go there because it would “catch” on. Never thought anything of that until I went to my new school where it was “cool” and a “score” in the eyes of the kids because it meant another “one” for my grade. After I became of age to work I went to school half days and worked the rest of the day just to pay for daycare to go to school. I never got the “normal” teenage years of hanging out with friends because if I wasn’t working I was at home trying to do homework and taking care of my son. I struggled this way for a few years until my only option was to drop out. I struggled to stay above water and refused to use gov assistance in any means. Would it have been easy to get an abortion or to give him up, maybe but for me it was not an option and my parents gave me the choice even at 14. Did the father stick around….. NO he was gone after 5 years and didn’t participate the 5 years he was there and never paid a dime of support in all of my son’s life. I now have a 22 almost 23 year old college graduate (full academic scholarship)and he is currently working a full time job in the are he went to school in and he is a wonderful man. Would I change anything No, would I recommend it NO it was hard and it was a life lesson that at times I thought I would fail!
Randall A. • Mar 25, 2011 at 8:30 am
I think this is soo right. I’m goin to be 16 March the 30th and since im in high school I know what goes on. There are about 5 or 6 freshman that are pregnant, and there are kids that arent 17 yet goin to have there second baby.
brianna • Mar 3, 2011 at 4:07 pm
im a singal teen mom myself im still with my baby daddy but its hard to be a mom and have to go to school and work i know i have to because i want my baby to have the best life that i can provide for him but i also want to make a better life for myself but its not like i planed to get pregnant or anything it just happened i know i should have been having more safe sex but my son is here now and i dont want to change that in any way shape or form
Shayla Cataldo • Feb 28, 2011 at 11:40 am
Fabulous topic – I think we Americans should certainly be concerned about the glamorization of teen pregnancy, and excessive teen sexuality for that matter. Thanks to the author for drawing our attention to this issue.