It used to be that a young unwed high school girl getting pregnant was a huge blow and something that was not talked about. Nowadays it is televised entertainment. MTV has two shows dealing with teenagers and babies. The first part is "16 and Pregnant," and the second show is "Teen Mom." The way the last series went there were 10 girls featured in the sixteen and pregnant, and of those girls four were chosen to be followed in teen mom.A new season of "16 and Pregnant" was kicked off and I must say the show never ceases to amaze me. The website describe the show as an hourlong documentary describing the controversial topic of teen pregnancy.
The show started with Jenelle, who gets pregnant and her long distance boyfriend Andrew, who becomes even more MIA. Jenelle, who is a party girl, begins to fight more and more with her mother. Baby Jace comes early, and Janelle is nowhere near ready for motherhood. She quickly begins to party again, leaving the baby behind with her mother. Her mother and her friends step up and encourage her to take more responsibility for her child.
Jenelle said that she thought motherhood would be a day in the park, but she now refers to motherhood as being in prison. The second girl introduced is Nikkole, who gets pregnant by her on again off again boyfriend Josh. Josh cheats on Nikkole and continues to be a bad influence on her. Josh and Nikkole attempt to work things out after their son Lyle is born, but he doesn't follow through and cheats on her again. Nikkole relies a lot on her mother.
Lori is another mother introduced on the show. She gets pregnant with her boyfriend Cory. They break up several months into the pregnancy, and Lori's parents push for the adoption route. Lori and Cory end up giving baby Aiden up for adoption. Cory is angry with the situation and fights will Lori about it.
Does anyone else see a pattern? Teenage girl gets pregnant by an unreliable guy, and has to rely on her parents. Those who watched "Teen Mom" last year can attest to the same pattern. Maci's man was not fit to be a father, Amber and her man were constantly fighting, and we did not even see the father of Farah's baby. Farah also took the party route Janelle took, leaving the baby behind in pursuit of a social life.
The show claims to be a documentary that is meant to showcase the hardships of teen pregnancy, but I sometimes feel that it glamorizes teen motherhood more then it discourages it. I mean I'm drawing example from other seasons too but it seems to make teen pregnancy seem better then it is. I mean in all of the examples I stated the parents have been very involved and while the dads have been less then hands-on everything worked out in the end.
My best friend Katie watches the show and we force our boyfriend to engage in a discussion about the show. One of the questions often brought up is whether or not this show encourages teenage girls to get pregnant. Seems silly, I know, but at the same time I wonder how many girls try and get knocked up in order to try and get on the show. I'm not sure if this show is presenting the most positive message, but I am going to be brazen enough to say it's not going to stop me from watching.
Yes, the show is trashy. Yes, the show lacks originality. Yes, the show has the same storylines every week. And I love every single minute of it. The yelling and screaming between daughter and parents, the deadbeat dads, the not so cute newborns, I love it all. I'm gonna keep watching basically the same show every week, because it is so far from the life I live that its exactly what I need when I need a break. Hope ya'll enjoy the show! And if you think it's trashy and a waste of your time, don't say I didn't warn you.
