In today’s society, young people are very influenced by what they see through the entertainment business and the media. The main reason for this is due to the extreme technology advance in the past couple of years. Most children by the age of five have cellular devices that are not monitored and they are allowed to watch whatever they please on television. There are no barriers to what young children are exposed to nowadays. Due to this, when MTV released their very popular television shows of Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant in 2009, there was much controversy over what message these shows were going to be sending to younger viewers. 16 and Pregnant is a documentary series that chronicles the experiences of pregnant teen moms over approximately a five to seven month period. 16 and Pregnant debuted in June of 2009. Teen Mom is a spinoff series in which the lives of four teen moms from the prior season of 16 and Pregnant are followed through their first year of motherhood. Since these shows have aired, many people have formulated multiple different opinions on weather these shows were and would be preventing or promoting teen pregnancies. Many people stimulated many different ideas on this.  MTV’s television shows 16 and Pregnant, and Teen Mom, have prevented teen pregnancies from occurring rather than promoting them by showing teens the brutal and harsh realities of what life is like when you decide to have a child before you are ready for one along with providing teens with a reliable source of sex education that they otherwise would not receive.

According to the writer of the television show 16 and Pregnant, Lauren Dolgen, the entire purpose for the creation of this TV show was to show young adults what the reality of getting pregnant at such a young age is and to be a public service campaign against teen pregnancy. In her CNN article, Lauren states, “To make sure we handled this nuanced issue responsibly, we partnered with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy from the outset” (Dolgen). At the end of each episode, there are always announcements about having safe sex along with promoting these organizations. This in itself is proof towards the argument that these shows are an attempt to prevent teen pregnancies and in no way encourage them. Lauren goes on to explain the basis of the show by saying, “These documentary series tell the honest, unpleasant truth of teen pregnancy in America -- the whole truth. It's not a fairy tale where every girl ends up with the American dream -- a loving husband, a white picket fence and the career they've always hoped for” (Dolgen). The mothers on this show typically have to drop out of school in order to raise their child. This leaves them with a lack of education and therefore makes life in the future harder for them because they will not be able to get a good job. Along with having to give up their education, these mothers lose friends, experiences, and at times, their own families. There is no glamorizing the harsh lives that these mothers live no matter what others say. 

Statistically, in the first nine years that these shows have been aired, teen pregnancy has dropped a whopping 44% (Dockterman). The show was made to show teenagers the terrible reality of what life is like when you decide to become an adult too early. Of course there are other factors that are involved in the reasoning for the decline of teen pregnancies, and these factors must be considered when discussing this topic. The economic conditions and the severity of the recession definitely contributed. During periods in which it’s difficult for a teen to get a job, and it’s difficult for the teen’s boyfriend and the teen’s parent to get a job. This factor puts an extra amount of stress on the mother along with her entire family. In Annie Lowry’s article for the New York Times, she starts off with a quote by Kailyn Lowry of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom that states, “I did get two awesome blessings,” said Ms. Lowry, now 21 and married with a second child. “But I still haven’t gotten my bachelor’s degree, because, one, day care is so expensive and, two, how do you balance studying and having little ones at home? (Lowry). Kaitlyn Lowry is explaining first handedly how difficult life as a teen mother is and is not recommending it to viewers whatsoever.

In opposition to this, a study done at Indiana University states that these shows glamorize the teens who are pregnant and make viewers strive for the same kind of lifestyle (Indiana University).  Researchers argue that these shows demonstrate teens having a high income and  the fathers of their children being involved in their life which is not always the case. This study is extremely inaccurate and can be seen simply by turning the television shows on and watching them.. Some researchers have even suggested that by airing these programs MTV inspires some sort of copycat behavior for teens. This idea is similar to claiming people are becoming obese for a chance at fame on a reality weight-loss show (Dolgen). This analogy is extremely accurate when it comes to critics who are convinced that they are correct.  Dockterman writes, “The study suggesting a link between the show and a drop in pregnancy rates, conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that the rate of teenage pregnancy declined faster in areas where teenagers were watching more MTV programming. After crunching the numbers, they concluded that the shows prevented more than 20,000 births to teen mothers in 2010 alone” (Dockterman). 

Jacque Wilson begins her article by explaining how the TV shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, encourage young people to practice safe sex rather than starting a family too soon. Jacque explains further on in her article that the media is what has the most influence on kids these days. Parents for the most part are too nervous to talk to their young children about having sex. Doctors do not talk to young children about sex. Therefore, media is what influences children the most when it comes to this subject. At times, the media can have a bad influence on young people, but in this case, it influences them for the best. These shows are what shows them exactly what they will not want to happen to them due to some dumb mistake. This idea is what makes these television shows a great source of sex education for teenagers and should potentially be shown to students in health classes. “Two economists showed that social-media postings about contraception and Internet searches on the topic spiked sharply whenever the show was being broadcasted” (Lowry). This is a good thing because teens were getting educated on how to have safe sex if they were having sex, and the down sides to teen pregnancy. There is no other way that a teenager would be able to fully understand the concept of what it is like to have a child at such a young ager other than physically seeing it happen and seeing these mom’s day by day lives and how hard it gets. Annie has high school students state their opinions on what watching these shows have done for them and their views on teen pregnancy.  Kearney said that while she and Levine did a lot of  "fancy economic work" to make sure their conclusion was right, the most compelling evidence came from the teens' social media language. "The text of the tweets are phenomenal: 'This reminds me to take my birth control.' 'Watching 16 & Pregnant, going to take my birth control,' " she remembered reading” (Wilson). In another study, Wilson writes, "They then analyzed geographic data to see whether locations with higher search activity and tweets about "16 and Pregnant" showed higher levels of searches and tweets about birth control and abortion, they did” (Wilson). This idea on its own that teens are propelling their ideas onto social media is what is turning these television shows into such a phenomenon. 

 Overall, the show has made teens use more contraception’s, and have less sex all together.

 Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds the teen birth rate in the U.S. at a record low (Dolgen). Using data from Google Trends, Twitter, Nielsen ratings and Vital Statistics birth data, Professors Kearney and Levine found that teens who watch “16 and Pregnant” immediately go online to search for and tweet about birth control and abortion. The idea that having unprotected sex can and will led to an unplanned pregnancy, terrifies most teen girls and encourages them to look into ways that they can have sex and be safe about it at the same time. A great thing that these television shows do as well is acknowledge the idea that teens do get pregnant, and that this is a problem that we as a society must get under control. Without a person of close relation to us actually getting pregnant, how else would teens get to experience the reality of it all? Maria Fernandez explains in her article, “It used to be that you were a pregnant teen and you were basically tucked away and nobody even talked about it. That just doesn’t happen anymore. With the ability for everybody to tell everybody’s story online and everybody being privy to it, the awareness of all kinds of socially difficult issues and the negative consequences has increased dramatically” (Fernandez). 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom made teen pregnancy an open conversation, something in which it never was. Tara Ressler writes, “Over the past year, Planned Parenthood — which is the largest sex ed provider in the country — has conducted extensive research to figure out how to use new media to reach kids in a compelling way” (Ressler). MTV properly did this in a successful manner. They were able to grab teens attention and make the television shows entertaining enough while still holding an extreme amount of truth to it.

Another thing that the shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have accomplished is the decrease in abortions. With teens less likely to get pregnant at a young age, naturally comes with less abortions happening. In a study done at Wellesley College, the author stated, “Although data limitations precluded Kearney and Levine from conducting separate analyses of abortions, the researchers note that teen abortion rates also fell over this period—suggesting that the shows’ impact is likely attributable to a reduction in pregnancy rather than greater use of abortion.” This is just as big deal as the idea that teen pregnancy rates are dropping. Abortion has also been an issue in the past couple of years too.. Kearney and Levine show that 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have a large and highly engaged following, win ratings wars, and lead teens to search for and tweet about the themes within.  According to Professor Levine, “our use of data from Google Trends and Twitter enable us to provide some gauge of what viewers are thinking about when they watch the show. We conclude that exposure to 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom was high and that it had an influence on teens’ thinking regarding birth control and abortion.” The media along with the entertainment business is what has the most impact on young people today. When these TV shows air, the amount of tweets and Facebook posts that are posted discussing the need for birth control or other contraceptives is overwhelming.  With these shows now making an impact on the idea of abortion as well, this only enhances the idea that these shows are a great resource of sex education for teens. Think of an anti-drug campaign such as DARE which is presented in school. These MTV hits could be used as sex education to students in school and could even be shown and then discussed in class afterwards, similar to the way that DARE works. With the outcome being that teen pregnancies and abortions will drop, the place to begin this education is in schools. Airing these MTV hits in school would be a very successful way to reduce teen pregnancies even more, and even further.

Understanding the influence shows such as 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have on their viewers is extremely important. Fast forward to ten years from now, think about your future children, what kind of influences would you want them exposed to? Most parents turn their heads at these two shows simply due to the fact that they are even about teenagers having babies and are against their children being exposed to such activity. The reality is, most children begin to engage in sexual activity around the age of 13. This will go on with or without parental approval. The best thing for young children is to expose them to the harsh reality. There is no other way for them to accurately understand what life would actually be like without seeing it first handedly through these reality shows because this is what teenagers react to, their peers and the media rather than their parents or their teachers.  They might have the idea that it would be “cool” or “fun” to have a child, until they see that would lose their best friend, have to quit the soccer team, and not be able to attend the senior prom. Its these every day activities that you will not be able to participate in that children have to see, they have to see for themselves in order to understand and that is exactly what these shows do. It is also important to understand the reasoning behind the whopping decline in teen pregnancy over the years. 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have in fact been a great contribution to society. These TV shows are exactly what teens needed to stop them from having babies and ruining their lives. These TV shows will result in a smarter, more successful generation of adults. Less pregnancies lead to less abortions as well which is also better for our world. Overall, television shows such as 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have one more good than they have harm. These shows in no way promote teenagers to get pregnant and have babies. The shows main focus is to make viewers laugh by showing the disastrous things that come along with having a child when you are a child. For everyone that is on this show, they are no longer allowed to go to social events such as parties and prom and sporting events with all of their friends. They are obligated to stay home and take care of their child. Their relationships with their friends and family also deteriorate because they are constantly fighting over the child and all that is necessary to raise one. Along with that, most of the time their relationship the baby daddy or their significant others deteriorate as well because of all of the arguing. Overall, these shows do a very good job at portraying all of the negatives that come along with a pregnancy at a young age aiding as sex education for teenagers, therefore preventing teen pregnancy in an extremely well way.
