MTV's 16 and Pregnant

[Chicago88]

Agreed and agreed DrPhil and Alumiyum.

And I dont know if it was just me and my genetic hard-ass-i do it my way-stuborn-ness but I was never easily influenced by things such as music, video games, and especially tv. Unfortunately not everyone is built that way.

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

MTV should've made teen pregnancy a True Life episode instead of doing 2 reality shows (Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant).

But then they wouldn't be doing what MTV does best, making money from reality television. Damn shame that when I was a teen MTV was best known for MUSIC television.

They actually did make one way before this show started. In the beginning I thought it was doing a good job of focusing on the hardships that teen parents go through, but naturally it's snowballed into something totally different. Especially with the magazine coverage. Part of me just wishes US magazine etc. had let well enough alone since these girls didn't reach "celebrity" status until then...IMO that's when the danger of copycats became very real.

I've noticed they have a new one, Baby High, which focuses on girls attending an alternative school for teen moms/soon to be teen moms. This one does what 16 and Pregnant started out doing, but better. They don't show a bunch of baby showers and they pick women who are mostly single parents and who are desperate to finish high school and go on to college. Showing how difficult it is=good. Turning it into a soap opera with newly minted reality show stars=bad.

Originally Posted by Chicago88

Agreed and agreed DrPhil and Alumiyum.

And I dont know if it was just me and my genetic hard-ass-i do it my way-stuborn-ness but I was never easily influenced by things such as music, video games, and especially tv. Unfortunately not everyone is built that way.

I think a lot of us have been more influenced than we realized, especially those of us who have grown up around computers/video games/MTV/VH1 from the get go. (I'm 24 and I think that includes my age group, but is especially true starting with those about two or three years younger than I). I understand that teenagers now are far more bombarded by electronic influences than even I was as a teen...BUT STILL. I can't get my head around making huge, life changing decisions based on tv etc.

I just thought of another point...so many of these kids say they didn't use any form of birth control. Why aren't they focusing more on that? As we all know you can get pregnant no matter how careful you are, but why in god's name not at least reduce the risk? Not to mention how dangerous it is to have sex with someone without a condom these days due to disease.

[Chicago88]

I find it extremely sad that kids are so easily influenced and what saddens me even more is that they have no idea how edited things are and how staged it can be. I'll be 23 in June so youre not that much older than me. Even in our age group we had our fair share of electronic influence but I kept myself in sports and I'm just wired different. Me and my boyfriend were talking the other day that if / when we have kids we wont shut them up by sticking an Ipad or tv infront of them. If were riding in a car there will be no tvs on behind the head rests unless we're on a long road trip. My parents and I played verbal games, we talked, they educated us. I fully intend to do the same with my family. I'm not going to stick a video game in front of my child to keep them happy. And I totally feel that people turn out the way they do because of their upbringing. There are exceptions to every rule but things are not what they seem on tv or in magazines.

You know I've seen Baby High. I tend to switch the channel but Ive caught a few episodes here and there. I really think its great that these women have an outside form of support and help and those girls seem to be a little more motivated to get their lives together than those on Teen Mom and 16 and preggo.

[DrPhil]

No this isn't about "wiring."

This is about socialization patterns and the central one is parenting. Your media influence still existed but it was partially buffered by the influence of your family.

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by Chicago88

I find it extremely sad that kids are so easily influenced and what saddens me even more is that they have no idea how edited things are and how staged it can be. I'll be 23 in June so youre not that much older than me. Even in our age group we had our fair share of electronic influence but I kept myself in sports and I'm just wired different. Me and my boyfriend were talking the other day that if / when we have kids we wont shut them up by sticking an Ipad or tv infront of them. If were riding in a car there will be no tvs on behind the head rests unless we're on a long road trip. My parents and I played verbal games, we talked, they educated us. I fully intend to do the same with my family. I'm not going to stick a video game in front of my child to keep them happy. And I totally feel that people turn out the way they do because of their upbringing. There are exceptions to every rule but things are not what they seem on tv or in magazines.

You know I've seen Baby High. I tend to switch the channel but Ive caught a few episodes here and there. I really think its great that these women have an outside form of support and help and those girls seem to be a little more motivated to get their lives together than those on Teen Mom and 16 and preggo.

My siblings and I never played a video game until I was in high school...at least not at our parents' house. They weren't allowed. They also restricted our tv use heavily and had only one computer in the house (and in the most used and least private room). I didn't get to see Titanic with all of my friends when it came out because it was PG-13 even though everyone else my age (11-12) did. (And I now know I wasn't missing out, but I remember it being the biggest deal ever to me back then). But I'm still not naive enough to think that pop culture didn't make its way into my brain. I think most people understand that reality tv isn't reality, but kids have a different perception of what's normal now that's shaped by tv. That being said, it's important not to blame tv for stupid decisions. I think there's a connection, but for normal people, that isn't alone enough of a motivation.

I wish they'd just stick to running Baby High from now on...these girls at least seem to be realistic about their hardships but are still motivated to get an education. I watched an episode of Teen Mom the other day with a girl from Centre, AL who had a lot of family support as well as a dad who is extremely interested in having them work as a family. I'm glad for her...but I always wonder if those stories make it look easier than it actually is, even with support.

[Chicago88]

I think legally you shouldnt be allowed to have a child at a certain age.

[DrPhil]

Chicago88, I'm sure that made sense to you. LOL. The reality is quite different and that's for a very good reason.

[Chicago88]

Hence why I began the statement with "I think..." I know something like that would never be. Im aware of the reality of our government and politicians even though I think its all crap.

I dont dabble in politics. I think its all a crock of shit personally.

[DrPhil]

You think the fact that the North American government can't restrict the age at which people can have children is crap (beyond child abuse and statutory rape regulations)?

Does this mean that you do not know the "for a very good reason" that I was typing about?

I thought you were being tongue-in-cheek but I guess you were serious.

[Chicago88]

No, I meant I think government as a whole is crap. Not certain laws, rules, or regulations. Our government is there to protect us and I believe that they have good intentions I just dont have much faith in a large, centralized government. I think that if there were to be a restriction against certain age groups having children, there would be a whole heck of a lot less saddening situations but I have to remind myself its almost 2011, not 1940.

[Low C Sharp]

Would you consider it a "saddening situation" if pregnant 16-year-olds were forced to undergo abortions at gunpoint? Or perhaps if 100% of pubescent females were forced to get regular depo-provera shots at gunpoint, starting at age 11? Or are you proposing that the government rip teenagers' children out of their mothers' arms at birth in order to give them to older couples? Because those would be the only ways to enforce the law you propose. I wouldn't want even an ideal government doing any of those. Talk about saddening.
________
MyPuzzyStoryxxx

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

Would you consider it a "saddening situation" if pregnant 16-year-olds were forced to undergo abortions at gunpoint? Or perhaps if 100% of pubescent females were forced to get regular depo-provera shots at gunpoint, starting at age 11? Or are you proposing that the government rip teenagers' children out of their mothers' arms at birth in order to give them to older couples? Because those would be the only ways to enforce the law you propose. I wouldn't want even an ideal government doing any of those. Talk about saddening.

That would be a scary North American existence.

[DaffyKD]

Amber is pregnant with her second child. Does she expect to be on another TV show to have money to support the kids?

http://www.popeater.com/2010/12/15/a...wood-pregnant/

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by DaffyKD

Amber is pregnant with her second child. Does she expect to be on another TV show to have money to support the kids?

http://www.popeater.com/2010/12/15/a...wood-pregnant/

yet we already know the high probability that unwed and teen mothers will get pregnant again.

But this really isn't about the topic of teen pregnancy but instead about the ability for these girls to go on an MTV show and become celebs. Amber not only lost weight but turned orange (tanning) because she thinks people should care who she is now. Now she's on the cover of a magazine looking like an Oompa Loompa with headlines of promiscuity and so forth. That's the same system of privilege that allowed the teen pregnancy pact girls to "shock the nation" and get a Lifetime movie. Meanwhile, this topic isn't new to the rest of us and Amber and those other young bitches can go to hell along with the people who see THIS phenomenon of teen pregnancy as "different" than what's been going on in communities for years.
/vent

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

yet we already know the high probability that unwed and teen mothers will get pregnant again.

I read somewhere that teen moms (under 18) have a 30% chance of getting pregnant again before 21.