How is teen pregnancy portrayed in these media snippets? Do they glamorize or stigmatize teen pregnancy? by Carrie Landis, LCSW

Jessica Hartman

2024-10-23 18:38:13 UTC

I grew up watching teen mom. Watching it then, and seeing glimpses of it to this day. I do remember when i was younger thinking things such as " I would never be that stupid to get pregnant". I had many friends that thought it was cute to be a teen mom, not myself. My own mother was a teen mom. I first hand saw her struggles as I grew older, however it did not stop her from having three children by 18. I felt these shows could truly go both ways. It could scare a child to not want to have sex and become a teen parent, however I have heard from my own peers they wanted to be a teen parent. I believe when I was in school we had more education exposure to sex ed and we had more access to condoms, etc. But now we also have daycare in schools, so does that tell kids we can still have babies and go to school, making it more encouraging to do both? I get off topic with this conversation easily and end up all over the place because so many emotions can arise. These snippets though can portray the challenges the individuals may face financially, mentally emotionally. But they can also have made a brighter light on awareness.

Angela S

soax1 — 2024-11-03 22:42:28 UTC

I watched a few episodes of teen mom and unexpected and watching these shows as a mom, I thought they were portraying it to be easier than expected and often glamorizing teen pregnancies. A lot of these teens did not have jobs, lived at home apart from their significant others, and having their parents be the main source of provider in raising the baby. Although I know that some episodes do show the hardships, a good amount made it seem as though parenting is not as hard. Which can be misleading to some who may think that teen pregnancy is easy and wanting to be a teen mom or wanting to be a television show. I think tv glamorizes teen pregnancy but also showcast stigma about fear of judgement, having to miss school, or feeling left out. There are so many resources available, parents, teachers, educational courses, internet, etc.. to learn about sex or contraceptive. But this generation and the unlimited access to the internet can have both pros and cons. I do believe that these episodes show the challenges of being a teen parent. The idea is to bring awareness of teen pregnancy but I think that can go either way for certain people depending on how they take the message.

Sherry G.

grydersl — 2024-11-05 17:57:11 UTC

For me, I am not sure it did either. Reality TV shows do what reality TV shows often do: dramatize/sensationalize the situation. They often make those portrayed as stupid and uneducated, which is unfortunate. I was appalled by the "silliness" of the Wet My Noodle episode. It neither glamorized nor stigmatized pregnancy – it exploited two young teens and made fun of an effective means of birth control. How other teens would view it is unknown to me, but I certainly hope that while viewing, they were sitting with a parent. I could not take that video seriously.

Honestly, I do not know the values of any of the shows, except maybe Catelyn Lowell. On one hand, I can see a teen watching the shows and thinking, "Oh my gosh, I will NEVER get pregnant." I can also see how some might be drawn to motherhood, holding a cuddly little infant and thinking all is good in the world. The reality is parenting is complex and is not something to be thrust into at such a young age, especially 11! We know from research that teens who become pregnant have a high incident rate of not completing high school. They find it challenging to find a job, and their children often suffer from issues. None of these things came up in the videos. The closest we came was with Catelyn and Tyler. You could see how they struggled with the decision to put their child up for adoption. How mature they seemed in comparison to their parents. How they valued finishing their education. How they navigated the adoption system methodically, making decisions together along the way. It was powerful to see young people taking control. The episode did not glamorize or stigmatize; it taught. I wish more of the episodes did the same. In my opinion, they seemed built upon entertainment not education. Therefore, how they would be perceived by teens is really individually based. But, for me, it was more entertainment (not my type of entertainment) based and really did not either glamorize or stigmatize in any meaningful or profound way. It was all sort of sad and disturbing to watch.

Lizbeth Torres

torreslx — 2024-11-05 18:20:30 UTC

I watched the show Teen Mom towards the end of middle school throughout high school. I have always liked reality shows so this may have been why it always interested me. In my opinion, I do not see these shows glamorizing teen pregnancy. Watching these kind of shows growing up showed me the struggles and set backs that came along with being a teen parent. Watching the show Teen Mom visually showed me the struggles of continuing education while pregnant, young couple relationship problems, family conflicts, and less job flexibility. All I could imagined while watching the show was how I did not want to be in those shoes, how being a pregnant teen comes with many obstacles. I can see how these shows can be dramatized after all it is a reality show, but it also represents the reality of a diverse group of teen parents. Everyone comes from a different background with different cultures, values, and beliefs, and not everyone grows up in a financially stable or in a healthy environment. I think these shows greatly depict the diversity in our society. We may view certain family situations as "shocking" "dramatic" but in reality many of these teen moms grew up in a different environment than we each did, so I think the show greatly depicted the different perspectives of different teens from all around. In my opinion, these kind of shows brought awareness of the consequences and challenges of teen pregnancy.

Izzy Long

long2im — 2024-11-05 21:34:02 UTC

It is difficult to say if these shows glamorize or stigmatize teen pregnancy. I believe that it does a little bit of both. While the adults in every show clearly display regret and anger about the pregnancy, the girls (and boys) themselves really don't seem to react negatively. I believe this is because their brains are not developed enough to fully comprehend the difficult circumstance that they've gotten themselves into. Similarly, I do not believe a child watching this could correctly analyze the story. Children watching could either notice the side of the parents and hear "this is really bad and dumb" OR they would hear the teens say, "it sucks, but I'll get through it and learn a lot." I think that it is really up to a child's parents to explain to them what the show means rather than trust them to understand it themselves. Truly, I believe that parental presence, communication/education, and support is the best preventative of teen pregnancy, not these shows.

Reagan Kiley

reagankiley74 — 2024-11-07 21:09:05 UTC

I, like my peers, don't think the snippets glamorize or stigmatize teen pregnancy. I think society is advancing, and I think some people need to "catch up" with these advances. I believe sex is happening at younger ages than people think. In high school, a girl a year below me got pregnant, and now her daughter is four. Everyone can say they've made at least one stupid decision during their teenage years because their brain is not fully developed. I think there are other more useful ways to teach teens about pregnancy and contraception and resources that are more impactful. In some of the snippets, the teens knew about contraception but had no idea that having sex meant they could get pregnant.

Rachel Webb

webb3rx — 2024-11-09 17:51:13 UTC

In these media snippets, I don't see teen pregnancy either glamorized or stigmatized. I believe people can be desensitized to teen pregnancy more often in society because, in my opinion, we've all known someone in our lives, from classmates to family members, who ended up as a teen mother. In middle and high school, I came across girls in my grade or younger who were pregnant. Environmental factors play a role in teen pregnancy due to environmental factors such as parenting styles with no guidance, supervision, boundaries, and limited educational resources for contraception and abstinence. Teens who understand the long-term effects of sex at a young age will most likely not engage in sex due to peer pressure and the influence of the media. I watched a few episodes of Teen Pregnancy as a teenager. Sex was the last thing on my mind. My peers were having sex, but I wasn't influenced to have sex just because others were having sex. I had strict parents who always ensured I was in a safe environment; they had to know those with whom I associated. Of course, some teens can be "sneaky," but that phase didn't work with me because my parents were in my business. If I hadn't had my parents' guidance and supervision , I'm not sure where I would have ended.

Emily Carpenter

carpe2en — 2024-11-09 19:15:59 UTC

I do not believe teen pregnancy was much glamorized or stigmatized in these clips. I do believe the amount of immaturity of the young teen parents really stigmatized it for the viewers, and most of the parents were not happy with the outcome of teen pregnancy, but also did not take the adequate steps to educate their child and prevent the opportunities from happening.

Amanda Ramirez

2024-11-09 21:09:21 UTC

As I was watching these clips I can see both views of glamorization and stigmatization. Glamorization comes into play with the idea of being on TV, seeing fame or potential way of becoming rich. Teens could portray that teen parenting is not that serious or that hard and that the parents are not concerned. On the other hand some viewers may see the stigmatized version seen with stereotypes of the teen being dramatic, irresponsibility from the teens and on their parents part, or promiscuous. I believe that these show are based off one purpose and that is of entertainment. They tend to include the humor or jokes about teen pregnancy they also include the struggles of teen pregnancy, however the clips do not serve much educational value or show educational on preventative measures. The view is only of pregnancy happened so it is what is. The clips can be view from either perspective based on the opinion of the viewer.

Lacey Smith

smith3lf — 2024-11-10 23:04:42 UTC

I can see how these media snippets both glamorize and stigmatize teen pregnancy. I think it shows glamorization as in some shows teens can get the wrong message about teen pregnancy. Teens watching these shows may also create a false fantasy and view being a teen parent as simple and focus on the positives that they see on TV rather than the difficulties and struggles that teen parents face in reality. Viewers can also see teen pregnancy being stigmatized. These shows can portray teen parents to be disobedient, wild, and unfit to be parents. I believe it is important for kids to be educated about sex and contraceptives. Parents and educators can be helpful resources to help teens answer the questions they have.

Brittany Keller

kellerbx — 2024-11-11 00:49:53 UTC

I do believe that some shows glamorize pregnancy, but that is not a theme in all of these clips. I feel there is a little bit of both that go on. I would like to point out that in the original 16 and Pregnant episode with Catelyn, that they were way more mature than their actual parents. To make the choices that they had to make and their parents acting like children about it showed great strength. They wanted their child to have a better life than they had and I just know that they knew if they kept that baby at that stage of their lives, then they would have impacted her life the way their parents impacted theirs. I know I could not be the only one that couldn't take the "I just wanted to get my noodle wet" kid seriously, that was the shortest clip and it annoyed me the most.

Taylor K.

kim3tm — 2024-11-11 01:52:54 UTC

After watching these clips, I feel it is difficult to say whether the shows glamorized or stigmatized. I believe it does a little bit of both. One thing I noticed was the pattern of displaying the "immaturity" of the teen parents. It is hard to say whether this was played up for viewership, or the stark reality of the matter. I believe the Degrassi episode portrayed a somewhat realistic sense of what teen parents can feel, especially the mother finding out. In the episode, there are themes of shame, judgement, choices, and distress that were dramatized. In the 16 and Pregnant episode with Catelynn, I appreciated the rawness of it. I commend the maturity of the two teen parents though; it definitely showed a different side than what is normally shown in teen pregnancy media portrayal.

Lauren Reese

reeselauren6 — 2024-11-11 02:19:26 UTC

While I do not think that these clips glamorize teen pregnancy on purpose, the idea of a teen getting fame from becoming a teen mom may be glamorous to a teen. I do think that some of the clips, such as the Dr. Phil episode did judge and stigmatize Hope's 11 year old pregnancy.

Will Trimiew

trimiew1650 — 2024-11-11 04:03:39 UTC

From watching all of the clips provided. I feel that these clips are not shining a light on teen pregnancy as something good but to show how teen pregnancy was a big thing back then and the implications that affected both partners with having children as teens. I believe education is important as a teen when being sexually active. Knowing about contraceptions like condoms, birth control, IUDs and other emergency contraceptives is important. I believe shows like Unexpected kind of normalize certain behaviors or make them seem more common than they are. That's why we don't see TV shows like that anymore because of it. Parental involvement with teens is important, having open and honest communication with parents can be a strong factor in preventing teen pregnancies. Always reflecting on these strategies and taking notes from these TV shows and clips are forms of educating our teens about the effects of having a teen pregnancy. Always educating ourselves from a teen standpoint in school with Family Ed is important in understanding these things and educating ourselves as parents to give knowledge to our children better.

Meghan Foltz

foltzmm — 2024-11-14 00:46:04 UTC

I do believe that some of these shows make teen pregnancy glamorized like the show 16 & pregnant or Teen Mom, yes, they show the hardships that come with teen pregnancy, but I feel like they also make teens want to get pregnant to be famous and, on these shows, making money like these other teens. This is not the case for all of them though the Degrassi episode gives teens a look into how just one time of unprotected sex and can lead to an unexpected pregnancy. The 16 & Pregnant show with Catelynn and Tyler shows the battle of emotions Catelynn and Tyler went through in giving their baby girl up for adoption but they were brave in doing what was best for their daughter.

April Mullins

mullinar — 2024-11-15 20:48:12 UTC

After watching these clips, I think that they do not glamorize teen pregnancy. In some cases, they do stigmatize it, like in the Dr. Phil Episode. However, most of these clips seem to highlight the reality of teen pregnancy. In these media snippets teen pregnancy is portrayed as happening to immature people without a good support system in place. In the teen mom clip of Catelynn, it seems to really focus on the chaotic family life. However, it also shows how mature she is in her choices regarding her pregnancy, despite having a mother who doesn't behave as a supportive mother. In the "I wanted to get my noodle wet" clip, it goes to show you how the 16-year-old boy is still very much a child.