16 And Pregnant Research Paper

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Recommended: Impact of media in society

Mallory Kautz
Samantha Richardson
February 25, 2015
3rd hour
“16 and Pregnant”
Does the nationwide television show, “16 and Pregnant,” promote teens to have a teen pregnancy? This is an important issue because early pregnancy can lead to many problems in that teen’s future. People have many different opinions about this issue, and some people believe that this reality T.V show has very little influence on teens today. The show “16 and Pregnant” promotes teens into having an early pregnancy. Data based on a variety of teens show overall opinions on this issue. Although, most opinions are that this show influences teens into an early pregnancy. The popular television show, “16 and Pregnant” has a large influence on teenagers, their largest …show more content…

Some people argue that the show “16 and Pregnant” does not promote teen pregnancy. These people believe that teen pregnancy is just fine because that’s maybe how they were brought up. They only visualize the positive parts of teen pregnancy, just like “16 and Pregnant” does. Although the cute, cuddly, loving baby sounds good and all, it comes with a price. Studies do show that teen pregnancies are sometimes a good thing. For some, being a poor teen mom leads them away from drugs. Miller-McCune points out “For girls from the poorest neighborhoods, becoming a mama during the teen years may actually help said teen girl choose a path that veers away from delinquency and drugs (www.dosomething.org).” So for some, teen pregnancy may be a good thing. Also, pregnancy can be hard for anyone. Miller-McCune also says, “…health wise, economic wise, and emotional wise, pregnancy and parenting can be tough for anyone (www.pregnancyandbaby.com).” These situations may show up in the T.V show “16 and Pregnant.” This brings viewers to think “I need this to stay on track.” or, “What can it hurt, it looks easy.” For some, the show “16 and Pregnant” is good to …show more content…

Time.com states multiple views on this show. Indiana University did a study on this television show and found “…lead viewers to think that teen mothers have an enviable quality of life (www.time.com).” Thus, time.com also believes that “16 and Pregnant,” promotes teen pregnancy, and they are a very popular website. The Media Research Center says “So what does MTV do? It shows how cool teen pregnancy is with a new reality series (www.time.com).” That’s just one other source that agrees this television show promotes teen pregnancy. There are many other people who believe the same thing. New York Times has an article on this issue too. These are some statistics about how “16 and Pregnant” promotes teen

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