Teenage Pregnancy Vs Reality Tv

Nearly all teens say they do not want to get pregnant, but most of them have never really thought about how getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant would affect their lives (“About Us” 1). In 2009, MTV aired the documentary television show titled 16 and Pregnant for the first time. The show is about an hour long and focuses on the controversial subject of teen pregnancy. Each episode outlines a different teenage girl’s life in which they are faced with incredibly adult decisions (“About the Show” 1). By becoming pregnant at the age of 16, these girls are forced to sacrifice their teenage years and their high school experiences (“About the Show” 1). The television show was initially aired to prevent teenage pregnancies from occurring in the future, as well as to encourage teenagers to use a form of contraception if they are sexually active. While teenage pregnancies have yet to come to an end, since the show has aired about 20,000 teenage pregnancies have been prevented. 16 and pregnant is a phenomenal television show for teenagers to watch because by witnessing the reality of the girls from the show becoming mothers at a young age, it will encourage other teenagers to prevent it from happening to themselves. The first episode of 16 and Pregnant aired in June of 2009 and it focused on the life of a sixteen-year-old girl from Chattanooga, Tennessee named Maci Bookout. She was a cheerleader in high school that enjoyed playing softball and riding dirtbikes in her free time. Bookout was a total overachiever in school, but was compelled to graduate early when she became pregnant at the age of sixteen for her boyfriend, Ryan Edwards. Before she knew it, her life would change in the blink of an eye; Bookout would be forced to leave her high school years in the past to grow up to become a young mother. She knew it would not be easy, but she did not expect having to parent alone. When her baby Bentley Edwards turned one, she and Ryan broke up. According to Bookout, she was not afraid of being single, she was afraid of being on the journey of parenthood alone and the battle that it was sure to become (Bookout 76). Overtime, Bookout began to experience the hardships of attending school, working, co-parenting, and taking care of her child at the young age of seventeen along with the negativity she received from viewers. It was hard for Bookout to handle and her goal immediately became to make it clear to society there was no reason to treat her in such ways (Bookout 118). Even though she became a reality star from being on the show, she is still a human being and wants to be treated with respect. After the first documentary, MTV continued filming the lives of other pregnant teenage girls. Many viewers think the show glamorizes teen pregnancy rather than encourage teeangers to protect themselves. Girls talk about how famous the teen moms are, and how it must be great to be on TV and have their faces plastered on the covers of magazines (Cody 1). While most girls at the age of sixteen have a hard time finding a well paid job, MTV pays the cast $60,000 a year to film their lives not including payments from magazines and interviews (Cody 2). This leads to adults disagreeing with the show in fear of their teenage daughters wanting to become pregnant so they are able to become a reality star and be well paid like the girls on television. As it turns out, “16 and Pregnant” didn’t inspire viewers to …show more content…
They expect the show to be about teenagers who are applauded for getting pregnant at a young age. In actuality, the show is actually very influential and informative. MTV’s 16 and Pregnant inspires viewers and helps them make better decisions for their own lives. The show educates teenagers on how their lives would be forced to change if they were to make the same uneducated decisions as the cast of the show. The show was aired to prevent more young girls from getting pregnant, and since 16 and Pregnant first aired, teenage pregnancy rates have dropped proving the show has made an impact on