Teen Mom: Encouraging or Educational

            Among the variety of television shows that are displayed on a day to day basis many are presented for sole entertainment whereas others, especially reality television enables the audience to either relate to the content or set themselves aside from the events that are unfolding on screen. Teen Mom is an MTV reality television series that depicts the struggles that pregnant teens endure daily. It allows the viewer to take a glimpse into obstacles that follow an unexpected pregnancy and is designed to essentially warn teens of many of the unthinkable responsibilities that follow the reality of being pregnant at a young age, including both financial hardships and parental disappointment. However, does Teen Mom actually prevent future pregnancies, or does it glorify their ‘mistake’ by giving them the misconception that they too could potentially be paid to reveal their story on television? Critics have created controversy over the effect that the show has had on adolescent sexual health raising questions of whether or not the content is truly educational for a young audience or if it’s encouraging experimentation and bad behavior.

            According to Dr. Logan Levkoff, an expert in teen development, she states “we have pregnant teens showing up on the cover of magazines, they're getting paid, they're getting endorsement deals and getting calendar deals. That's the message, even if MTV shows all of the hardships; they're still being supportive in so many other ways.” Levkoff, disagreeing with the content portrayed on screen (which is typically argumentative and dysfunctional in comparison to normative social standards) bases her opinion off of the stereotypical values that teens are assumed to possess. At a young age, it’s more likely for adolescents to express irrational behavior in addition to being easily influenced by their peers indicating that the content shown on screen, although emotionally destructive eventually all pays off in the end. Levkoff associates the television content with dollar signs insinuating that it is purposefully manipulating the audience into thinking these dysfunctional lifestyles may be worth the human capital that the behavior in question has the ability to produce. Proof of the destructive nature of the show however, lies within cast member Farrah Abraham who’s described as constantly trying to steal the spotlight. Farrah questionably furthering her television career in a less than inspiring direction started her life of fame as a cast member on Teen Mom, proceeding on to enhancing her imagine with breast implants, lip injections, pornography deals, and alleged rumors of dating Charlie Sheen. For some these may be desirable life choices, although realistically it’s easier to assume that the interest that most people have of Farrah’s ‘track record’ is due to sheer astonishment and essentially comedic entertainment. Yes, it’s hard to deny the effects of televisions hidden messages due to various scientific and psychological studies that have been conducted on teens and their viewing habits. However, I’d like to give more credit to the majority of high school students, assuming that they don’t aspire for their destiny to lie among cheap pornography.

            Although there are certain instances that reject the ‘warning signs’ that the show Teen Mom is designed to emit, I’d argue that the show serves a reasonably positive social purpose with respect to teen pregnancy. While some of the stories are inspirational, others make the viewer wonder what these mothers could be thinking. Catelynn and Tyler for example, chose to give up their child for adoption because they were mature enough to understand that they weren’t ready to raise a family. This element of the show, yet emotional for the participants involved is evidence of a healthy decision given the point in their life that the couple was in. In contrast, but interesting to watch is the lifestyle that cast members Janelle and Amber personify which include drug use, dysfunctional relationship and jail time. Although both examples provide drastically different messages about parenthood both instances stated above have the potential to promote healthy decision making. Viewers have the ability to empathize with Catelynn and Tyler as well as wonder who in their right mind would ever think of bringing a child into the chaos that surrounds Janelle and Amber. Teen Mom enables the viewer to experience multiple ways of handling and unexpected pregnancy consequently educating the audience through the lives of others.

            Given the fame that tabloids and television have the tendency to provide undesirable situations is essentially for entertainment as opposed to educational purposes. Teen Mom has experienced backlash due to the life choices that its original cast members have continued to make, however these choices, and the criticism that they publically receive in turn allows young audiences to witness the consequences of these various decisions enabling them to potentially think twice about questionable choices within their own lives.

             

Works Cited

Henson, Melissa. (2011, May 4). MTV’s ‘Teen Mom’ glamorizes getting pregnant. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/04/henson.teen.mom.show/

Chang, JuJu. (2011, February 11). Pregnancy Pressure: Is MTV’s ‘Teen Mom’ Encouraging Pregnancy for Fame? Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-pregnancy-fame-friends-teen-mom-star-jenelle/story?id=12891932