Teen Mom

In America every year almost one million young women under the age of 20 will become pregnant. This means that in one day 2, 800 females become pregnant. On MTV they have created the show Teen Mom, which follows the lives of four young women who had given birth when they were only 16 years old. The show focuses on their daily struggles such as paying the bills, changing relationships, attending school all while taking care of a young child. This show causes controversy because people perceive it as if they are glorifying teenage pregnancy or making it seem glamorous. Parents are concerned that their children watching these shows think that pregnancy would lead to an opportunity to have your own television show, but do not think of the consequences such as a the costs and low opportunities throughout their life. Teen Mom resists the dominant ideology of not talking to kids about sex, yet complicates it by glorifying teen pregnancy.

Teen Mom follows the lives of Maci and Bentley, Tyler and Catelynn, Farrah and Sophia, and Gary, Amber and Leah. Maci struggles with her ex-boyfriend Ryan as they try to raise Bentley, their son, with split custody. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee and currently goes to school. Tyler and Catelynn was the only couple on the show to give up their daughter, Carolynn, for open adoption. They struggle daily with their parents because of the fact that they gave up their granddaughter for adoption without their consent. Farrah is an aspiring model while trying to take care of her daughter, Sophia in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Sophia's father died in a car accident, so Farrah is trying to raise Sophia as a single parent but is struggling because Farrah is devastated that Sophia will never meet her father. Amber and Gary had Leah together but is trying to save their crumbling relationship. Amber was charged with domestic violence against Gary and was sentenced to jail while Gary now has full custody of Leah. Two years after the births of their children, the parents still have a constant daily challenge to raise their children.

This show was to provide awareness of teen pregnancy, and show teens what the possible outcomes are if they do become pregnant. Instead of spreading awareness and knowledge on teen pregnancy, some girls on the show are setting a bad example expressing that ideology. For example Maci has a good mindset in completing college but after dating her new boyfriend Kyle for awhile, she was considering having another child so that Bentley would have a sibling. For Maci saying that she wanted, "show girls how hard it was to be a teen parent" having another child does not correlate with wanting to stop teen pregnancy. Another example on how this is bad exposure to teens is on how Farrah received breast implants in order to accelerate her modeling career. It does not promote Farrah concentrating on schoolwork or, most importantly, Sophia. Teen Mom was intended to show teens across America the consequences after teen pregnancy but is actually glorifying and promoting pregnancy with the help of Maci, Farrah, Catelynn and Amber.