Thursday, April 8, 2010

Teen Pregnancy.

My 17 year old niece is pregnant.

Her favorite tv shows are:
1. The Secret Life of the American Teenager
2. 16 and Pregnant
3. Teen Mom

When the movie "The Pregnancy Pact" came on LifeTime
a few months ago, she recorded it to watch
over and over.

Her best friend delivered a baby girl on Easter Sunday.
She is also 17 years old.

My son, Little Man [the 10 year old]
watched the first 2 episodes of
Secret Life with me, and then was
BANNED from watching it.
[Seriously, I watch it after I take him to school the next morning.]

Is the media to blame?
Should so much teen pregnancy really be shown on tv?
Should Bristol Palin be making PSA's against teen pregnancy?
Really?

Photobucket

7 comments:

Shell said...

I like Secret Life, but I have to admit that if I had teenagers, I wouldn't want them watching it.

So sad. It was hard enough when I became a mom at 27. I can't even begin to imagine being a teen mom.

Just Jen said...

I watch Secret Life every week. My kids, on the other hand, will NOT be watching it!

I became a mother at 20, but I was married. [To a cheating asshole, but still.]

Lucky for her, it looks like she has the whole family behind her.

Lothiriel said...

I don't think the media is to blame. When you want to have sex, smoke, drink, do drugs...you WILL DO IT with or without the influence of television.

We are the sole owners of our choices, NOT the media or other people. If you believe in God, you will be judged for your sins, and He will not say, "well, it's not your fault...it's the media's."

As far as Bristol Palin being the spokesperson against teen pregnancy, I couldn't think of a better person for this. She is living it, and can tell everyone else from experience how difficult it must be. Should I let my children watch such shows....probably. I think if you instill good morals to your children, they will be fine, no matter what they see.

I grew up in the 'hood. I saw all kinds of horrible things. Yet, mother taught to have values and morals, and NOT one of my family members got pregnant or did drugs.

Just Jen said...

I love your comments!

I agree in some aspects and don't in others.

If Bristol didn't say "I'm privileged, so it's OK that I got pregnant, but you're not, so don't." then maybe I could be on the bandwagon. That makes no since to me whatsoever!

Is she saying that just because she has a famous mom that it's ok that she didn't 'practice what she preaches'?

I honestly think that my niece was TRYING to get pregnant. Why else would she have sex when she KNEW she missed getting her shot because her PawPaw was in the hospital in CRITICAL CONDITION???

Kell said...

I don't necessarily blame the media because shows like 16 and pregnant do NOT glorify having a child AT ALL. It's not like they show these 17 year old kids frolicking around with their boyfriend and their child happy and thriving. Half of the time, these kids are miserable. If these kids are old enough to have sex, they're old enough to know the consequences.


If ANYTHING is to blame, I think it's the attitude of "that will never happen to me" .. sure they see it on tv but they don't KNOW those girls on 16 and pregnant. You'd think it would have hit closer to home with your neice after seing it happen to her best friend, but in reality - maybe that made her think "what are the odds of it happeneing to ME, TOO?" .. who knows - but I don't think anything or anyone is to blame but the girl who decided to take her clothes off :-\

hope everything works out for her. love you, twinny.

Just Jen said...

I really think she wastrying to get pregnant, Twinnie.

She knew she was due for her shot, and didn't care. We even TOLD her not to have sex because you can get pregnant really easy if you miss a shot. [All your hormones start having a party]

She did it anyway and KNEW she was pregnant on the 5th week.

Glass Houses said...

I think Bristol Palin is a horrible spokesperson against teen pregnancy, but not for the usual reasons.

Consider this: Someday, that kid is going to be old enough to see all those ads and think to himself that his mommy doesn't love him. Why else would she tell the world over and over again that he was a big mistake and nobody else should do what she did?