Teenage Pregnancy is on the Rise for the first time in over a decade!
Teenage Pregnancy is being glamorized in the media! Juno, Glee, MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, teen mom… are all popular shows that are being watched by american’s and these shows impact the way teenagers behave and how they feel about “teenage pregnancy”. It is no longer shameful to be a teen and pregnant. It is now “in style”. In fact, 10% of all births in America are from teenagers!
According to Guttmacher Institute Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health, “10% of all births are from women 19 years old or younger”. They also reported in Jan of 2011 that “Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. women aged 15–19 become pregnant. [18] Two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18–19-year-olds. [18] Fifty-nine percent of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds in 2006 ended in birth, and 27% in abortion [18].”
(See http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf and another source is http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html)
Do you think that hollywood and the media should glamorize teenage pregnancy? Do you think that the media impacts the way teenagers view of pregnancy? And how does teenage pregnancy impact the life of the mother and the child? Is it healthy?
I have always hated statistics. I may love math, but the ability to prove just about anything using the same set of numbers is ridiculous. In fact, the first thought that went through my head when I read “10% of all births in America are from teenagers” was “but how many of those are actually legally married at 18?” And like your next paragraph says “Two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18–19-year-olds,” which leaves us with 3% of all births in America being from people I would consider teenagers. Perhaps that number really is too high. But that source you quoted http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf makes it look to me like that number has actually been going down since the 1980′s, not up like your news report indicates.
—— ok, end rant on silly numbers ——-
I think that the largest impact on a teenager about the issue of pregnancy is still going to be their friends, not the media. The thing that bugs me the most about the media is the glamorization of single mothering. In fact, the thing that I hated the most about “Juno” was that after she decided to give the child up for adoption the to-be-father chickened out and left his wife, but she still wanted the baby so badly that she still adopted. And there are lots of other cases where the media glamorizes single mothering. The only reason I perceive a high teenage pregnancy rate to be bad is because it implies that many of these girls are not married as they are not yet 18 and this goes against my belief that “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.” To me, this is really the core of the problem: children are not being raised with both a mother and a father, and this is a problem that happens at every age level.
Thank you Kirby. Stats can be very deceiving.
I wonder how many of those 18 and 19 year olds were shot gun weddings? I wonder how many pregnancies that end in abortion are not reported? How accurate are any “reports”?
In my teaching methods of sex ed class, students have reported about friends or classmates who self inflicted abuse to their body or were beat up by their “boyfriends” and had forced miscarriages. Something I had never even thought possible!
i agree with that. statistics are really dumb because they never give you all of the information.
Simply stupid. It is wrong to portray such young kids as pregnant and ok with it. Childbirth is ment for the fully matured because it is less risky. It is simply better for both the mother and the child. At such a young age, they should be thinking about finishing school and making a future for their kids, but instead they are selfish and bring their kid or kids to this world into an unfair environment. Not smart.
Yeah, I agree with Jen on this one. Stats are definately deceiving at times but does it really make such a huge difference if someone has a baby at eighteen than at seventeen and still in highschool. Unless you have some sugar daddy to take care of you, there is still no way you are financially ready to take care of a kid at eighteen. I don’t know about anyone else but I am twenty and I still feel like a kid!
I think that hollywood has definitely been showing more teenage pregnancy. I don’t think they necessarily try to glamorize it in every case, but it still is in some cases. I know that when I watch 16 and pregnant or teen mom, it makes me want to abstain from sex even more. I think some of these tv shows are showing teens how hard it is to become a teen parent and show that their actions do have consequences whether they believe that or not. Teenagers are still trying to grow up themselves, they are in NO position to start raising a child. I couldn’t imagine having to go through all the emotional and physical pain that they have to go through.
The media does glamorize teenage pregnancy. As a teenager, watching shows about it makes being a teenage mother seem easy and fun. But in real life, I know it is not. I have a friend who is a sixteen year old mother, and she struggles day and night. It is not glamorous like the media makes it to be. The grandmother does most of the child raising while the mother still has to go to school and do homework. Being a teenage mom is a hard life, and television does not give it any justice.
First off I’m 19 and don’t feel anywhere near the age I should be having kids so this is really sad to me. The media definitely has a huge impact on everyone’s lives and it doesn’t really help the teen pregnancy issue. If anything I just think it’s unfair to the child because for the most part I think it provides an unstable environment for the child. I think the problem needs to stop but there really isn’t much we can do.
I think that glamorizing teenage pregnancy is a big mistake. I think that more young women are seeing as acceptable to be a young mother, when in reality it is definitely not a piece of cake. I have a sister that was pregnant at 15 and she feels like she never had the chance to have the real teenage experience, because most of her time and effort was needed to take care of her child. When one has a baby, i feel like it is their responsibility to take care of it. If one is going to participate in sexual behaviors they need to take responsibility for their actions. They need to realize the time, effort, and especially money it takes to raise a child, in each case it is a lot. I think that adolescance should be a time for enjoyment. Enjoy being a kid while you can, but if you’re going to make decisions that could ulitmately lead to pregnancy and a future child you need to take responsibility for your actions.