The Life of Being A Teen Parent: A Problem, A Blessing or A Celebrity Status?

Imagine waking up from your sleep to a dark dingy apartment. The sound of piercing screams and cries fills the air. You just fell asleep twenty minutes ago, and you’re up again. There’s no one to help you take care of your baby, only you. You have to be strong and you have to work hard to create a good life for your child and yourself. When I was younger, teen pregnancy was depicted in this way. I do not agree that all teen pregnancies turned out this way. The situation always depends on the financial and family situation of the teenagers that get pregnant. Nevertheless, when I was younger, in middle school, that is what I pictured would happen to me if I got pregnant in high school. We were taught this to ultimately prevent this event from happening.

However, over the past couple of years several events occurred through the media that has turned teenage pregnancy from a setback to a celebrity status.This change started when the world watched Brittany Spears’ little sister, Jamie Lynn- lead actress of a popular Nickelodeon show for children, announce that she was pregnant. She was sixteen years old. I was fifteen, one year younger, and I was shocked. Before that I never imagined teen pregnancy occurring in a person of her status was possible!

Next, the hit movie Juno was released to movie theaters around the country. The movie’s bittersweet story line and comedic lines captured the hearts of many Americans. I began seeing teenage pregnancy in a new light, not as a burden but as an adventure. If the media stopped their movement of teenage pregnancy there, I may have kept my opinion. However, the constant media attention to the situation has made me cringe. When the television show The Secret Life of an American Teenager was released I began to realize that teen pregnancy was becoming a sort of media fad. While I take a pro-life stance in relation to abortion and believe that each child born is a blessing, I did not agree with the message the media was sending to children and teenagers. This show did not truly depict the actual burdens of teenage pregnancy. The Secret Life of an American Teenager disgusted me. I began to worry for my friends that religiously watched the show every week. I hoped and prayed that if teenage pregnancy had to be media related, that at least something would be released that attempted to show the hard times behind being a teen mother or father. Teen Mom was released by MTV a couple of years ago. While MTV attempts to demonstrate the stress of being a teen parent, I still do not agree with the media attention that it brings to children and teenagers.

In my high school alone, teen pregnancies accelerated over the past years since teen pregnancy became a celebrity status. I do not believe that is a coincidence. Media can change opinions and values of Americans and I believe we should be more hesitant in what we allow ourselves to believe from the media.