Media and Teen Pregnancies

Media and Teen Pregnancies

The media contributes to many sociological factors and influences many decisions or ideas that a community may have about a specific topic. Daily, the media contributes to the rise in the rate of teen pregnancies. Media encourages teen pregnancies the same way kids persuade and influence each other to try drugs or behaviors they wouldn't normally attempt. Many shows display sex scenes or scenarios, indirectly and directly influencing teen girls throughout the nation to fantasize about pregnancy and have false ideas of motherhood. Shows such as, "Teen Mom" and "Sixteen and Pregnant" are arguably inversely effective in discouraging teen pregnancies. It seems as if the more the media reflects on teen pregnancies, the higher the rate of teen pregnancies. Glamorizing teen pregnancy is encouraging teens to become sexually active early in their adolescence and also it supports inconsistent use of birth control. As the media continues to have a negative effect on teens the rate of unplanned teen pregnancies will continually rise eventually affecting our economy.

It is easily apparent that "the relationship between exposure of this kind of content on TV and the risk of later pregnancy is fairly strong," says Anita Chandra, a behavioral scientist and the study's author. "Even if it were diminished by other contributing factors, the association still holds." Such consistent exposure may explain in part why the U.S.

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teen pregnancy rate is double that of other industrialized nations. The media isn't telling the whole truth, it is simply for entertainment and many adolescents cannot understand the concept fully. It has been scientifically proven by Researchers at the Rand Corp that "teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20." Shows have increased the sexual content they show throughout the years and yes, it may be good entertainment but it is affecting the rate of pregnancies in young adults and that is not acceptable simply because our economy cannot support such a drastic increase in population.

Many teens are always becoming confused as to what are appropriate contraceptives to preventing pregnancy and how to use them properly. There are many different birth control options that teen girls and boys do not even realize exist. Not only does the media need to change the way they promote contraceptives but as do schools and parents. "Now we know that after 10 years and over $1.5 billion in abstinence-only funding, the U.S. is lurching backwards on teen sexual health," said James Wagoner of Advocates for Youth, a Washington advocacy group. Obviously something isn't being done correctly if there is a rise in pregnancies even with a rise in funds to