Teen pregnancy on the rise...is media to blame?

Tough Consequences

A one-night-stand at band camp leaves
Amy pregnant

In recent years, the trends of teen mothers depicted on popular American television programs and films have exploded into a cultural phenomenon. According to a January 2010 study by the Guttmacher Institute, teen pregnancy rates have increased for the first time since the early 1990s.

Nearly half (46%) of all 15–19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once, and ten percent of all U.S. births are to teens. Movies like Juno, or television shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” have become household staples, a viable explanation for these heightened statistics.

What happened to ethics? When media formats portray teen pregnancy, especially with a misconstrued reality, the indirect harm to young adults in our society becomes apparent.

A study featured in Pediatrics called “Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents' Sexual Behavior,” found that earlier exposure to sexual content in the media could predict a teen’s sexual behavior in the following year.

On one hand, television shows like “16 and Pregnant” may discourage young viewers from involving themselves in sexual activity, because they reveal the realistic repercussions of such behavior. On the other hand, shows such as “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” or movies like Juno, somewhat glorify pregnancy to young girls. The female characters have boyfriends who stick around, supportive family units, jobs that they somehow manage to keep while pregnant and attending school...it's all an illusion.

Courtesy of www.theinsider.com

The format of these media outlets may differ in their depiction, but all in all, they give teen pregnancy a platform for discussion, and ultimately persuade young adults to act in certain ways. According to Jane Brown, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina who runs the “Teen Media Project,” most of these shows are in need of “three C's: there’s little commitment, no mention of contraception and rarely do we see negative consequences…what’s missing in the media’s sexual script is what happens before and after. Why are these kids getting pregnant and what happens afterward?” This “skimpy” coverage of the reality of teen pregnancy, as shown in movies like Juno, is ultimately harmful because it glorifies the situation for young viewers.

Many television shows and other media sources available to young adults contain a tolerant and non-judgmental attitude toward unintended pregnancy. Though appropriate for certain adult situations, when teens are affected by this message, the repercussions are staggering. There are more single teenage mothers than ever before. In 2006, 27% of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds ended in abortion.

“Adults understand the bigger picture and what the risks are of adolescence and childbearing…[but] adolescents see it through the lens of the 'me generation,'” says Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. “Adolescence is also a self-absorbed time. If the baby got handed off and she got the boyfriend back (as happens in Juno), what's the problem?” The consequences of unprotected sex are neatly wrapped up into a solution for the mother and child at the end of the script—a happy ending in which everyone benefits.

It’s all fun and games for Ross, Rachel, Joey and the gang

The more specific issue lies in the lack of information and educational discussions about sex and contraceptives. The United States has levels of pregnancy that are two to four times higher than European nations. An influx of images of teen pregnancy in the media, coupled with a lack of information about sex and contraceptives, have created a “perfect storm” which becomes more and more difficult to weather as the media becomes more explicit.

A three year study completed between 2001 and 2004 by Research and Development (RAND) researchers of teens ages 12 to 17 found that “the likelihood of getting pregnant, or getting someone else pregnant, increased steadily with the amount of sexual content they watched on TV.” The most popular shows the teens viewed were Sex and the City, That 70s Show and Friends, programs that rarely portray sexuality which emphases the negative risks or responsibilities. The sexual content of a Friends episode on average was .29%, yet the sexual health content was .03 percent. Though skeptics may argue that this seems insufficient to affect adolescents through the media, the repetitive nature of such content in various media outlets and the viewership quantity is what makes the impact. Friends alone had 24.5 million viewers for the 2001-2002 season.

From an entertainment perspective, these shows succeed in reflecting popular culture. Yet when this popular culture negates its ethical responsibility to show teens the truth—that sexual experiences at a young age can lead to STDs, psychological issues, and pregnancy—they are not doing their complete job.

The medium is the massage

The media’s messages permeate through the foundations of future generations, reflecting the basis of our morals. When these morals are altered or compromised, as apparent when teen sexual behavior is depicted stereotypically or consistently in the media, society reaps the negative results.

This ad in Wisconsin is successful in its
shocking truth

The ethical situation of teen pregnancy and the media’s power to persuade has everything to do with the age we live in and the generation that is affected. Young children and teens are growing up following media that presents them with “adult” issues often inappropriate for their age group. The more these images and messages are conveyed on such a wide platform, the more our society becomes “numb” to taboo issues, like pregnancy.

However, pregnancy may no longer be a taboo in America. “[The U.S.] is a very complicated and complex culture,” says Sharon Jayson in USA Today. “With all these races and ethnic groups and social classes and religions, this thing called 'teen pregnancy' is experienced… and thought about in very different ways.” Still, the base-layer influence that permeates through all of these complex cultures and subcultures within America is the mainstream media. The media is like a peer with all the influence and no-how. It’s influences reigns supreme, and children are growing up faster than ever.

These points hearken back to Marshal McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the massage.” The more American society becomes accustomed to seeing teens being pregnant on television, the more it is deemed “acceptable” or even “fashionable” for this day in age. As the future progresses and the media continues to loosen its grip on the regulations of sexually explicit material available to young viewers, more social responsibility to uphold morals and family values will fall upon parents and young adults themselves.