UHS Students, Staff Sound Off On Teen Mom

Recently there has been controversy about the show on MTV called Teen Mom which first appeared at the end of 2009. The show takes 16-year-old teen mothers and broadcasts their lives for their first year as teenage parents as well as the issues they have to deal with.
Just this February, the next season (Teen Mom 2) was introduced. The concept is the same, and with the same people. Is it right to have these same teens put themselves out there for another season? Freshman Hannah King thinks that Teen Mom has its pros and cons, but is mainly not good for teens. King said, “They could watch it and be like ‘I could deal with that!’ Hopefully most of the viewers see the struggles and want to stay away from those, though.”
This show calls attention to teen pregnancy in modern day society and how it’s addressed. There are many varying ideas and opinions on how the topic should be presented, if at all. “Shows like Teen Mom are glamorizing the fact that teens are getting pregnant. It’s good that it’s being addressed; it’s not necessarily good that it’s being used for entertainment. The goal shouldn’t be to popularize it,” said Sophomore Emily Warren.
“It’s pretty stupid to be broadcasting peoples’ lives like that, but I think it’s what they get for getting pregnant,” said Freshman Tyler McClain.
Alicia Trezise is Urbana High School’s social worker. This is her first year working at UHS, and she teaches the prenatal class. She said, “Everything of course is confidential, but in the prenatal class, we do talk about how their experiences are different from those on Teen Mom.”
“The show is definitely over-dramatized for entertainment. Provocative situations are set up to get more viewers. In actuality, for parents, it’s a shock, maybe they go through anger and denial, but most are completely supportive and handle it well,” said Tresize. She believes that it is not in good taste to make a ‘reality’ TV show about teen pregnancy to exploit young people for entertainment.
“On the other hand, it makes us think about the issues they’re going through. The media responds to the needs of teen moms, which we need to know about, but not through a ‘reality show’ like that,” she said.
When asked what a better way would be to inform youth about teen parenting, many UHS students said that it’s important for parents to take more responsibility and inform their children long before they become sexually active. “Parents should also talk to their kids about it, even at an elementary school level. It shouldn’t be kept a taboo subject,” said Senior Annie Valocchi.
Valocchi also thinks that there should be a much better sex education in schools. Are the parents or the teachers more responsible for talking to kids about teen pregnancy? “Either way, talking about making responsible decisions affects teens more than you’d think,” said Trezise.
As far as a better TV show, many UHS students had ideas. “If they want to make a teen pregnancy show, it shouldn’t be on MTV, because most stuff on MTV is all scripted, so it’d be better if it was real and actually happening,” said Freshman Miranda Glennon-Nerone.
Most people wish that Teen Mom showed teen pregnancy with more authenticity, as opposed to a show centered around drama. “The media doesn’t portray teen pregnancy realistically. It’s like, It’s fun! You get a baby! Yeah it’s hard, but everyone helps you out. That’s not how it works out,” said Valocchi.
“Shows like Teen Mom can be good for you to see what your experiences would be like if it happened to you, but people should show it without being overdramatic,” said Freshman John D’Amato
Sophomore Bess Pierson agrees that teen pregnancy shows just glorify their situations: “Teen Mom shows that these girls can get famous and get whatever they want. It’s not unethical for their struggles to be shown, but it is if it’s for entertainment. I think it should maybe show more negative side effects rather than positive. It’d be hard to make a show like that because people wouldn’t be as willing to watch it,” she said.
“It doesn’t need to make the situation miserable, but it should have realistic portrayals of how difficult it is being a teen parent,” said Warren.
On the other hand, Freshman Jessica Kearns said, “I think that people on those shows consider things about being pregnant as a teen good. If I were going to make a teen pregnancy show, I would make it all bad things so people would know not to get pregnant that early.”
When asked about how the teen parents’ situations she’s worked with compare to Teen Mom, she said, “For parents of teen moms, it’s always a shock. Maybe they go through those anger and denial stages. But most are completely supportive and handle it well,” said Kearns.
The main thing that teen parents are in need of is support. Support can come from friends, family, and their community. An important way to help teen moms is to make sure they finish their education. “When I was in high school, in 1982 it was a big deal for a pregnant girl to graduate. If you got pregnant, you probably wouldn’t be going back to school the next week,” said Tresize.
Another issue is that teenage fathers are rarely engaged mentally and emotionally to deal with parenting. “It’s a real weakness right now,” said Tresize. “Teen fathers can go right back to P.E. class the next week, and teen moms can’t always, but not always being able to talk to teen fathers is a real weakness right now.”
“In the past three years, teen pregnancy has been low. However, it has risen, and continues to rise. Here at Urbana, six to twelve students are identified per year from eighth to 12th grade as teen parents,” said Grace Mitchell, the Secondary Alternative Education Director. Mitchell previously worked as the school social worker for 34 years.
Tresize said, “For anyone, having their first baby is a transition from youth to adult. But for a teen parent, they are literally going right from child to adult, and that is never easy.”