Is MTV the New Birth Control?

As I high school student, I have had to sit through the dreaded class of sex education. While we learned about many types of birth control, one type that my teacher for some reason failed to mention was MTV's 16 and Pregnant. According to a recent study featured on NPR, the shockingly popular reality TV show is responsible for a 5.7 percent drop in teen pregnancy in just 18 months. To put that in perspective, that is a third of the total decline in birthrates over that time.

This begs the question, why has the show had such a powerful effect on teens? Or better yet, why has the show had a far larger impact on teen pregnancy rates than sex education? In the interview they said that the effect on teen births rate from the show was simply proof of the powerful effect telivision has on teens, but I think theres more too it than that.

I think the reason the show has had more of an effect teen pregnancy rates than traditional sex education is not simply because it's reaching teens through TV, but rather because of a fundamental difference between how the information is being provided, and, more importantly, who the information is being provided by.

In that most awkward class that every teen dreads, the information is being conveyed by an adult, or more specifically, a teacher.  Now if theres one thing teens hate, it's being told what to do by an adult. So naturally, they disregard the majority of what their sex ed teacher is trying to convey to them. But in 16 and Pregnant, all the information comes from other teens. So now you're no longer being told what to do by an adult. Rather, you are being informed and warned of the possible outcomes of poor decisions by someone you can actually relate to.

Teen viewers also get to see first hand how pregnancy affects a teenagers life. They get to discover the consequences of poor decisions through a medium which they can apply as a hypothetical to their own lives.

I believe that those two reasons are the leading factors in the 5.7% decrease in teen pregnancy following the show's launch. If sex ed classes spent a little less time telling kids to have safe sex (or none at all) and a little more time conveying what the lives of pregnant teens and ther partners look like in a relatable way, I believe we would see a major drop in teen pregnancy rates in this country. And if sex ed classes can't figure out how to do that, it may be best to just have the students watch some good ol' 16 and Pregnant.

An Artist's Moral Obligation

Eminem's new album The Marshal Mathers LP 2 dropped a while back, but still remains the second most popular Hip-Hop album on iTunes. Personally, I've just started getting into it now. One thing I noticed is that while the rest of the Hip-Hop industry seems to be moving away from gay-bashing Eminem continues to use the same offensive gay slurs. While gay slurs can be found throughout the album the song in which they are most prominent is the song "Rap God". For example in the first verse of the song Eminem says, "I'll still be able to break a mothafu**in' table over the back of a couple of fa**ots and crack it in half". I know that that type of hate speech would get any student at my school expelled and yet this song is eighth on itunes' Hip-Hop charts. 

The question I would like you to consider is, is it ok that Eminem continues to use gay slurs in his music?

I would answer this with a most definite NO. Some people say that it's ok because Eminem is offensive towards many other people as well, and that it's just his style. Others argue that it's allowed because he actually supports gay marriage (which he does). People even say that it's fine because it's only his rap persona Slim Shady saying the offensive lyrics. 

In my opinion, all of these arguments are completely invalid. Why? Well, because the average kid listening to the song isn't aware of all that. All he hears is the offensive words being said by one of his favorite artists, and whether it be conscious or unconscious, big or small, those words will have an affect on that kid, and it wont be a good one. Hearing the words gay (having a negative connotation) or f** then makes it more likely that kids will use those words when talking with their friends, insulting someone, or worst of all, bullying someone who is actually LGBQ. Clearly, this song can only have a negative effect on the minds of our youth and can only bring more misery and bullying to LGBQ kids. 

If you are doubting the effect of music on America's youth, then I hope this brief clip will be able to change your mind. (Read the beginning, and then scrub to 5:06)

I just happened to stumble upon this video while gathering research for this post, and I think it is an amazing example of what a positive influence music can have on people. For those of you that don't know, Troy (the thirteen year old in the blue shirt) is referencing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' song "Same Love". It's an extremely powerful song and I strongly suggest you hit that link and listen to it, so that you can hear what a positive influence sounds like. 

Whether they realize it or not, artists have a huge influence on people's minds. It's because of this that I believe they have the responsibility to make that influence a positive one.

Teaching Tragedy

Today I finally finished reading The Crucible, and in all honesty, it left me incredibly saddened. This got me thinking about the effect of the material kids learn in school on their mental health. Personally, I can recall many books and units that have saddened or disturbed me over the course of my education. It started in middle school when we had an entire unit on the holocaust. Week after week, we had to read books, watch videos, write poems and learn about the horrific murders of millions of people. Just to give you some perspective, at that time I wasn't legally allowed to see a movie rated over PG. 

My brother went through the same unit and I distinctly remember how much it affected him. He came home one day extremely upset and I overheard him talking to our Mom in the other room. The conversation went like this:

"Mom, I don't know what to do, but I can't take it anymore. I don't want to go to school anymore. I can't escape it," my brother said in anguish. 

"Is it really that bad?" my Mom replied. 

"Mom, in art class we literally have to make sculptures of people dying," my brother said. 

It was true though. He really did have to make a sculpture "inspired by the victims of the holocaust." 

My brother's sculpture of man in a death camp kneeling and grabbing his head (he received an A for this project)

Now you may be wondering why my brother didn't go talk to his teachers about this. It's a reasonable question, considering that his teachers might have been able to accommodate him and separate him from the class while they were learning about the holocaust. But you have to be able to see it through the eyes of a kid. In school, all kids want to do is fit in, and telling your teacher that you can't learn this material anymore because it's making you depressed, in a kids eyes, is social suicide. Kids really don't have much of a choice. You simply have to do the work and learn the material. If you don't, your grades will plummet, and if you ask your teacher to not be forced to learn the material then you'll be socially ostracized.  

Having to learn depressing material didn't stop with that unit in middle school. In fact, I can remember learning depressing material at some point in every year since then. For example, my sophomore year of high school I read Catcher In the Rye. I've heard countless peers complain about that book because of how depressing it is. According too TeenHelp.com, between 10 to 15 percent of teenagers have some symptoms of depression at any one time (at my school I think it's actually closer to 20 percent). When depression rates are this high among teens, it seems a little ridiculous to be teaching a book where the main character deals with his depression through substance abuse and at one point tries to kill himself.

At this point reader, you may be thinking, "but there are lessons that we can learn from depressing and even horrifying material." This is true, but if to learn these lessons some students will take a tole mentally, is it really worth it? Couldn't teachers find a more efficient way to cover the crucial points, so students wouldn't be forced to learn weeks of depressing material?

In addition to this, I think the education system in this country sometimes forgets that lessons can  be learned from inspiring, uplifting, and dare I say joyful material as well. If the educational system could be a little more aware of the effect that depressing material can have on students, then I think teachers would spend less time on horrific topics, and more time on topics that students will look forward to learning about. 

If you still doubt the effect that depressing/disturbing material can have on kids, consider this: the media has crucified violent video games for damaging the mental health of this nation's youth. In your opinion, what would disturb a kid more: shooting some aliens in Halo, or reading a true story about the murders of dozens of innocent people committed by their own neighbors.