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.
3 comments:
I never knew that this show caused such a dramatic drop in teen pregnancies. I agree with you that sex education is the class that people dread in middle and high school, and kids aren't especially appreciative of the adults teaching it, so I wonder if there was a better way to teach kids about teen pregnancy. Kids might be more responsive to this because it is so visual, and its as if the viewer is in the life of the pregnant teen during the show. The viewers are able to understand how difficult and hard it would be to raise a child as a teenager. Also, while New Trier is a very good school, I wonder how good the sex education is at other schools. I bet that some schools that are in poor neighborhoods or that don't receive proper funding aren't able to teach the kids properly about teen pregnancy. That's why shows like this most likely have a bigger impact on kids.
I also agree with you. I also think that by teens watching the show and hearing the term "16 and pregnant" the thought of being put under that term is terrifying. The show, like many other MTV shows shows the people in not the most positive way. They are portrayed as slightly insane and the reality show becomes more of a horror show when it settles in that that is their reality. It also is easier and less uncomfortable for kids to be watching a show like this then sitting in a classroom hearing a teacher talk about it all.
Thanks for your feedback guys. Isabel that's a very interesting point you made towards the end of your comment. I wonder if the awkwardness of being taught about sex education with all your classmates makes kids sort of shut down and not actually listen to what the teacher is saying.
Post a Comment