Are TV Shows Getting Teen Girls Pregnant?

<a title="askbecca" rel="a I think that it is easier for society to blame this issue on TV. If we place the blame there then we do not have to admit any other causes. I think back to when I was a teen and yes I will admit I was having sex. I married my first partner but still I was young.

I think that the first thing that we have to look at is the teen brain. It is impulsive due to the fact the the section of the brain which fully understands consequences. With this said we can then move into more reasons that this may be a problem.
Another thing to consider is hormones.  Teens feel an urge for sex.  They are learning about their new bodies and all of the feelings these new bodies have.  They want to explore and experiment.
The fact that sex education is taught to make sex seem like a bad thing is a problem.  This is how it has been taught for quite some time and I cannot help but wonder if it is a factor.  Sex education makes it a forbiden fruit that teens cannot resist.  The lack of practical sex education as far as disease and pregnancy prevention are lacking as well.  Teens are left to figure too much out on their own.
All marketing is to blame. Television is not alone with selling with sex.  I saw a Calvin Klien ad the other day with three half dressed people as if we were seeing the beinging of a threesome.  What does this say.  I am not sure we can solelylook at the boob tube...
My last point is that the shows that you meantioned are not meant for children and teens.  It is up to parents to be watching what their young ones are watching.
Alright I will step off of my soap box.  I think that the point is that teens and sex tend to go together with or without television!

Becca

Please visit me at http://www.askbecca.com

You're right that friends can have a significant influence on teens.   All the more reason for parents to prepare kids for what kinds of issues pop culture and friends may expose them to.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

of course not! The title of this blog is so hilarious, I just couldn't resist.

Here's my more serious input: I think often the biggest influence on
teens are their best friends, who shape their culture way more than
television and even more than their parents. No girl watches Gossip
Girl and thinks to herself, "hey, I'd like to try getting pregnant!" It
might not seem appropriate to parents that teens are watching shows
invovling teen sex and pregnancy, but it is a relevant topic because, hey, it happens...but usually not on purpose and never solely because of television. :)

My blogging home is Nameisms ( http://nameisms.blogspot.com ); a resource for baby names

Learning to say "No" is sometimes a tough skill, especially for women, but it's one we need to learn early and often.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
Video Runway ( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

Hi Megan

I do agree that oral sex is not something I want to see as a trend, however I wanted to allude to te fact we are all gullable to whatever the trend is.

Me too.
I recently stopped dyeing my hair with dye that is actaully not that healthy and could give me cancer.
Why did I dye my hair?
Millions of reasons probably and one is a trend of looking younger.
Just like whatever trend is going and I jeopardize my health for looking good??????

I totally agree that it all comes down to being a stand for yourself and be courageous enough to say 'no'.

And that untill then each trend will gets us to move like sheep. Well it would me.

And most poor teens have no show, I am in my fifties and learning the dradded 'no' word and standing up to trends and that takes some doing for most of us I would say sigh.

Wilma Ham

www.wilmasblog.com

Hi Wilma,

I'm right there with you about better communication between parents and their kids about sex. 

Having said that, I do believe that because of the amount of pop culture coming at us, and the sexualized nature of it, it's even more important for kids to be equipped with an understanding about how and when to make better choices about sex.  And how to say, "No" with conviction when that's what they really want to do.

I have to disagree with you about the blow job issue.  Teen girls giving guys blow jobs on the school bus says to me that these are girls trying to get approval any way they can.  It also says to me that they think their only value is to be someone who serves up sexual gratification to others.  

I really do believe the more "cool" and "hip" that kind of stuff is portrayed on TV the more likely it is for some girls to view themselves that way.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
Video Runway ( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

It is difficult to really see cause and effect.

Can a good parent prevent things happening to a child?
May be, may be not. 

Do the teens who get pregnant have a good relationship with their parents?

If yes, what happened and if no we all can imagine what happened there.

I cannot see why sex is still such an awkward subject to talk about, but as long as it is then no TV show can be solely blamed.

And how come we throw pregnancy and sex in one heap.

If we  make condomes readily available, sex happens and maybe not so many pregnancies.
My sister left condomes all over her house when her children grew up.

Do we have to avoid sex all together or are we concerned about pregnancy and diseases with teens and has it got to do with hard to get at prevention?

I do think open talk at school, at home and on television will at least give teens some knowledge that might give them choices. 

And I think if blow jobs are the trend than that is the trend. Until this whole society becomes a bit more honest and more people focused and communication savvy, we as parents will always have to deal with trends, be it sex trends, smoking dope or clothes or whatever.

I feel sorry for parents and teens who cannot cope with all these subjects themselves and have no means of communicating.

Maybe not only the teens are the problem.

BTW I was lucky, I had a very well informed and experienced friend who was willing to share her knowledge!

Wilma Ham

www.wilmasblog.com ( http://www.wilmasblog.com/ )

My mom had no earthly idea what was in those books I was reading. She was happy that we read and I admit I exploited it by always asking her to request them from her friends and coworkers who thought she was reading them. I was in high school and bored with them by the time she figured me out. 

When I started my period my mom was chair of our schoolboard so she got us a private veiwing of the health video film on reproduction and menastration.  Thank goodness she forgot the popcorn, but she did bring tampons and kotex for our veiwing pleasure.  I have to admit she was better after my sister got pregnant.  She wasn't comfortable talking about sex but she was no longer of the mindset that having birth control would give us permission to have sex.

I too have to agree with the poster who talked about fathers.  Mine was often refered to as a gentle giant.  For him his girls were better than sliced bread.  So giving a bad for me guy the boot has never ever been a problem.  It may take a wee bit too long but I am always able to remember how my dad treated us and my mom and know it is time to move on.   

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

The leash is a good idea but it is 2008 lets just install a tracking device and an updated version of the nanny cam.

I better start working on that I may be able to retire at 50 after all!! 

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

We could just keep a leash on those teens!  :)

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
Video Runway ( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

Elvis the Pelvis was blamed for a decline in "morals" and teens becoming "sex fiends" as well. :-) 

And oh, Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, while it turned out to be a masterpiece, was also Flaubert's attempt, in part, to comment on young women reading novels that screwed with their moral compass and sexual desire. 

Maybe we should turn off the lights, stop this progress thing, and go back to our caves where we'll be safe from media. LOL. 

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).  Also at Blogher, Obama Family Obsession, The Huxtable Effect, and Black Images on the Screen ( http://www.blogher.com/obama-family-obsession-huxt... ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

Excellent point, Ingaborg.  Too often we skip over the father's role as well as the role of young men in teen pregnancy and focus on females only.

I also think a strong loving father makes it less likely women will choose men ill-suited for them who don't respect them. 

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).  Also at Blogher, Obama Family Obsession, The Huxtable Effect, and Black Images on the Screen ( http://www.blogher.com/obama-family-obsession-huxt... ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

Thank you, Megan, for this provocative post.

It's true that lots of causes lead to teen pregnancy, but we'd be fools to believe that messaging and images don't influence behavior. If public messages and imagery didn't work, most networks would go out of business. They get their revenue from advertising (companies pushiing images and messages to influence pruchases), and if it didn't work, companies wouldn't buy air time.

But we do hear pop culture media blamed periodically for promiscuity, pregnancy, drinking, drugs, violence, etc. Well, this is why God invented the remote control for parents. We can change the channel for younger children. Teens, uh, good luck with that.

We must consider that ignorance contributes to teen pregnancy. I think there are still parents who don't want their teens to know anything about contraception because they think that discussion itself will "get them pregnant." And self-discipline and restraint don't get the respect they deserve either.

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ). Most recent post at BlogHer, Obama Family Obsesssion, The Huxtable Effect, and Black Images on the Screen ( http://www.blogher.com/obama-family-obsession-huxt... ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

My mom did not supply me with Harlequins, and it's a good  thing too because back in my day they were largely about British women being kidnapped by Arabs, nearly raped, but falling in love with him madly just the same.  Still, I found my way to those books and read them regularly, thus warping my understanding of healthy male/female relationships. I think they've changed the formula since then, but as I got older, romance novels bored me unless they were multi-themed, closer to mainstream fiction.

She gave me instead, when I started my period, a pamphlet from Kotex on the female reproduction system.  Thank goodness for sex ed in boarding school. 

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).  Also at Blogher, Obama Family Obsession, The Huxtable Effect, and Black Images on the Screen ( http://www.blogher.com/obama-family-obsession-huxt... ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

I was also a Harlequin romance fan, but at the same time, I went to schools that taught a broad curriculum of sex ed and then in college took a great "The Biology of Sex" course that filled in any gaps.

That and a resistance to ever go along with the crowd, I think served me well.

But just like in your case, my Mama wasn't gonna tell me nothin'!

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
Video Runway ( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

I couldn't agree with you more.  Fathers are extremely important. 

What can sometimes happen is even if a father is around and willing, he backs off as his daughter enters puberty because it makes him uncomfortable.  That's the time I think it's especially important for fathers to step up and learn to relate to their daughters in a way that's loving, supportive, and non-judgemental.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
Video Runway ( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

Not only moms, but fathers are important in a young girls life from the very beginning.
If a young woman comes from a loving home where she has been valued and respected for who she is, not how she looks; if she’s been encouraged to be all that she can be and not pigeon-holed into any kind of vapid sex role; and if her father has loved and respected her mother, chances are she’ll have the confidence and self-esteem to stand against the negative assaults of our skewed society. She can sing along with Avril Lavigne:
“Nobody’s Fool”
If you’re trying to turn me into someone else,
It’s easy to see I’m not down with that.
I’m not nobody’s fool.

Strong, loving fathers do much to prevent daughters from being anyone’s fool. And strong, loving fathers demonstrate for sons how a real man acts and reacts toward women. Fathers, you are needed.

Sexy TV is just one factor.  I started reading Harlequin Romance novels at 12.  Talk about sexy!  But I had a mom who made pregnacy seem like it would be the end of my life.  I also had an older sister who got pregnant in high school and I remember the tears and silence that came with her telling my parents.  I did not want to go through that.  Although my mom did not talk to us per se about sex she was quick to point out the consequences.  

I do think there is a little too much sex on TV.  I do not want to expalin these things to my 5 and 7 year-olds but sometime I have to try and explain things like ED and such to my young children.  Even the disney princesses are a lesson in sexiness.  I take my mom's route that is not real life. 

It has more to do with the kid than what they are watching.  I wanted to get as far away from my little hometown as possible.  I knew that a baby was going to make it a bit harder to make that great escape.  Those kids who have no sense of self and no one to direct them to the truth are unlikely to get past pop culture.  They are going to be the kid whose heros are on TV.  My mom was always quick to point out that that was not real life. THe combination of ignorance, too much time alone, and no sense of self is the most likely combination to end in pregnacy.  Even when I did start having sex after the romance novels I felt like Lane.  What was the big deal?  Then I found the guy who knew and I was at least able to reconize that we needed to protect ourselves.  In a very crazy way I think the romance novels and the crazy prono books we passed through our dorm helped me. They gave me knowledge that many girls did not have and my mom was never ever going to give.     

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

You're right, there's always going to be sexualized pop culture and there are always going to be teens who have sex.  It's just that we're so innundated with sexualized pop culture than we've ever been, I can understand the concerns.

For me the bottom line is if kids are taught about sex and the responsibilities that come with it at an early age, the more likely they are to make better choices. 

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )

Megan's Minute ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )
Video Runway ( http://twoliablog.com/video-runway/ )

Arrg. Where to start.  This is nothing new, blame T.V. 

Today's Juno is yesterday's For Keeps?  Teens have been faking sick to watch their soaps forever. Teen shows have in some way showed teens struggle with sex.  Although these shows are getting more racy with the sex, sex on TV has been around for a long time.

When I was in high school Brenda Walsh and Dylan McKay were blamed for the high rate of teen pregnancy in my high school.  5 freshman alone got pregnant.  I watched the episode, I didn't run out and have sex. 

Teen sex is not a new fade and wasn't when I was a teen.  When I discussed teen sex and TV with my mom she had the right perspective.  Instead of going to Aunt Edna's for 9 months the teen is walking the high school hallways. Teen pregnancy is not new- and wasn't invented by the TV.  People need to look at the big picture (pun intended)

~Susan

http://lilmomthatcould.com/