Lifespan Development Essay

Children Having Children: Teenage Pregnancy

Introduction
In todays modern society, there is a very liberalized attitude about sex. There is more widespread acceptance of premarital sex. However, since adolescents are becoming sexually active at an early age, one of the major concerns is pregnancy. “Teens exposed to highly sexual television content were twice as likely to experience a pregnancy compared with lower level or no exposure.” (Papalia, Feldman & Martorell, 2012, p.399). Teens learn about sex from their peers and the media. This essay will examine three sources related to the topic of teen pregnancy. The three sources that will be examined are the following: “Experience Human Development” (Papalia, Feldma, Martorell, 2012), “Could Hollywood Trick You Into Getting Pregnant” (Khidekal) and “Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem” (Neiterman, 2012).
“Experience Human Development” by Diane E. Papalia, Ruth Duskin Feldman and Gabriela Martorell
Assessment of Authority
“Experience Human Development” was written by Diane E. Papalia, Ruth Duskin Feldman and Gabriela Martorell. Papalia is a professor who has a Ph.D. in life-span development. Feldman is an award-winning writer who has helped co-author four college textbooks. Martorell has a Ph.D in psychology with an emphasis on human development. These three authors have their credentials that make them worthy of writing an academic textbook. The material presented in this textbook covers all spectrums of an issue, with no bias, just the key facts.
Summation of Content
Sexuality is apart of our identity formation. It is mostly biologically driven, but it also has a cultural component. The Western world has a very liberalized attitude when it comes to sexual activity. Adolescents are becoming sexually active more early on in their lives, which contributes to the high rates of teenage pregnancy. Teen pregnancy rates are high since media amplifies sexual content and there is a reduced stigma about it.
Application of Theoretical Perspective
Sigmund Freud created the psychoanalytic perspective, which views human behaviour motivated by unconscious forces. Part of this perspective is psychosexual development, which describes “personality development in which gratification shifts from the mouth to the anus and then to the genitals” (Papalia, Feldman & Martorell, 2012, p. 27). A key development is the phallic stage, where boys have a sexual attachment to their mothers, and girls to their fathers. “Many of these girls (pregnant adolescents) grew up fatherless” (Papalia, Feldman & Martorell, 2012, p. 401). In Freud’s perspective, the absence of a father would greatly play a role in children’s psychosexual development. The final stage of psychosexual development is the genital stage, where an interest begins in the opposite sex (or the same sex). This urge then leads to sexual intercourse, which for some adolescents leads to pregnancy.
Assessment of Intent/Purpose
Papalia, Feldman and Martorell attempted to cover the physical, cognitive and psychosocial development of adolescents. Not only does one’s sexuality come from reaching puberty, but also having an awareness of their sexuality is apart of one’s identity formation. The authors covered the topic of teen pregnancy from different perspectives, and did touch on how the mass media plays a role. The text had a focus on the search for identity, and sexuality as apart of identity formation. Teen pregnancy can be a result of adolescent sexual activity, so the topic fits well within the text.
“Could Hollywood Trick You Into Getting Pregnant?” By Marina Khidekal
Assessment of Authority
Seventeen magazine is aimed at adolescent females. The article is written to bring awareness to the young female population on the media glorification of sex, and the misportrayal of teen pregnancy in TV and movies. The author, Marina Khidekal, writes for magazines like Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan, another magazine for women. The authors for these magazines are educated in mostly journalism but do not have a background in other academic areas, like developmental psychology, which means they are not extensively educated on certain topics. Their articles are just a quick overview of what their readers would be interested in or what would be benefitial for them. Summation of Content
In TV shows and movies aimed towards adolescents and adults, there is an unrealistic portrayal of teen pregnancy. In the show, The Secret Life of The American Teenager, a high school student gets pregnant during the summer. After the birth of her baby, she manages to finish school, gets her body back in perfect shape and has a great relationship with the father. In the movie Juno, the parents view their daughter as noble for becoming pregnant, and praise her. Those two scenarios are far from what normally happens. It gives teenagers a false impression of what teen pregnancy really is. Teen pregnancy in reality can be very lonely and stressful. In the movies, there is almost always a happy ending, which gives teenage girls false expectations of what teenage motherhood is really like.
Application of Theoretical Perspective
The learning perspective of human development holds that experiences or adaptation to the environment are what changes behaviour. “16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom do a great job at showing the gritty, real struggles of teen pregnancy. But even still, there is something almost glamorous about having an entire nation think your life is compelling enough to tune in every week.” (Khidekel, p. 1). TV shows, even the ones that try to show what pregnancy really is, end up glamourizing the whole situation, since these teen moms are gaining fame and praise for what they go through. Teens learn a lot about sex from their peers and since so much time is spent with their peer group, that really has an effect on their behavior and attitudes. A person’s environment is very influential on a person. If pregnancy is glamourized in the media, then a teen that is highly exposed to the media, would be greatly affected and their opinions would be easily swayed.
Assessment of Intent/Purpose The author chose to write about how teen pregnancy is unrealistically shown on TV because the base audiences for the magazine are those who are in the age group of teenage mothers. In my opinion, for a teenage magazine article, the facts were covered and a message was conveyed. However, I do think that more content could have been included, such as actual statistics.
“Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem” Elena Neiterman
Assessment of Authority
The author of this article is apart of the sociology department at the University of Toronto. Neiterman’s research interests include sociology of health and illness, pregnancy, mothering and study of the body.
Summation of Content
A young pregnant celebrity equals popular headlines for the entertainment headlines. These stars are often glamourized during their pregnancy, constantly being photographed and interviewed. “Decades ago, pregnant teens sent away to have their babies and then give them up for adoption” (Neiterman, 2012, p. 25). Teen mothers now have a reduced stigma and are apart of a society where they have vast options for how they choose to carry on with their lives, and their child’s. The media has constructed a definition and perspective for teenage mothers, but many teen moms are resisting that definition. The media presents teen pregnancy as a social problem. The health risks of having a child so young are amplified, when really, anyone of any age can face pregnancy issues. Many articles that cover the topic of teen pregnancy also cover drugs and violence, which are viewed as anti-social activities. Irresponsible behaviour is linked with teen pregnancy, as teens are viewed as rebellious.
Application of Theoretical Content
The contextual perspective views an individual as a part of the environment, not just interacting with it. An individual interacts with many different environments, family, peers, work, etc. Cultural changes are apart of the chronosystem. Our culture has had a dominant view that to be a successful mother, one has to be married and have a proper economic standing to support a family. However, now it is most definitely possible to become pregnant, receive an education and be able to support a child even as a teen mom.
Assessment of Intent/Purpose
The purpose of this article was to examine how teen pregnancy is constructed in the media. Teen moms are “constructed as women who make poor individual choices leading to negative outcomes” (Neiterman, 2012, p. 41). By conducting qualitative interviews with young teen moms, it was shown how they were able to explain their pregnancy as a positive experience. The author used the interviews of young teenage mothers to show that “being a young other should not be equated with being a ‘bad’ mother” (43).
Conclusion
The authors of “Experience Human Development” are highly educated whereas the author of “Could Hollywood Trick You Into Getting Pregnant” is just a journalist for a teenage magazine. The textbook is academic content whereas the magazine article was written mainly for entertainment purposes. The final source, “Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem,” written by someone who studies sociology and has a genuine interest in pregnancy offers a non-biased view of this particular topic. I view this source to be of the greatest authority because the essay fully analyzes teenage pregnancy and the semi-structured interviews were done with young mothers to gain an understanding of their perspectives on teenage pregnancy.

References
Diane E. Papalia, Ruth Duskin Feldman, Gabriela Martorell. (2012). Experience Human Development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Elena Neiterman. (2012). Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem. Retrieved from http://www.qualitativesociologyreview.org/ENG/Volume23/QSR_8_3_Neiterman.pdf
Marina Khidekal. (n.d.). Could Hollywood Trick You Into Getting Pregnant? Retrieved from http://www.seventeen.com/health/tips/teen-pregnancy-stories-and-statistics#slide-2

References: Diane E. Papalia, Ruth Duskin Feldman, Gabriela Martorell. (2012). Experience Human Development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Elena Neiterman. (2012). Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem. Retrieved from http://www.qualitativesociologyreview.org/ENG/Volume23/QSR_8_3_Neiterman.pdf Marina Khidekal. (n.d.). Could Hollywood Trick You Into Getting Pregnant? Retrieved from http://www.seventeen.com/health/tips/teen-pregnancy-stories-and-statistics#slide-2