Teen Mom Research Paper

Teen Mom has been an innovative show in the reality show industry because it has opened up to society what a teenage mother goes through as she raises her first child. These girls have matured a long way throughout their Childs birth and their upbringing. The show presents four Teenage girls, now eighteen, struggling with money, school, and dating as well as dealing with insecurities, their parents, the father of their children and for a couple and a mother and daughter, domestic violence. While society usually judges girls who get pregnant at any early age, this reality show has bought into terms the reflection of these four women and how they stand in or stand out of the teen pregnancy statistics. Teen Moms huge success and its continuity on MTV where it had premiered for a few almost two seasons have been very controversial to many viewers. The criticism of making paying these girls to let people into their lives and see how they live is only the beginning of their reality show world. Through my research, one of the things that I will question is how has Teen Mom effected the societies perception of teen pregnancy. I will also do some research to analyze how the show has changed other television programs like
sitcoms, soap operas, comedies and reality shows regarding the roles of teen mothers today. Is it fine to believe that it is okay to broadcast the lives of these teen moms instead of dismissing them as another statistic? Is it okay to say that these girls are now some kind of celebrity since they are on television? Is MTV making entertainment out of these four new moms? In this paper, I argue that Teen Mom reflects how the media has changed the way society views teen pregnancy as a whole because of the way it has glamorized the lives of these young mothers by having them star in a reality show, getting paid thousands per episode, and living a “celeb-reality” life by making public appearances and doing various broadcast and published interviews. The mainstream American viewer is being tricked into believing that teen pregnancy is bliss rather than amiss. Teen Mom is a reality television series on MTV that first aired on December 2009. The show is a spin-off of 16 and Pregnant. The show is like a journal of the lives of four teenagers navigating their lives of motherhood. The theme of the show focuses the struggle of a teenage mom including the changing relationships geared mostly towards families, friends, couples, and school. The show has gotten MTV top viewer ratings each week. “More than three million people tune in to "Teen Mom" every week, making it MTV's highest-rated show.” The show targets mostly females between the ages of 12-34. Most adults will agree that the show sends the message: this is what your life will be if you get pregnant as a teenager. But some viewers aren’t seeing this show as a sort of “Birth-control” rather than just another reality show to fill in during the ten o clock slot. Society has taken a toll on the way these reality shows have impacted most of their lives. “Reality Television” is supposedly a genre of TV programming that introduces unscripted situations whether dramatic or humorous and documents actual events. Reality TV features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Unfortunately most Americans believe that reality shows are scripted. Now when you document the lives of these four teens its obvious that their “script” writes itself. Most reality show members are part of the show to become famous but some automatically gain fame because of their ways in the show. Two word Jersey Shore. Some viewers have come to believe that these four girls, Maci, Farrah, Catelynn, and Amber are becoming rising stars as their show, and their children Blossom. As I made some research, I came across students from Howard University who sit down every week to critically analyze the show. Tressa Blockett, a sports management major says that the show is strictly entertaining. The show is constantly getting criticism by viewers like Blockett who in an interviewed compared Teen mom to Jersey Shore. As I continue my research, I will look for articles to analyze the show from when I was first 16 and pregnant, to Teen moms first and second season and compare differences between them.
I will mostly focus on criticism on broadcasting the lives of these girls. I will also look at television sitcoms like The Secret Life of the American Teenager and talk shows like Maury. And movies like Juno. I will also look in to the lives of Bristol Palin and Jaime Lynn Spears who are always in the spot light. During my research in these topics, I will ask myself, is the media promoting teen pregnancy? In my search I will check the lives (background) of the executive producers and writers of each show and link them to the concept of teen
pregnancy. An article written in the “Nevada Sagebrush” by Enjolie Estev makes me question if Teen Mom is just another of reality TV’s guilty pleasure. The name of the article, “Shows promoting teen pregnancy patronize viewers,” says it all.” I found various sources in my Brooklyn College Library search system including scholarly journals very helpful on my theme of teen pregnancy and the media. I will further my research through the internet, books, news and magazine articles and much more in order to find primary sources on my choice of topic. As a dedicated fan of the show, I will use each season to critically analyze the lives of these girls. I will also use MTV sources to watch unseen clips and updated news on the girls and youtube.com to see missed episodes.