Also are the teen moms exploiting their situation or are they exploited? I hear a lot of people suggesting that this is somehow being done for fame or for fortune and I just don't see it.

Originally Posted by lt93

I have my concerns about this show because I'm afraid that in some way it might glorify having a child at a young age and while I believe most people that watch the show are smart enough to realize that it's just a TV show and that having a child at a young age would be extremely hard, I know that there are some people that may take it too literally and think omg I want to be on TV or I want to be a mom now.

I highly disagree with you calling these girls whores as was stated before and I also disagree with you saying they failed at life. Just because they had a kid at 16 they failed at life?! I completely disagree and that's a really silly judgement to make.

Just because it's on TV that doesn't mean it's GOOD TV. Have you ever watched a full episode? I think that there are some lessons that can be learned from this show and the girl who gave up her baby for adoption has displayed that process and has probably helped many girls (teens) and women as well. Giving up your baby for adoption is an extremely hard process and I feel like she has helped educate people on the issue and maybe allowed more women to come to terms with that decision, thus providing a better life for the baby.

So I agree some girls are just out for the fame but I do also think there are some genuine people on the show, before you decide to put people down like that maybe you should look a little further rather than jump to conclusions.

I think that the idea of the show is not to glorify teen pregnancy, most people who watch it likely feel some sympathy for the parents for the situation they're in. It could actually go a long way in (dare I say about an MTV show) educating people about the struggle that teen parents go through. Maybe it can have a positive force in that aspect?

That being said... the show itself, like most of mtv, is pretty bad... imho

Originally Posted by Amardeep_S

I think that the idea of the show is not to glorify teen pregnancy, most people who watch it likely feel some sympathy for the parents for the situation they're in. It could actually go a long way in (dare I say about an MTV show) educating people about the struggle that teen parents go through. Maybe it can have a positive force in that aspect?

That being said... the show itself, like most of mtv, is pretty bad... imho

If it is educating people in the struggles teen parents go through, why is there a teen mom 2?

And the parents on the show are compeltely exploiting their situation. They dont seem to have learned anything from their mistakes, as they are in the tabloids getting boob jobs and bettering only themselves physically.. wouldnt a good parent put the money from the show towards their childs future?

Originally Posted by arathbon

Unless you can say that you've never engaged in activity that involves no risk of pregnancy, you really have no right to judge as otherwise you're being a hypocrite. And no using both condoms and oral contraceptives is not 0 risk. Typical use failure would still be 1.2% (15%*8%) meaning that there would be a 1.2% chance using both as typically used that a pregnancy would occur in a year. Perfect use is still nonzero at 0.006%.

When you say 1.2% failure do you mean like the condom breaks or the ring is some how ineffective that day, or the pill is taken incorrectly? Because even still, you have an even lower chance of getting pregnant.
I read a statistic, something like, if 100 women have unprotected sex in their 2nd or 3rd week of their cycle, only 8 will get pregnant. So add all the contraceptives people use, plus the fact that their not always having sex during those weeks, and the fact that its not guarunteed sperm+egg=baby ... maybe pregnancy is less likely that we think. Still non-zero though you're right.

Originally Posted by Chris23

If it is educating people in the struggles teen parents go through, why is there a teen mom 2?

And the parents on the show are compeltely exploiting their situation. They dont seem to have learned anything from their mistakes, as they are in the tabloids getting boob jobs and bettering only themselves physically.. wouldnt a good parent put the money from the show towards their childs future?

I never said that it's purpose was to educate... it's purpose is to make mtv money, which explains any sequals. I simply said it might be used by teens as an example of why teen pregnancy may not be a situation they want to find themselves in. I responded to a post that suggestest it might glorify it, I just think it could very likely deter people from making decisions likely (such as unprotected sex).

I made no comment on the supposed exploitation of their situation, we don't know how much money they made in total and what they used it for so I'm not sure we can assume that they are using the money only for themselves. For all we know they bought everything they needed for their child, set up an educational fund and set aside a million dollars in a trust fund for their future, and got a boob job... Mind you I wouldn't believe everything you read in a tabloid... they're called rags for a reason

Originally Posted by Amardeep_S

I think that the idea of the show is not to glorify teen pregnancy, most people who watch it likely feel some sympathy for the parents for the situation they're in. It could actually go a long way in (dare I say about an MTV show) educating people about the struggle that teen parents go through. Maybe it can have a positive force in that aspect?

That being said... the show itself, like most of mtv, is pretty bad... imho

Yes you did say educate.
And the comment about exploiting their situation was in reference to a question posted before yours in regards to this matter, never said it was in response to your comments, hence the use of a second paragraph

Originally Posted by Chris23

Yes you did say educate.
And the comment about exploiting their situation was in reference to a question posted before yours in regards to this matter, never said it was in response to your comments, hence the use of a second paragraph

I said perhaps it might educate people but I didn't say that was it's purpose was to. Shows on Discovery channel are like every other show on tv, their purpose is to make money, but they also happen to educate people. This is the same with Teen Mom. I just think an argument can be made that it doesn't glorify pregnancy and make teens seek pregnancy to get onto TV... it might have the opposite effect based on the fact that the show documents (dramaticized probably) situations that most people wouldn't want to be in.

The aim may be to discourage teen pregnancy, but from the fanbase the show has, I dont think viewers care about the "lessons" that the show supposedly can teach, as much as just watching the show's stars. It appears to be more of a teen soap opera than anything else. I just think that its sad that MTV considers this a good television concept... although i guess i could be seen as a bit of a hypocrit i am a fan of jersey shore haha. Althought i think even jersey shore is a better show than teen mom, at least you didnt have to make a major screwup in life (yes im calling teen pregnancy a mistake regardless of if it was intended or not) to get on jersey shore. Just gotta GTL ALL DAY

If we're going to try and "learn a lesson" from every show, then we would all be pretty confused.
Its all entertainment, everything is entertainment, we are always going to need distractions, scapegoats, and reality breaks.

I agree Melanie, i just dont see any entertainment that comes from watching teens who got pregnant at 15 or 16 trying (and a lot of the times failing) at raising kids. I would sooner watch curling, and that is about as boring as it gets!

I would much soon watch teen mom. even worse - I watch big brother!