Through out the course of the semester we have seen that the media portrays teen pregnancy as a social problem and in both 16 and Pregnant and Secret Life of the American teenager, which is shown on ABC family, we see this. In 16 and Pregnant we see young women who either didn't think about contraception or just failed to use it properly. In Secret Life, Amy a "good girl" gets pregnant the first time that she has sex with the schools "bad boy" Ricky. During the course of the first season Amy tries to decide what to do and even considers marrying Ben a "good boy" that she is dating. This presents the view that if you make the mistake of getting pregnant they should get married and raise the child in a 2 parent family environment. On another season Grace the schools abstinence supporter has sex with her boyfriend Jack and that same episode her father dies in a plane crash. Last but not least is Adrianne who is the most knowledgeable of the characters. She has had sex before and knows how to properly use birth control but in a moment of revenge she has sex with Ben and gets pregnant. What do all of these acts have in common? The moment the girls have sex something bad happens such as pregnancy or death. This is giving viewers a bias opinion that says if you have sex something bad will happen. Why do you think this is the case? The media is obviously giving a very strong opinion and it doesn't seem to be changing any time soon even though we live in a very sex driven society. The media seems to be saying that the only option for teenagers is abstinence and even go as far as advertising this option on most of their teen shows.
My question for you guys is do you think this issue will ever change in the future? and Also what changes would you make to shows like 16 and pregnant and Secret Life of the American Teenager?
http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/secret-life-american-teenager
-Ana Gutierrez
I think these shows definitely give the wrong impression of sex. Having sex does not always end in pregnancy. And for them to basically be saying teens should just be abstinent isn't right either. In my opinion, I think these shows should have a more realistic view of society by showing that if you are safe about having sex then you are not going to automatically get pregnant. Also, I feel like most of what they talk about in these shows is sex (especially Secret Life of the American Teenager.) This is also unrealistic... Our lives do not revolve around sex so the media should not pretend like they do. I do not think this will change anytime in the future, however, because of what a touchy subject sex is and society's determination to prevent it.
ReplyDelete-Alex Antoniou
I agree with Alex. The media does not protray sex in a realistic perspective. Obviously, everytime a person has sex something bad doesn't happen. So I don't understand why on the show the Secret Life of American Teenager, makes it seem like a direct correlation. Also, I do not agree with how 16 and pregnant shows the life of a pregnant teenager. They never show the teenagers struggling, they make it ssem as though it's easy to take care of a baby. Neither one of these shows provides the reality of being a pregnant teen. I hope that one day the media will change and promote safe sex whether then no sex. I believe that it will change, because our generation seems to be a bit more on the realistic side of sex education and sex in the media, and we know that teenaagers are having sex. It is important for teenagers to understand and learn how to deal with their sexual desire and feelings in an appropriate way,and telling teens to be abstinence is not the way.
ReplyDeleteBrittaney Vaughn
I too, agree with the previous comments made by Alex and Brittany, sex doesn't always lead to pregnancy, yes, it is a possible outcome but that isn't always the consequence when someone has sex. And abstinence isn't the only way to stay safe. These television shows need to be realistic about what's going in the world and in the world of their viewers. Teens are having sex and yes, some are getting pregnant, but there are ways to portray a knowledgeable, healthy, sexually active teen without pregnancy or abstinence, being the case. They need to portray every side of the spectrum of being sexually active whether, how they're having sex, who they're doing it with, and ALL of the consequences, and ALL of the ways to prevent the "bad" things from happening. So that way teens who are watching these shows will get a REAL dose of reality and what comes along with being sexually active or not in today's world and not get some biased, scripted, edited version of what the networks want them to see.
ReplyDelete~Nikki Walton