I live in a small town, yet I need two hands just to count how many girls in my grade are either pregnant, or have already had a baby. Seven girls have made the choice to bring a major responsibility into their lives, and remember less than 1000 students attend my school. I can’t imagine what the numbers are in much bigger schools!
On a scale of 1-10, ten being a huge problem and one being a small problem, five high school students out of twenty-seven said that teen pregnancy was a “ten”. Six students said it was an “eight” and five agreed it was a “seven.” As you walk down the hallway and see the ones who chose to stay in school. You look on Facebook and see an update on the ones who decided to stay away from school, the ones who have given up school to take care of their children. You don’t know what their motive was, or how they plan to live their lives afterwards. All you can do is assume; You may assume that the media has made what they have done look okay and acceptable; You may assume that these girls have parents that may not have paid as much attention to them or the opposite and had them on a very tight rope; You may assume that these girls plan to do the best for their child; You assume because most girls have the same story, that they aren’t continuing school at home. However, even though you may have these assumptions, the facts prove these assumptions are true and are becoming even truer.

According to Jessica Sheets, a teen pregnancy expert, “We have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world. Our numbers are far higher than places in like Canada, or England, or anywhere in Europe.” Why is that? Today our society relies on the media so much, we know because we constantly see it being a role model to others. The media effects every decision that people make today. According to the National Campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy, “Although research has documented an association between exposure to sexual content on television and teen pregnancy, little research has been conducted to better understand how media might also have positive effects.” The media can easily show the negative effects of teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy. Some people think that the very popular MTV show, Teen Mom, has promoted teen pregnancy by making teen moms famous. This reality show tells the story of girls who have had children and how their lives have been affected. They believe the show has caused other girls to think that they can become pregnant, appear on the show, make money and be famous. In their minds it even makes them think that having a child so young is not such a bad thing. Maybe it makes them think that because it is reality TV all of their problems are just made for the show. They believe that media is simply giving the wrong message to girls.

Ten out of twenty-seven Woodland Park High School students believed that Teen Mom has had “no effect” on teen pregnancy and seven students believed that he show “increased teen pregnancy.” According to the facts, people who thought the show has created more problems are actually incorrect. The show first aired in 2009. According to Rebecca Wind, in the year 2008, one year before the show first aired, the pregnancy rate per 1000 15-19 year-old women was 67.8%. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2011 the rate per 1000 15-19 year old women was 31.3%, which was an 8% drop from 2010, this shows the rate dropping in the first two years that the show had been on air and the rates continue to go down. As we can see the problem is decreasing, however it still exists. If shows like this are influencing the drop in the teen pregnancy rate then we need to add more to the popular TV channels. We don’t necessarily need more reality TV shows about teen moms, but informational shows could be of help too. One could bring in teen moms to simply talk about their lives and how they have changed since they had a child. They can show other teens the struggle that a baby really can bring when you are so young and not ready.

Nine out of twenty-seven Woodland Park high school students agreed that allowing more TV shows about teen pregnancy would possibly continue a decrease. According to Peyton Ashcraft, “It’ll help show to young girls that being pregnant and having a baby isn’t just like playing dress up.” Many girls don’t understand the reality of actually having a baby; they go nine months carrying a child that doesn’t become real to them until the very end of their pregnancy. However, this isn’t true of all teen mothers, according to Tanya Mello the teens have just become smarter, “I don’t think adding more shows will help the rate go down because I believe that bringing more attention to teen pregnancy won’t really do anything, I think the rates have gone down because teens are a little smarter.” Both sides are arguable; however statistics show that adding a show has already helped reduce the issue so why not stick to what works and maybe try some other solutions?

We must remember that there is never one way to solve a problem and never one way that a problem comes about. Teen pregnancy isn’t just caused by the media; it could also be caused because of the lack of supervision. According to Focus on the Family, “Because of…carelessness among adults who should know better, adolescents today are more likely to find opportunities to be alone together for long stretches of time. In such circumstances, nature is likely to take its course…” Most parents are very happy with the title of “coolest parent ever.” They’re the parent who lets their kid do whatever they want. Most teens will have a better relationship with their parents this way, simply because they receive anything they want. They have a crazy amount of freedom that they take advantage of, but can this freedom back fire on the parents?
Without structure from parents kids may not think situations through and end up putting themselves into situations that are hard to stay out of. For example, becoming pregnant. According to Kayla Ibarra, “A parent needs to be a parent to their kids before they can be a friend.” Parents need to be responsible enough to teach their kids how to act responsible themselves. People believe that this problem can’t be fixed because parents are going to raise their children however they want to. Although some parents may not be as responsible as they should, offering a free parenting seminar through the local hospital or a YMCA may attract parents to come and learn skills to raise their children. If the seminar had a fee this would only push people away, not everyone can afford to pay for classes like this. These classes are not just the solution for unprepared parents, but for other situations as well.
The same solution applies for kids with parents who may be overprotective. Again, according to Focus on the Family, “Adolescents who are smothered in a controlling, micromanaging, suspicious environment are strong candidates for rebellion once the opportunity arises.” A parent has a very hard job of staying in the middle of these two situations. You can’t be too loose but yet you cannot be too hard on your child. Again, this problem could easily be helped by offering some guidance and advice through a seminar. Of course we cannot guarantee that every parent would go, and we cannot make it mandatory because that would take away the freedom that is rightfully theirs. However, this idea would attract some parents; one would think and hopefully over the years draw in more and more parents.
Teen pregnancy is definitely a problem, but there are clearly many ways to continue to prevent it. I’m tired of walking down the hall ways seeing all the girls who still had so much time left to experience being young but had to give it all up because of a bad decision. I want to see teens going out and living their lives before having to grow up! We as a society can change this! It only takes a few simple actions. Why not go out and try to make a difference? I know it would be worth it.