Is the Media to Blame for Rise in Teen Pregnancy?

In the midst of what is said to be the biggest election of many of our lifetimes, the race now has a new issue. In the mostly conservative Republican Party, their own Vice President nominee's daughter is now part of those unwed teenage pregnancies that Republicans often frown upon. Ironically, when Bristol gives birth later in 2008, Palin, age 44, will have became a mother (she has an infant son, Trig, who suffers from Down syndrome) and a grandmother in the same year. Governor Palin is a supporter of abstinence-only sex education and in a statement extended "additional love and support" to Bristol, who plans to marry her baby's father. According to People magazine, a Palin relative said, "They were surprised, but these things happen. They are very family people. What's one more Palin running around?" In what seems contradictorily to both her and her party's beliefs, the McCann/Palin campaign is showing support for Bristol. But, will this hurt or aid their campaign?This is of no offense to Governor Palin because I personally am a fan and I understand that in life unexpected things happen that do not go with our plans and we just have to deal with it the best that we can. However, I have noticed that like never before, young girls are being bombarded by images of oversexed, underdressed, and now, pregnant celebrities or public figures in the media. Television shows, movies, music, magazines, etc. often choose unplanned pregnancies as a plotline. It seems that the media and Hollywood have glamorized pregnancy so much that for some reason, misguided girls find it more acceptable. For example, when Jamie Lynn Spears announced her pregnancy earlier this year (she has since given birth), Nickelodeon decided to continue the airing of the already filmed fourth season of her show Zoey 101 instead of canceling it. As a role model to younger viewers, perhaps this aided in giving young girls the wrong idea about teenage pregnancy.

Tyra Banks recently discussed the issue on an episode of her talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. Banks put together a panel of teenage girls who were already expecting, were already teenage mothers, or wanted to become pregnant to gain a better understanding of why they are having sex at such an early age and to determine how they feel about being pregnant. The response from a 14-year-old on the panel was "Jamie Lynn just had a baby, why can't I?" According to Banks, teenage pregnancy is on the rise for the first time in nearly 15 years, with 100 million teenage girls becoming pregnant each year. 100 million babies having babies.

Banks surveyed 10,000 young adolescents on her website, www.tyrashow.com, and discovered that 64% of those surveyed considered themselves to be sexually active, while 1/5 of that 64% want to be teenage mothers. After pointing out that in today's society there is a reduced awareness of sexually transmitted diseases through the media, Banks described it best by saying that in the media "the hottest accessory these days is not the new Iphones, but a baby bump."

Living in a small town with basically no entertainment venues for teenagers, I too have noticed an increase lately in my hometown of teenagers becoming pregnant. The demographics are not specifically known and many factors may play into why there is an increase of pregnancies, including where girls live, if they are involved in extracurricular activities, peer pressure, etc. However, it seems the media is in the center of this problem. This summer's Baby Borrowers and The Secret Life of an American Teenager attempted to correct the damages done by the media by showing the reality of being teenage mothers, but is it too late? Has it already gone too far?

I chose this topic for my senior research class this semester. I plan to research the topic and conduct a study to determine if this so-called effect of the media, coined the "Juno Effect" by Time magazine, really exists and what factors play into this new increase in teenage pregnancy. Maybe I will have an update about the topic later on in the semester for you all.