After more than a decade of decline, new results show teen pregnancy rates in the United States rose by 3% from 2005 to 2006. More than 73,000 of those teen pregnancies were right here in Texas (see a map that shows teen pregnancy rates by state).
Some people have been pointing to reality TV shows like MTV's "16 and Pregnant" as culprits that affect teen pregnancy rates, but for the good or bad? Do they glamorize the issue, or do they open viewers' eyes?
Marriage, finances, and graduating high school are all decisions girls featured on "16 and Pregnant" often face. tThe reality show is only in its second season, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a teenager who hasn't at least heard of it.
"As the show has progressed it is gotten a lot of press, both positive and negative, so it does sort of draw your attention to it," said psychology intern Vanessa Kincheloe.
It's a show that can hit home anywhere, even in Texoma. Eva Dickens, the Project Director at the Wilson Family Planning Clinic, says in 2010, 279 teenage girls came in for a pregnancy test. Almost 10% of them tested positive.
"In that age group that's scary. It really is," she said.
So the question is worth asking -- does a show like "16 and Pregnant" encourage or dissuade teens from getting pregnant? The answer might depend on whom you ask. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy recently conducted a study to find out.
"We thought we would go directly to the horse's mouth and ask teens themselves what they thought about these shows and whether they glamorized teen pregnancy or made the consequences of too-early childbearing more real to them," said spokesperson Bill Albert.
After surveying 162 kids ranging in age from 10 to 19, the campaign found 82% of those who watch the show think it helps teens better understand the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenthood, compared to 15% who believe it glamorizes pregnancy. Albert was surprised at the magnitude of teens who felt the show opened their eyes, although he feels the same way.
"It is hard for me to understand any adult who actually watches the shows themselves to suggest that it is in any way glamorous. I would suggest that watching the shows you get the exact opposite impression," he said.
But not everyone shares that sentiment. Dickens, who deals with young girls who are or may be pregnant on a daily basis, says its not a show she would watch.
"The couple episodes I watched it made it seem like she's still goin' out, and she's going' out with her friends, and mom's at home taking care of stuff, and so it was like she was still able to do all the party stuff and it wasn't teaching responsibility," she said.
Aside from the disrespect she says the girls show to their parents, Dickens feels "16 and Pregnant" doesn't teach girls how to have a healthy pregnancy or how to make their lives better. Albert, on the other hand, says he can understand how the show could inadvertently glamorize teen pregnancy, but points out that what happens on the show and how tabloids treat it are two very different things.
"What you see perhaps in the grocery store checkout line is something quite different and perhaps may strike many people as glamorous, but the shows themselves, we are very supportive of," he said.
Vanessa Kincheloe is a psychology intern working on her doctorate at the Taft Counseling Center. She says while it's important for parents to be aware of what their kids are watching, ultimately a teen can take away what they want to from "16 and Pregnant."
"More things factor into that because just as individual as you and I are, my perception of the show is gonna be different from your perception of the show," she said.
Having seen several patients who became moms as teenagers, Kincheloe knows teen pregnancies carry their effects throughout a girl's life.
"The ramifications of teen pregnancy are ongoing. It is not like when the cameras shut off on the show it's all good and it's all said and done. When the cameras shut off, those kids are still parents," she said.
And that's exactly the focus of a follow-up show on MTV -- "Teen Mom." It gives viewers a glimpse into the first years of motherhood for the girls who were previously on "16 and Pregnant."
While Kincheloe is aware "Teen Mom," has only been around for two seasons itself, she feels following up on the long term aspects of parenting would be especially helpful. That's something Dickens agrees with.
"In the best of circumstances, parenting is difficult, and I don't think...they don't always show the negative aspect of it," Kincheloe said.
"A show that's saying, 'Ok, how can you make this work? How can you stay in school?' and that kind of thing, I think that would be totally positive," Dickens said.
But no matter how people view the show and its influences, experts we spoke with say it's a talking point. That's also what three-fourths of teens said in another survey Albert conducted.
"It gets conversations going between young people themselves and, perhaps more importantly, between parents and young people," Albert said.
Overall, 87% of teens felt it was important they be given a strong message that they should not have sex until they are at least out of high school. Where that message comes from is what Albert says can give parents hope.
"Teens themselves say it is parents -- not the media, not peers -- it is parents that most influence their decisions about sex," Albert said.
The National Campaigns's study also came with a cautionary note. Teens who watched and discussed the show were more likely to believe that teens want to get pregnant compared to those who didn't watch the show.
Spencer Blake, Newschannel 6
