MTV show too harsh on teen parents

M TV has somehow decided that the best way to educate teenagers about the realities of pregnancy is through repetitive reality television.

It has decided that shocking teenagers into abstinence is the best way to reduce pregnancy rates. But in doing this MTV has decided that it has the right to tell audiences that all teenage mothers are naive, white, small-town girls.

To match its cliched view of the world, teenage fathers are depicted as immature, lazy and always unemployed.

16 and Pregnant first aired on MTV in the US in 2009 and has since been brought to New Zealand screens.

Every episode tells the story of a 16-year-old girl for six months of her life as she goes through the drama of pregnancy, labour and the first two weeks of being a mum. It's hard to imagine fitting such a long time into an hour, but it's simple.

Anything that deviates from the "good girl who made a mistake" image is edited out in favour of something a little more dramatic.

Ebony, who featured in season one, said that the producers "encouraged" her to fight with her boyfriend because her life wasn't as dramatic as the other girls.

Surely MTV's main goal should be to prevent viewers from making the same poor judgments as its "stars". But broadcasting the same story each week isn't the best way to go about it. Or is MTV really aiming to use stereotypical, exaggerated scenarios in the hope of getting better ratings?

MTV's "average" teen mum is always from a small town, white and, sadly, naive.

She's grown up in a bubble, babied by her parents and, of course, it's a huge shock to everybody to see her pregnant so young.

Once the baby is born, standard shots are paraded across the screen of the new mother complaining endlessly about how hard her life is. Near the long-awaited end of this hour, viewers are subjected to a final, less-than-subtle speech about how much the teen mother resents her boyfriend and child. It was, of course, the child's fault for being born.

The "normal" MTV teen father is just as bad as his female counterpart. They promise to get a job after their baby is born, but there's no chance. He probably doesn't love his girlfriend, but you can guarantee he loves his truck.

Maci's boyfriend, Ryan, is a prime example. He spends his unemployment benefit upgrading his ute, leaving his young family in the lurch.

There was no evidence of remorse in the episode, but how much of that day was edited out by producers looking for good ratings?

Several fathers have spoken in the "life after labour" interviews about how they felt unfairly represented by MTV, and they would be right. One hour spent playing video games on the weekend is turned into an exaggerated montage of how much time one father devoted to himself.

Young fathers have to grow up just as quickly as their female counterparts and, although being the breadwinner at 16 isn't easy, some welcome the challenge. It has been shown in some cases that the responsibility of having a child can keep young delinquents in school and out of jail.

When it comes to teen parents, MTV fails to acknowledge that they can come from all places and walks of life. Not everybody's lives are as dramatic as it would like to make out and, although the pregnancies might not be planned, some are seen as blessings none the less.

Throwing generalisations at young, impressionable viewers does nothing but tell them that the stereotypes shown in each episode are 100 per cent accurate.

Georgia Thomson, Year 12, St Cuthbert's College