Portrayal of teen moms in reality TV



Hopefully people realize that reality TV isn't an accurate portrayal of real life. However, adolescents or even adults who aren't really thinking about it might be fooled into thinking reality TV really means reality. So, how does reality TV depict the lives of teen moms? Compared with the national data on how many teen moms there are in the United States, shows may make people think that becoming a parent during teenagerhood is more common than it actually is. Also, reality TV often shows the teen moms who have higher father involvement than is usual. It also doesn't show how many teen moms are on government assistance, are low-income, and don't get their high school diploma. In addition to all of these problems with the depiction of teen moms on reality TV is that they are shown as having active social lives. Altogether, this unrealistic portrayal of teen moms on reality TV is over glamourizing becoming a teen parent. How do you think this affects teenagers who watch these shows?

Comments

  1. CamreeMarch 19, 2024 at 2:13 PM

    Wow, I had no idea so many reality TV shows were depicting teen moms. Everything you said about them idealizing teen parenthood was accurate. I think this can be decieveing to adolescents understanding of responsibility and the gift of life.

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  2. Lexi LindmanMarch 20, 2024 at 2:12 PM

    I thought our class discussion about these shows was really interesting. I had no idea this was such a concentrated category of shows. I would imagine these are awful for teen girls' mental health, especially those who are going through the realities of pregnancies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Allyse WalserMarch 22, 2024 at 12:58 PM

    I think the idea of showing teen moms on tv is to give something for real teen moms to relate to. Obviously it's not the real thing, but the actual person can relate to that. I love the Incredibles movie. Even though I'm not a cartoon superhero, they have a similar family dynamic to mine, so I relate to it.

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