A few months ago, I started watching 16 and Pregnant on MTV because Supernanny wasn’t cutting it as a prescription for birth control.
When I started watching 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, I was fascinated by the stories and watching these teens go from pregnant and adamant that life wouldn’t change to watching how they handle a full-time teenage life with a baby.
Sure, I laughed and shook my head at things these baby moms and dads said. From wondering what pregnancy will do to the girl’s teen boobs long-term to saying they had no idea how they got pregnant when having unprotected sex. Oh kids!
Then I watched the “super size” episode with the couple having twins. It was a standard story, girl meets guy, they do it, she gets pregnant and soon they’re stuck together while deciding if they are meant to be or were just rebound. But this girl got pregnant by her guy after one month of dating. And no, he wasn’t K-Fed.
Even though these episodes make me cringe, they also hit hard in the heart. I don’t envy these girls, I feel sorry for them because they are only 16 or 17 and forced to grow up overnight.
Sure, they may have “asked for it’ by having unprotected sex, but after watching this girl have twins and play with fire (aka her pre-baby daddy boyfriend), only to have it backfire in her face, it was tough to watch. She ended the episode with a teary talking head saying that she wished she would have done things differently and for the first time, I believed her.
That was one that stayed with me after I deleted it from the DVR.
I tried to imagine what I would do differently in their case and despite our vast age difference, I don’t know if I would be any different than them, so who am I to judge and laugh? I would want to hold on to my boyfriend and pretend like nothing will change and view being a mom as a cool thing but something that won’t keep me from doing what I want. And I would (even now) feel completely overwhelmed by the needs of caring for a baby, especially if my parents aren’t able to help out. It shows that despite these girls being 16, I might not be that different at 30.
What about you? Have you watched the show? Do you think you would do anything different as a 16 year old pregnant teen? Note: This isn’t to get into a debate about pro-life or choice.
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I am always surprised at how quickly the girls mature yet the boyfriends still act like nothing has changed. It seems like it takes twice as long for it to sink in.
I recently watched a few episodes of that show. It’s weird to think that if I got pregnant at 16 with my husband (that’s how long we’ve been together for) then our kid would be 9 years old now and I’m sure we wouldn’t have everything we have now.
I really like this show, although I haven’t watched this season much. My mom thinks its so dumb but I think it’s really important for teenage girls to see!
lol- “A few months ago, I started watching 16 and Pregnant on MTV because Supernanny wasn’t cutting it as a prescription for birth control.”
I have watched bits and pieces… overall I think it’s sad to watch.
Kids are a huge responsibility, and everyone, regardless of age, should think about that before getting into it.
Honestly, I think I can’t handle it. :(
I’ve never seen it, but I can imagine that it would be heartbreaking. My dad is the principal at a school with lots of teen parents, and while none of them want to be in that position, they’re handling it with as much grace as possible. My heart really does go out to whoever doesn’t know how challenging raising a baby while you’re still a kid is.
i’ve seen a handfull of episodes, when i find it on i watch it. i do think mtv does a decent job of showing how hard/how much their life changes and that everything you thought you could do, you can’t or it will take so much longer. the episode last season with the adoption had me crying.
and as a teacher it is hard to watch because i see 16 year old everyday and i can’t imagine my students pregnant.
I’ve watched it here and there while flipping through the channels…
My one of my friens in HS had a baby at 16. She then went on to have 2 more by 2 different men so she has 3 now… Atleast she was over 20 for the last 2.
She dropped out of HS got a job and worked nights and her and her family took turns taking care of the 1st kid along with me and all of her friends. It wasn’t an ideal situation but from what I hear she’s doing fine.
I knew quite a few girls in HS who ended up pregnant, actually. My first friend got knocked up at 14. She stayed in school and graduated but her grandma helped her a lot… Her grandma raised her and her brothers not her parents.
I wont go through all of them but it seems that teen pregnancy is the same for everyone. A lot of drama, a lot of grief and a lot of unknowns.
i’ve watched bits and pieces of this show and i just saw wow every time. other times i think the kids parents are freaky and have mullets so i change the channel. but yeah basically teens having babies freaks me out.
I watch the show and every week I end up crying. It’s hard being a married parent at 25 let alone a single one at 16. And they had a follow-up show and the girl with the twins is trying to work it out (slowly) with the baby-daddy. Hopefully it does because she has a long road ahead of her.
This new season of 16 & Pregnant frustrates me because the girls profiled seem SO CLUELESS about everything. I miss the girls from the first season.
I watch it, shake my head and watch it some more. The girls say things that i remember my friends saying about their loser boyfriends only they weren’t pregnant.
my heart goes out to them. I couldn’t do it, but, honestly i wasn’t having sex when i was 16. I was TERRIFIED of getting pregnant.
I’m with you – i thought the girl who had twins was understanding what she did more and more by the end of it. It was hard to watch.
Guilty pleasure… and the twins episode was so sad! Unfortunately the people on this show are almost always from uneducated families, and not too well off. I know that the reason I didn’t have children at 16 was because my family taught me that I shouldn’t be having sex… most of these girls don’t have that. It’s so impossible to compare myself to them now, because I am in a place where I can have children, and at their age, I never would have accidentally gotten pregnant. But still, it makes me think that we should be doing more to teach these kids about the consequences of sex!! I’m super inclined to feel sorry for them even when they are so irresponsible, but at the same time, they all are given the chance to rise up to the occasion and be good parents… and most of them don’t. I just hope that those kids have good lives in the end.
I work with someone who was 15 when she got pregnant and 16 when she married the father and had the baby. She is now 42 and miserable. (Although the son is “successful.” College graduate and working, she is living through him.) Every day at 11 am she takes a phone call from her boyfriend, with copious amounts of tears and pleadings. I understand her husband, when not working, sits alone in the living room and curses cars that park on the street in front of their 2 flat. We did the husband’s will in the office. Everything goes to the son. She doesn’t get anything.
These girls are so naive. I thought I knew everything when I was 16 … but I was smart enough to know that having a baby at 16 wouldn’t enrich my life or theirs.
Maury Pauvich is on at suppertime and it’s mindless while I’m getting food together. He occasionally has 14 year old kids on who want babies. Then the next day’s show is “You are NOT the daddy!”.
I have watched a few episodes of 16 and Pregnant, back when we still had cable. It was a little big hard for me to watch. I had a 5 years struggle to get pregnant with my son, who I wanted with my whole heart. My heart broke a little for those babies and the struggle they would know while growing up. Yet I was proud of the girls for trying to make things work. In their situation I would have likely been exactly the same.
At first I watched the show and never thought twice about the girls (or the babies) after my DVR stopped. Then I found out that one of my good friends was the Dean at the high school where one of the girls had attended (she was kicked out for bad behavior – shocking) – it was the episode where the boyfriend hung out at the skate park all the time. Since then I haven’t liked the show – maybe having a distant connection made it all too real for me.
Of course, it is still taping weekly and I am sure I will watch again, but I had to take a break.
It’s hard to have a baby when you are a tomboy in high school. or if you are talking about girls to your friends, you’re setting them up with your girl friends. The show is a struggle for me, but I can definitely appreciate the realness it can sometimes portray. Personally, I’m having my own teenage pregnancy drama with a 20-something year old in my family. Seems some people never grow up…
I have a hard time feeling sorry for these ignorant girls. Acting surprised that unprotected sex resulted in an unplanned pregnancy.
Although I am much closer to 30 than 16 now (and the thought of pregnancy is still as scary), I can remember as a teen the thought of getting pregnant was so terrifying to me (and to most of my friends) that we were avoided engaging in any sort of sexual activity beyond some making out.
We were ignorant in our own right so much so that we were convinced that any sex act could result in a pregnancy. As a result, we avoided it altogether.
I’ve seen one episode of that show. And I was actually impressed. Not with teenagers becoming parents. But, with how real MTV was with portraying the lives of these kids and their babies. It’s easy for an adult who made the right choices to be judgmental of the kids on that show. But, for the targeted audience of other teenagers, I think it’s a very real look into what it’s like when you’re careless or when you think it won’t happen to you.
When I was 16 I knew well enough to keep my legs together (even though I was on the pill for other reasons). I wasn’t ready for the responsibility of sex let alone the responsibility of having a child. Although I judge those girls harshly at times, I also feel bad for them because you can tell that some of them were never taught any better by their parents.
I’ve seen the show a few times, and enough to know that I am super thankful I was not a teen parent. (And not one now, though I can see it happening in a few years. Maybe.)
Since I avoided guys as a teen, pretty much, I didn’t have to worry about anything like this, but if things had been different (and I was different), who knows what could have happened? Either way, I feel for these girls and boys who have to grow up overnight. And it breaks my heart a little every time I watch an episode because I cannot imagine going through that as a teen.
i totally watch it all the time. i just really love dr. drew on the reunions :) i mostly feel sorry for the girls but also am shocked at how stupid people are. can’t help but watch though!
I have only seen the show a time or two. If I were to get pregnant tomorrow I would absolutely feel overwhelmed and have no idea what to do. However, I like to think I would handle it with more maturity than what these girls do. The few episodes I’ve seen, the girls have gone out leaving their parents to watch their children while they go on dates or hang out with friends. Having a baby is an adult decision, if these teens have a baby, they need to act like an adult.
I watch it all the time. I once spent an entire Saturday watching a ’16 and Pregnant’ marathon. Unfortunately, I usually cry through most of the show. It wasn’t a pretty site.
I am not sure why it makes me cry. Well, maybe I do. I had teenage parents. My dad was 16 and my mom was 18. They’ve been married 42 years.
Enough about me …
I have watched it and it made me cringe too. I just couldn’t do it. Then or now. So I have to have faith that Implanon (and the fact that I am not in a relationship) will do its job so that I am not forced into a situation I don’t want.
I watch 16 and Pregnant whenever I catch it–that is, I don’t DVR it or anything, but since it’s ALWAYS on, I’ve seen the twins show. And to be honest? That girl bothered me. I know she’s 16 and all, but I thought she came across as selfish and spoiled. And not to sound preachy, but clearly we weren’t these girls. I understood at 16 that unprotected sex could equal baby (if not worse like STDs). I understand that at 30–hence the “no baby pills.” Would I have no idea what I’m doing if there were ababy in the picture. Yes, Abso-fuckin-lutely but I think the maturity that comes with being 30 and knowing who you are would help someone our age deal better…but that’s just me. The ep of this show that always killed me was poor Catelynn in season one, who placed her baby for adoption and had zero support from her family. So sad.
I haven’t actually watched a full episode, but I have caught a few here and there. I can see what you are saying about relating to them. A lot of what you said is very true. At any age that there is an unexpected pregnancy. But you would be so much more prepared! But really what do I know about any of this??
I love 16 and pregnant!
But you raise a good point here, would I be any different than them if I was a teen mom? Probably not, I would want to go out and enjoy being a teen, as I should be able to do but obviously can’t. As a 16 year old I would probably be just like them and now I feel kinda bad for judging like I do when I watch.
oh man, the twins one was SO hard to watch. i felt so bad for that girl. you genuinely got the feeling that she was so disappointed in herself. i think it’s really good to show teenage girls why unprotected sex is a BAD idea. it portrays the entire experience in a pretty honest light (or so i would guess since i’ve never been pregnant) & definitely doesn’t make being a teenage parent out to be glamorous in any way. i think it goes a long way with the MTV generation.
That show is my admitted guilty pleasure. That episode was really sad though. On one hand she was doing what probably many of us did with high school boyfriends but in her case she had TWO not just one baby to take care of. I felt like her bf really did want to make it work but she blew it big time. It was sad to watch.
Another episode that really upset me was when one girls bf dumped her a few weeks after she had their daughter by text message telling her how fat she was.
I love that show but man, it’s an emotional roller coaster.