There has been a huge concern with the shows “16 and Pregnant” and  “Teen Mom” on MTV.  People are saying that the shows aren’t real enough and doesn’t show the true struggles of what a real teen mom would go through. Most think that MTV “sugar-coats” the situation making girls believe that it is a good thing to get pregnant because it could bring them fame. In fact, the pregnancy rate has declined tremendously over the years. In 1991 the rate was 61.8 births for every 1,000 adolescent females compared to 2013 where here was only 26.5 births for every 1,000 adolescent females, as stated on www.hhs.gov .

In my opinion, the shows have helped the pregnancy rate go down because it shows kids how fast they have to grow up when they have to raise another human being. It also shows them that its not easy at all. Not everyone will get famous for being pregnant, common sense should tell these kids that. The show doesn’t seem to be bad at all. It opens young girls’ minds to see what the future could hold if they choose to have unprotected sex at any time. This is just in life in general.

Since the airing of “16 and Pregnant” there was a study shown by the National Bureau of Economic Research showing a 5.7% reduction in teen births after the first 18 months of the shows premiere. This shows that even though teens have been watching the show, clearly its not the problem. So instead of looking at all the negatives maybe people should start looking at the positives that have come from these two shows. In “16 and Pregnant” they stress the fact to never have unprotected sex and that its okay to have your partner checked for any diseases as well as yourself before you practice safe sex. With ‘Teen Mom” they focus on being independent, getting jobs and still going to school so you can support your child and yourself.

All in all I say they are good shows. I believe they should stay on air because its keeping our teens safe and helping to prevent teen pregnancies from happening. If we keep this show going we might be able to get to the point where there might not be any pregnancies at all!