Thursday, November 18, 2010

Teenage Pregnancy and Single Parents : 16 and Pregnant

Taylor Grey

Lauren Clark

English 101

18 November 2010

Teenage Pregnancy and Single Parents: 16 and Pregnant

While in high school I knew a few girls my age, even some close friends, who at sixteen and seventeen years old were doing what I thought was unthinkable, having a child of their own. Also during this time, MTV premiered a show that displayed all the struggles of teenagers going through pregnancy and having children called 16 and Pregnant. This show fascinated most people my age and me so I watched it often during my free time. I noticed a distinct pattern while watching a million episodes, that most of the parents of these young people bearing children were single parents, who had struggled in raising their own children.
In conducting my research, I realized that not only was this the case in 16 and Pregnant but it was the case with most pregnant teenagers. In a study conducted in Canada, published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, it is shown that teen pregnancy is more prevalent among teenagers living with a single parent. The journal article explained the study as: “Pregnancy events for those aged 15 to 19 were counted and population size in Nova Scotia communities was estimated. The cumulative probability of pregnancy (CPP) among 15- to 19-year-olds was calculated for each of one hundred and one separate communities. CPP ranged from 0.01 to 0.39, indicating that some communities do well with respect to this health outcome, while others do not. Factors negatively associated with CPP were increasing level of education in communities, and proportions of those indicating a religious faith. Positive associations were seen with increased proportions of single parent families, proportion of population native or black, and the rate of female participation in the work place.” (Langille, Flowerdew, and Andreou 83-94). Single Parent families were named as one factor to increase the amount of pregnant teenagers. The study indicates that family structure is associated with teen pregnancy. Dual-parent families have been indicated to have children that have a later age of first intercourse and lower sexual activity (Langille, Flowerdew, and Andreou 83-94). Further proving the pattern I saw it is shown in the study that growing up in a single- parent family has been seen to be associated with increased risk of pregnancy as a teenager. In 1996 in Nova Scotia there were approximately 40,000 single-parent families; 15% of all families fell into this category of having pregnant teenagers (Langille, Flowerdew, and Andreou 83-94).
With the production of this show by MTV, it seems that teenage pregnancy is very common but that may have something to do with the divorce rate, which is 50% of all marriages. In the book Families in the US it is shown that “divorce rates have been relatively stable from the late 1980s into the 1990s; half of all marriages contracted during the 1970s and thereafter are projected to end in divorce” (Hansen, and Garey 21-859). But why does divorce or being a single parent lead to pregnant teenagers in some cases? Families in the US implies that divorce or being a single parent is a lot of work, which may leave less time to take care of their children, leaving the children with more time without supervision and feeling as if they are not cared for. The book goes on to say, “The crucial disadvantage of the post-modern solution, of course, is that despite the wondrous variety of cultural ideas about “needs”, there is a core desire for care.” (Hansen, and Garey 21-859). This often leads to teenage girls to be taken care of by a boyfriend or first love and therefore soon get pregnant.
I was shocked by just how much my predictions were true. There is in fact a strong correlation between teen pregnancy and single parents. Just as I had in high school, I went back to watch 16 and Pregnant some more as part of my research. I watched ten episodes of MTV’s season two of 16 and Pregnant. Out of the ten episodes, nine of the pregnant teenage girls lived with their single parent. In the first episode, pregnant Emily lives with her divorced and now single mother. The second episode showed pregnant sixteen-year-old living with her single mother Sarina who also had no contact with her dad. Kailyn in the third episode, lives with her single mom after her dad left when she was six months old and never returned, she is pregnant at sixteen. In the fourth episode Lizzie’s parents are divorced and she lives with her single mom and has gotten pregnant at fifteen. Leah, in the fifth episode, lives with her single mom and two siblings. The sixth episode I watched, it showed Nicole living with her single mother after her dad died when she was just two. Samantha was sixteen and pregnant in the seventh episode I watched and lives with her single mom. In the eighth episode I watched, a change of pace with Lori living with her happily married mom and dad. In the ninth episode, Chelsea lives with her divorced and now single dad and has gotten pregnant at sixteen. The tenth and final episode I watched was about Nikkole, a sixteen-year-old pregnant girl who lived with her single mother and her father completely out of the picture.
I knew in high school, watching MTV’s new hit show that most of the girls had single parents but I did not realize what a definite correlation actually existed.

Works Cited

16 and Pregnant. MTV: Web. 18 Nov 2010. .

Hansen, Karen and Anita Garey. Families in the US: Kinship and Domestic Policies. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1998. 21-859. Print.

Langille, Donald, Gordon Flowerdew, and Pantelis Andreou. “Teenage Pregnancy Nova Scotia Communities: Associations with Contextual Factosrs.” Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 13.2 (2004): 83-94. Web. 18 Nov 2010.

No comments:

Post a Comment