TV shows displaying life of teenage mothers faced criticism of the audience of adults. To most of them, these shows looked like another product of a popular culture which promotes the idea that giving birth to a child at such an early age is advantageous and popular. In fact, such shows as 16 and pregnant or Teen Mom discouraged teenage pregnancies by highlighting the most challenging moments in the life of young mothers. There is also an evidence that the rates of teenage pregnancies dropped across the US since 2009 when the shows started airing.
Except for making money, reality shows about teenage mothers pursued a very sound aim – to decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions made by the age of 20. And this target has been achieved even if the decrease was minimal. As a matter of fact, Hollywood reality shows may depict the conditions which are far from reality. For this reason, adults are afraid that TV shows glamorize and disguise parenting to make it look more appealing to youngsters. Not all girls realize that life on the TV differs dramatically from the life which happens outside the movie set.
The positive fact about 16 and pregnant and Teen Mom is that these shows actually influenced teenagers and persuaded them not to rush in an adult life so early. Abstinence-only programs, on the contrary, did not show the slightest improvement even despite the enormous funding. Nevertheless, neither school education nor TV shows will not substitute heart-to-heart conversation of kids and parents.