Hollywood's Role In Teen Pregnancy

Films Depicting Pregnancy Give Birth To A Lot Of Talk, But Is It A Mirror Of Real Life?

(CBS)  If you want to know what's on the minds of many teenage girls, just listen.

"Is that the same guy who is in Gossip Girl?" one teen says.

But the talk at one suburban Los Angeles High School has shifted from favorite TV shows to what they're seeing on the big screen, CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports.

"I got bored and had sex with you, and didn't want to, like, marry you," says the character Juno in the film of the same name.

Movies like Academy Award-nominated Juno, where a wisecracking teenage girl "delivers" some very serious news.

"I'm pregnant," she says.

Also, there's the real-live version: 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, now a pregnant teen TV star. And these cultural moments are giving birth to a lot of talk about teen pregnancy.

Elise, Juliana, Zoe and Tracy are high school seniors.

"I think sex in the media has definitely gone up over the years," Zoe said.

Juliana Stone added: "Younger celebrities doing very mature, adult things seems cool."

In older movies, pregnancy was more than unplanned.

But recent films such as Knocked Up and Juno, where women have their babies, make getting pregnant look like a bump in the road.

Tracy asked: "Do you worry that there is maybe a message here is that unplanned pregnancy isn't that big of deal?"

"I have friends who have joked Juno made me want to have a baby but its joking," Elise Gibbs said.

"Having an unplanned pregnancy is a big deal and it shouldn't be talked about in cavalier manner," said another student, Tracy Sidler.

While there is debate as to why teen pregnancies are up and the abortion rate is at a 30-year low, the fact remains that 750,000 teenage girls will get pregnant this year.

Its unclear whether Hollywood is imitating life or the other way around. But those who work with pregnant teens are seeing a cultural shift in the way we view teenage pregnancy.

"Clearly the stigma of pregnancy is no longer there - a little bit, but not to nearly the extent it used to be," said Pediatrician Victoria Paterno.

She says the media's glamorization of pregnancy and more supportive families may be behind a shift in attitude. But that doesn't mean their classmates feel the same.

Sidler said: "I think there is a great deal more negativity that goes along with being pregnant in high school."

Is that the sense that what you are seeing in movies and on TV doesn't necessarily jive with what would happen in real life?

"She gets pregnant, has the baby, puts it up for adoption and her life goes back to normal," Sidler said.

In the movie Juno, it is said: "we can just pretend that this never happened."

It's a Hollywood ending that rarely plays out in the high school hallway.

[blakeney3]

No kid sees things the same way as they will when they''re 30 or 40. And Hollywood influences all of us, not just children and teens. It''s time we realized that. (Why else do you think major brands offer filmakers incentives to use their products in films?)

The current love/romance = *** attitude in the media has been a growing sense of irritation for me for some time. If you watch a movie or a tv show nowadays, you can learn an awful lot about ***, but not much about love - what brings people together, and what keeps them together.

Unfortunately many kids who see this are even more impressionable than adults. We are raising a generation of unhappy, dissatisfied people, many of whom will have relationship troubles.

One last thing: tuliptou, good for you. Teen pregnancies are not a good thing, but what''s done is done. A new life in the world is always a cause for celebration, because there''s always a chance that person can change the world for the better.

No, I am *not* advocating teen or unwanted pregnancies. I *am* saying that if a teenager has a baby, they can either mope around, saying their life is ruined, or do what they can to make sure their baby is responsibly taken care of.

Tuliptou, it sounds like you are a good mama, and don''t let anyone get you down. Keep taking care of your baby, and take care of yourself as well. Keep learning and pushing yourself, so that your child will have a mama she can be proud of. God bless, and good things to you both.

[keithle1]

Raging hormoes & the stupid, silly, impulsive teenage girl brain are a dangerous combination. They live in a crazy fantasy word of "love" & "romance." All boys want to do is get them in bed. Another virgin deflowered.

[kevzgrl]

I have a great idea - let''s tell the teenagers that the best way to keep from getting pregnant is to remain celibate until marriage. Let''s just cut out all that silly funding for birth control and REAL *** education, and put it all in "abstinence only" - just WATCH the teen pregnancy rate drop - NOT!!!

[rf35]

"While there is debate as to why teen pregnancies are up and the abortion rate is at a 30-year low..."

Hey CBS, I think you just answered yourself.

Seriously, it all boils down to education and availability of BC. I surely didn''t want to wind up as a father when I was a teen, so I took steps to prevent that. Unlike most guys, I would have stayed with her...that''s just how I was raised. Anyway, the girls today should make sure the guy is taking those steps and do their part as well. Double the protection. Since most so-called men who are knocking these girls up are out of sight by the time "preg" is out of her mouth, the responsibility for her to demand protection is even greater. If contraceptives aren''t made available or if she isn''t taught about different methods, effective rates, and the risks of each, how can she ensure protection?
Many parents today rely on the school to educate their children on s-e-x because they are uncomfortable with the subject or uneducated themselves. The schools must be allowed do this. Include talking up abstinence, but don''t rely on it. Personally, I''d rather have a few of my tax dollars going to contraceptives for teens instead of the high cost of support for them and their children when they get pregnant.

[johnsole1]

My daughter is over 21, has never been pregnant, and for that I am truly thankful. I taught my daughter to understand that the uncontrollable urge for intimacy is impossible to ignore. She was taught to expect raging hormones and to deal with being driven by those hormones, she was taught that girls want "to do it" as bad as boys do, she was taught about pregnancy, STD''s, and contraception. She was taught that s*x is not wrong, in fact it is a wonderful thing, but that she must remain in control of who, where, how, and when. Females must understand the power they hold. Females must realize it is their choice whether or not to conceive. You can have s*x and not make babies. There should be shame in buying diapers when you are a teen, and I see no shame in buying contraception when you are a teen.

[neoconslayer]

Maybe they should make a movie where the poor resource-less teenager gets pregnant and has a baby.
Instead of covering the pregnancy, the film can trace the 18 years of poverty the child is most likely to face.
Surely Hollywood could make that look like "the non-stop, action-packed, feel-good blockbuster" of the year.

[tweedle02]

Everyone makes choices whether they are right or wrong at the time. Kids having kids is plain wrong. When a girl gets pregnant in school in my state, they are taken out of school and placed in-home schooling, at the expense of the tax payers. I feel this is wrong. They should have to stay in school up until the last tri-mester. If the girl doesn''t want the baby, then by all means, put it up for adoption. Don''t wind up like some of the latest people in the news by destroying an innocent life just because things have gone over your head, or too hard. It''s hard everywhere for everyone, someone will love and care for your child sometimes better than you can. If they are so bent on having *** while still young, the least they can do is protect themselves. And one last thing that really bothers me..... America has it''s own starving people/children and homeless people that need our help. Why send funds abroad when it is desperately needed here?? Before we start making the "World a better place" we need to take a good hard look at what we need to do at home!

[apdepetris]

Here we go again. People blaming someone else for parenting problems. Parents need to take responsibility for teaching their children about *** and birth control - both boys and girls since it takes both to create a baby. And we need to have *** education classes and birth control available as well for kids of parents who still won''t take responsiblity to educate their children.

As another poster said, if teenagers believe everything they see in movies to be true then there''s some other issues going on. But maybe *** ed classes could use films like Juno as a teaching tool. Create a dialog between teachers and students about how they feel about the movie. Do they think it accurately depicts teen pregnancy? What do they think it would be like to have a baby as a teen? Do they have a realistic picture about what their life would be like?

The important thing is to have open communication between parents and kids - or at the very least between the kids and a counselor/instructor at school. Someone that they go to with questions and get straight answers - not someone who just preaches abstinence to them. Having kids properly informed is the only way to help them make informed choices.

[hypnotoad72]

The teeniebopper preggers problem has existed for DECADES.

The stigma being there for a reason; babies are a full time job. Expensive one too. It''s worse when there''s no two parent system.

I have relatives; one who got a teen pregnant. They later split up. It''s a clichi, but I''m thinking of how that child''s future is going to be. Assuming there will be one. I''ve observed, more directly than those who can''t see the wrong, how unwed pregnancies, divorces, latch-key kids, and other issues impact children.

Never mind the disease; especially brought about by selfish men who don''t give a *. Some who have it even
give it if asked.

Still, some people actually complain America''s population needs to be much larger. Then more teens should bop the biscuit and breed like there''s no tomorrow. We have no infrastructure or jobs, so why should anyone care? Why do I care... because I believe America can be great again...

[honestabe8]

ubrew: i think that the Nancy Reagan thing about "Just Say No" was their pathetic attempt to add some credibility to the failed drug war. Actually, drug use went up at the time. And I agree, Nancy (by her own admission) did not say "No" when she was a young starlet. Apparently, she was quite adept at oral presentations.

[keithle1]

Black teenage girls have babies all the time. Black guy smiles at them & they can''t wait to have unprotected *** with him. Of course the dude disappears when the 15-year-old girl is pregnant.
Stupid girl is left alone at the bus stop with her stroller.

No stigma in the black community. Girl''s mother was probably a teenager when she had her. They think it''s cute. Give the baby a name no one can spell or pronounce. Bring the baby into the place where they work & everyone oohs & aahs like they have never seen a baby before.

Don''t girls consider using birth control? Why have unprotected ***? Don''t they know about the birds & the bees? Tell the playboy/super stud/ladies man/playa to use a condom or he''s not having *** with you. I know he''s not so charming & handsome that you can''t resist him.

Girls/women do things to themselves. The ruin their lives by making stupid, impulsive decisions. You really want your mother/grandmother to babysit for you while you work your minimim wage job? You going to drop out of high school?

If you have a baby that baby is your #1 priority for 18-21 years. My mother put us first & herself a distant second. You never stop being a mother. Ask yourself if you''re ready for that kind of responsibility. It''s not right, normal or healthy for a teenage girl to get pregnant & have a baby. You have lots of time to have a baby.

BIRTH CONTROL. Which part of that don''t you understand?

[baye13]

If young girls think what they see on tv is real then they shouldn''t be breeding.

[annabell100]

I got pregnant at 18 and had my baby at 19 and it was tough. It was the best thing that ever happened to be but it was seriously tough. I went to college, got a degree and have been working ever since to support my child. I do think that TV/movies make being pregnant and having a baby is easy. I also feel that a woman has the right to choose whether she wants to keep the baby, give it up for adoption or have an abortion. Some babies would be better off had their mothers done one of the second 2. The fact of the matter is is that as a teen having a baby means responsibility. That baby is not going to go away. It is a helpless little being and requires alot of time and money. I think alot of people get caught up in the whole you are to young to have a baby and forget that if that teen decides she wants to keep the child that maybe a little help would be nice. Some emotional support for her and the rest of that family.

[ubrew12]

''Just say No!''
was invented by Nancy REagan and other women in their 50''s to convince HORMONE-ENRAGED girls in their late TEENS to say NO to ***. What a laugh!!! Nancy Reagan was saying ''Yes..Yes..Yes'' when she was in her late teens, as were all of her co-horts!!!

It''s time to realize that teens that want to have s*x are being driven by hormones. The most responsible thing we can do is teach them about birth control and give them access to techniques (like the Pill) that will prevent pregnancy. Abstinence is certainly preferable, and should be preached. But, recognize that, in one''s late teens, 100 million years of evolutionary physiology is demanding a different response from our children. We need to be more understanding of what kind of pressures they are under to procreate!!!

[ubrew12]

Does anyone remember ''Just say no''? Teenaged girls were supposed to use abstinence to prevent pregnancy, NOT condoms. That myth is STILL being sold by Christian Conservatives (supported by the Bush admin) to Africans.

That whole idea was a big LIE. Now, an increase in teenage pregnancies is supposed to be HOLLYWOODS fault!!! Yeah... right...

[otdky07]

Why should my taxes pay for someone else''s irresponsibility. It''s a sad thing to see that single mom''s with absentee fathers are the norm. There is a term for a male child who is born out of wedlock. But I guess the acceptance of the trend has made the real meaning obsolete. Hollywood has already made marriage a joke, I guess their trying to trivialize having a child as well.

[tuliptou]

i am a 19 year old mother and i am absolutely in love with my baby. i do not appreciate the way cbs has "put down" teen pregnancy in this article. no my baby was not planned and yes i am young, but nothing better has happened to me in my life than my baby girl. maybe the news should be less one sided and should also show the positives of bringing a child into this world, at any age.

[tuliptou]

i am a 19 year old mother and i am absolutely in love with my baby. i do not appreciate the way cbs has "put down" teen pregnancy in this article. no my baby was not planned and yes i am young, but nothing better has happened to me in my life than my baby girl. maybe the news should be less one sided and should also show the positives of bringing a child into this world, at any age.

[juancarlooos]

Those girls were so well spoken, and not too hard on the eyes!

[cydnegml1]

Unfortunately, it has become "socially acceptable" to have a baby as a teenager. We have schools that cater to pregnant teens by providing them with daycare. Our schools have taken out intense *** education because they want to be "politically correct" and don''t want to "offend" anyone. I am a"baby" nurse and also work within my community to decrease the number of teen pregnancies. However, until parents realize that its not o.k to be a teen and pregnant and teach their kids about the availablitity of birth control instead of ignoring the issue, the problem will only get worse. Each state needs to develop programs that enable kids that have an increased risk of becoming pregnant incentives to help pay for college and give them goals to work toward so that when they do have a baby, they can take care of it!