Teen Pregnancy Hollywood's New "Baby"

With the success of quirky Indie film Juno and the recent cover story on teen mom Jamie Lynn Spears in OK! magazine, teenage pregnancy has become "a hot plot device" in Hollywood, according to Newsweek. Unfortunately, it's a woefully one-sided perspective.

Many teen moms and the adults who deal with them are glad to see a conversation about teen pregnancy out in the open. But they say that big parts of the story are being glossed over: how that baby bump came to be in the first place, and just how hard it'll be for a teen to raise a child.

"It's the missing three C's: there's little commitment, no mention of contraception and rarely do we see negative consequences," says Jane Brown, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina who runs the Teen Media Project. "What's missing in the media's sexual script is what happens before and after. Why are these kids getting pregnant and what happens afterward?"

Al Mohler points out the danger of such an unrealistic view of teen motherhood:

The OK! magazine cover makes teen motherhood look positively glamorous. But, as one young woman responded to the OK! coverage, "I had a baby at 16, it was NOT easy, I did NOT look radiant and beautiful."

Then again, that kind of honesty probably wouldn't sell many magazines. Hollywood and the entertainment industry are selling their version of normal teenage expectation.

And their version is horribly flawed. It sells teens short by telling them that raising a child on their own will be easy and bring them happiness. If they happen to secure a committed relationship (forget about marriage), all the better, but that part is optional. Unfortunately, the glossy, touched-up photo of a smiling Jamie Lynn is not the true picture of a single, teenage mom. The reality is, single moms are more likely to experience poverty and less likely to marry or gain an education than their childless counterparts.

I'm glad that media is looking at the issue of teen pregnancy. And I appreciate the pro-life message of keeping the baby. But ultimately ignoring God's design for sex and the family is setting teens up for failure. Where are the movies about that?

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1. obewan said the following at 12:56 PM on Jul 25:

The Blog said:
“--I'm glad that media is looking at the issue of teen pregnancy. And I appreciate the pro-life message of keeping the baby. But ultimately ignoring God's design for sex and the family is setting teens up for failure. Where are the movies about that?—“

I don’t need to be negative, but I don’t see how we can win when it comes to the secular media. They for sure don’t see it as their purpose to espouse spiritual values, so what should we expect? When it comes to teen pregnancy, if they show all the negative downers, more people will want abortions. If they show the cute beautiful babies, fewer abortions may happen, but perhaps more teens will be less paranoid about unwed pregnancy, and less careful about their sins.

Regarding movies about failure, perhaps some could be made about AIDS, but I do not hope for that because it would mean that at least one more person had received a death sentence. Overall, I would not expect the teen pregnancy statistic to move from where it is currently at, except for the isolated cases like the group pregnancy pact at that one freak high school. What we may see is more teens that might have become pregnant anyway keeping their babies, which is better than having them die in an abortion.

2. 'Guerite ~ BoldLion said the following at 1:04 PM on Jul 25:

I saw that on Al's blog before this! Yes, It is sad that they are ignoring God's design for sex and marriage.

As a volunteer for Crisis Pregnancy Center, we all know that they will not have best option for the child(ren) unless they allow the child to be adopted by wonderful godly couple who can provide a better home for the child and education for the child.

I do hope the OK! magazine will not encourage teenager that they can have baby before marriage.

We all need to encourage them to say "No to Sex" until marriage.

Also, I am sure that the media is not pointing out the side effect of having sex outside of marriage. Such as STD and some are incurable for life time. There are more 35 STD's out there. (I was in the volunteer Crisis Center training last night and learn more about STD's).

This is heart breaking!

Be Pure for Christ!
'Guerite ~ BoldLion

3. Kelly said the following at 1:04 PM on Jul 25:

I agree, the big parts of the story are being glossed over. In particular, the conception.

I keep hearing stories of teenagers pregnant 'by accident'. Now, it's not "we didn't mean to have sex but we accidentally did". It's stories like this:

- We didn't go all the way, there was just touching.

- I didn't know what was happening and by then it was too late. (This DOES happen to girls in compromising situations, in their heads they are wanting to stop, but by the time they get the words together, it's too late.)

Hearing these stories from girls always breaks my heart, because they thought they were being safe and got caught out anyway. Lives changed because they strayed too close to the line.

And yes, I am a person born from the first scenario above.

4. KJ said the following at 1:46 PM on Jul 25:

FWIW, there's a 1998 Lifetime movie (starring Kirsten Dunst) called Fifteen and Pregnant...I only caught the last part, so I can't really vouch for all of it, but it seemed to be a little more realistic than the glossy Jamie Lynne Spears images we're seeing now. It ended with a haunting line to the effect of, "It doesn't matter where I go, or what I do - for the rest of my life, I will always be someone's mother" - which is quite a big reality to wrap a fifteen-year-old mind around.

However, nobody really takes Lifetime movies very seriously...

5. Mallie said the following at 2:07 PM on Jul 25:

It's funny, because since the feminist explosion in the 70's, girls have been taught, "Children are not a priority. Focus on your career." Could this new phenomenon be a backlash against the last generation's remorse of childlessness? Having seen their mothers' unfulfillment in the business world, are these girls trying to rashly escape the same fate? Or is this a further progression of a feminist idea? No man, no core family structure, no problem. Women don't need men, we can have it all.

6. brx said the following at 2:27 PM on Jul 25:

Suzanne asks:
"...ultimately ignoring God's design for sex and the family is setting teens up for failure. Where are the movies about that?"

Who want's to see a movie about that? Maybe a documentary, but it won't be very popular. I think followers of Christ are caught between the Rock and a hard place. I don't see how one can make a great Christian film that shows how difficult teenage pregnancy and motherhood is without also exploring God's redemption and healing. That's one of the key point of the Gospel - redemption. And when you have a great redemption plot, well, by the end it does tend to make people forget about the difficulties of what came before it - because God's glory is so awesome! ...suddenly I'm reminded of LisaA's mention of "testimony crimes" in the last B-Show episode...

"Juno" was a little more realistic, I thought. It didn't show things as being all hunky-dory afterwards... I do think giving the baby up for adoption is the wiser, more rational decision. The few teen moms I know, I think they'd agree that some serious counseling/therapy would have been very helpful _before_ they ever became pregnant.

Grace, peace & redemption

7. Suzanne said the following at 3:04 PM on Jul 25:

brx—Good point. However, it would be best if media presented a more well-rounded view of teenage motherhood.

8. kaj said the following at 6:37 PM on Jul 25:

Somewhat related:

administrators, feel free to start a new thread if appropriate

I wonder if anyone out here in Boundless-land has seen the NBC TV series "The Baby Borrowers" and would like to comment.

9. Richard said the following at 11:03 AM on Jul 26:

I don't see why the article's author is criticizing this phenomenon. For so long young people have been taught that children are such a hassle that abortion is the only real option. Finally new voices are coming out showing the joys of having kids at a young age, so it that wrong ?

I personally know a young lady who got pregnant in high school, and decided to raise the baby. She adores her lifestyle, being both a young mommmy and still an attractive young woman, and she is happy almost all the time.

10. brx said the following at 2:10 PM on Jul 27:

Re: Richard (#9),

You wrote "She adores her lifestyle..." and considering the actual lifestyle of young, unwed mommies I know, I'm curious as to what lifestyle you are refering too.

Too many unwed mothers I know, continue to live a kind of social party lifestyle, dating around for fun rather than getting wise, godly counsel to seriously seek a godly husband. All-the-while they are totally oblivious to the long-term negative impact that their pleasure-seeking lifestyle will have on their child. Also, as the child grows older, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a good guy willing to marry in and take on the task of helping raise the child. I hope your friend is non-typical and not having any of those problems.

Grace & peace

11. Shandra said the following at 5:13 PM on Jul 27:

Richard states:

"I personally know a young lady who got pregnant in high school, and decided to raise the baby. She adores her lifestyle, being both a young mommmy and still an attractive young woman, and she is happy almost all the time."

I wonder many things when I think about the teen mothers:

1. Does she have a job?
2. Does she have family to help her when she wants to go out...for fun?
3. Does she have family to help her when she has to go out to support her and the baby?
4. How much income does she alone have to support herself AND the baby?
5. There are so many other questions that I can't even begin to list on here when it comes to having a baby and I am 27 and childless.

There are so many questions to consider when choosing to have a baby: you must consider these questions whether you really want a baby or if you just had unprotected sex

Note: I guess my point is...unless the young attractive girl has ample amounts of money to support herself and the baby...she's going to need money as well as the support of others.

Also, if we think of the wide-range of socioeconomic differences in America...we'd realize that not everyone has the same support when it comes to raising a child. What response would we give to 2 teen mothers sitting in the same room about their decision--one like the attractive young woman and one who is probably not as well off as her. Would we say to the one who is not as well off: "Well, you should have thought about that before you got pregnant?"

Finally, people may present a happy-front, but behind closed doors that's not always the case.

Thank you.

12. Samaria said the following at 5:35 PM on Jul 27:

[I don't see why the article's author is criticizing this phenomenon. For so long young people have been taught that children are such a hassle that abortion is the only real option. Finally new voices are coming out showing the joys of having kids at a young age, so it that wrong ?

Richard, I believe you missed the point. It is not the having children joyfully part that is being criticized here; it is the fact that young people are having children they can't afford emotionally, mentally, financially, and spiritually. These young people are having children in the wrong context with the wrong impression; they are ignorant of reality.

The girl you mentioned is one in a million. A baby doesn't make a woman ugly, but having a child is definitely not the glamourous experience girls make it out to be. Loss of sleep, morning sickness, the inability to hold urine, extra skin... the results and symptoms of pregnancy aren't beautiful and lovely. She may adore her lifestyle, and few mothers will tell you that they don't love their children regardless, but most will also tell you they wished they would have made different choices, simply because they cannot give their child the best possible life because they aren't able to [finish school, find a great-paying job, etc.].

13. Leah said the following at 8:19 PM on Jul 27:

Richard- are you encouraging people to get pregnant outside of marriage?

14. BDB said the following at 11:30 PM on Jul 27:

The OP asks:

>>Where are the movies about that? <<

Hmmm...LOTR was pretty good about focusing on marriage over children...

More specifically, the Steven Martin movie Parenthood did a pretty good job of showing the consequences of various choices. There are definitely some non-Christian parts of that movie, so if you don't like PG-13 jokes, exercise discernment and don't rent it. But the movie does show what a family has to do to cope with the "stuff" of life.

15. J. Tucker said the following at 11:45 AM on Jul 28:

Richard (#9)

"For so long young people have been taught that children are such a hassle that abortion is the only real option. Finally new voices are coming out showing the joys of having kids at a young age, so it that wrong?"

Sure, it's wrong. It's wrong because these voices aren't showing the joys of having kids at a young age. The voices are not there to espouse the sanctity of life as an opposition to abortion.

The voices are there to make people feel better about their poor choices. Being a single mother in high school is probably one of the most difficult ways you can start adulthood. These young girls aren't thinking about the "joys" of children when they get pregnant. Many times they are feeling unloved, seek love in sex, or think that having a child will bring someone into their lives that will love them unconditionally. Anyone with a child or who has experience with children knows that this is a huge misconception.

Now, after the fact of the pregnancy, I think it's wonderful and the right thing to do to give birth to the child. And I have close friends who are single mothers that would never give up one day of their child's life. But having some pregnant teen celebrities in magazines being glamorized? It's foolishness, and all of my single mother friends will tell you that.