Teen pregnancy has been a burning issue in the U.S. It leads to low birth weight babies and suicidal tendencies in youths. In recent years the trend has been declining. A latest study by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that popular MTV shows like '16 and pregnant' and 'Teen moms' considerably helped in reducing teen pregnancies in the U.S.
The study team explored the impact of pregnancy related television series on teens and if they learnt any lessons about consequences of early pregnancy.
The MTV television series, as specified earlier, prevented more than 20,00,0 births in American teens in 2010, the study states.
While the '16 and pregnant' series deals with stories of teens conceiving early and the hassles they have to go through following the teen pregnancy. The 'Teen moms' continues with the stories of the single mothers and how they rear their kids, according to a recent post on Philly.
The teen series are said to have positively impacted the minds of the youths educating them about ills effects of unprotected sex, the complications faced in teen pregnancies, birth-control measures and more.
In 2012, 30 out of 1,000 young girls got pregnant compared to 62 in 1991. The decline in teen pregnancies speeded up after 2008, during the great recession with the television series instigating a further fall.
The researchers have based their findings on Nielsen's ratings, Google search data, and Twitter trends. An increase in internet searches on birth control measures was noticed every time after an hour-long episode of either of the two television series. The search requests were more common from the areas with greater density of teen population, reports The Guardian.
One of the primary challenges faced by the teens with early pregnancies are losing social contacts as shown on the television series, states Dr. Jody Nicholson, assistant professor of developmental psychology at the University of North Florida, reports wjct.
"It is very common that when teens get pregnant they'll risk losing their friends and that they see this happening on the show," Nicholson said in a statement. According to Nicholson, more such programs should be organized to make the teens aware of the challenges and obstacles faced in early pregnancies and to educate them on birth control measures to avoid the unintended pregnancies.
The two television series have been often criticized for showing cool teen pregnancies but the latest study brings out the relevance of such soaps in our daily lives, portraying hard-time realities faced by pregnant teens.
