I really would rather focus on nostalgia than the present but the MTV show Teen Mom deserves praise for picturing the effects of teen pregnancy on the mom and the father and their parents. This is one reality show that is actually reality and doesn’t seem to be scripted since they have enough problems on their own without producers and writers dreaming up confrontation situations.
There won’t be any names mentioned in this article since the names don’t really matter. What really matters is that teen moms and dads who are not ready to be a mom or daddy are learning at an early age what it means to be a parent.
Dad Parties While Girlfriend Takes Care of Baby
There are about four teen moms and dads featured in the shows. One of the moms is dealing with a boyfriend that wants to go out at night with his friends rather stay at home with girlfriend who is taking care of their baby. His girlfriend calls him several times during the night and he never returns her calls because he is too busy partying and finally returns home at 7AM the next morning.
His behavior showed the girlfriend he is not interested in being a dad and she moves back home with her parents. They later try to work out their problems but haven’t seen what happened with their attempt to get back together.
Mom and Dad Give Baby Up For Adoption
One of the saddest stories on the show is that of a teen mom and dad giving up their baby for adoption. They only know the first names of the parents who adopted their baby.
The mom and dad of the mom are not happy with her decision to give up the baby since they wanted to be involved in raising the baby and are missing out on being grandparents.
It is easy to criticize the teen parents for giving up their baby but it is a much better option than to have aborted the baby. At least now they can hope to see the baby someday. I can understand why the adoptive parents would need to be secretive about their identity because it could cause problems for them as parents to have the real parents shadowing their every move.
Teen Mom Wanting To Date
Another teen mom seems more intent on dating than on taking care of her baby. She leaves the baby with her parents while she goes on dates. One of the guys she dated was on the high school football team and finally realized he was not ready to be a father and ended their relationship.
The mom doesn’t stop dating with that development but instead continues to party while her parents babysit. The parents are getting more and more upset as she doesn’t want to be a mom but is more focused on partying. She gets upset with her parents and leaves them again to babysite while she parties. Her own sister told her she needed to be a mom but it infuriated her to be told she was not a good mom.
Teen Mom and Dad Battle Constantly
The fourth set of teen parents constantly battle over who is going to take care of the baby while the mom is studying for tests. The dad seems not to care at all about the mom and her problems.
She is shown being stranded with an undependable car that is constantly dying on her. The mom is very frustrated and their relationship is in serious jeopardy.
Unless this relationship improves and the dad begins to help more with the baby these two parents won’t be together very long because they are in constant conflict over the baby.
Lesson For Potential Teen Moms and Dads
Teen Mom is providing a valuable service by letting potential teen parents see what they will be facing by having a baby to raise while a teenager.
If there had been a show like this before they became parents these four teenage girls and the fathers of their babies may never have become parents since they would know being a parent as a teenager is not a picnic.
They have many problems to deal with like finishing school, wanting to party rather than raise their babies, working when they should still be in school and dealing with parents who love their grandchild but don’t like to be left to babysit night after night so the teen parents can party.
It is particularly sad to see the parents who gave up their baby not be able to see their baby and deal with her parents who are upset with her for giving up the baby.
MTV is to be congratulated for airing this show. If it prevents a few teenagers from having babies as teenagers MTV will have provided a platform for teenagers to learn there are consequences for becoming teenage parents.
Nostalgia and Now 