Hey Sarah Palin, don’t blame Levi Johnston for that baby in your daughter’s belly. Blame Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen!

Teenaged girls who watch so-called television programs with high sexuality content, like Sex & The City, That ’70s Show and Gossip Girl, are more likely to become pregnant within the next 3 years, reports the New York Daily News.

That’s rich.

I’m not denying the media’s impact on impressionable minds. But it’s an argument full of holes (no pun intended).

First of all, the messages on these so-called “racy” shows are being characterized as black-and-white: pro- or anti- wild irresponsible sex. On That ’70s Show, the lead characters Donna and Eric dating for a long time before sleeping together. Same thing for Dan Humphrey, who is a virgin when he sleeps with Serena on Gossip Girl, and Blair, who was saving herself for her boyfriend Nate Archibald. (Nevermind that she got distracted by Nate’s best friend…but it is a primetime soap, people!) These characters are all juniors or seniors in high school, which means they are 17 years old or so, the average age an American woman loses her virginity.

Read the rest of this entry »

The RAND Corp. study recently linked teenagers’ exposure to sexual content on TV and teen pregnancies. The study found that teens who viewed high amounts of sexual content on TV were twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy in the following three years as teens with limited exposure.

Of the 2,003 12- to 17-year-olds studied, 744 said they had engaged in sexual intercourse, and 718 of them shared information about their pregnancy histories. Of that group, a total of 91 teenagers — 58 girls and 33 boys — said they had experienced a pregnancy or had gotten a girl pregnant.

Read the rest of this entry »

Have you met pregnant Barbie? She is suppose to be a parody. Some find it funny. Some find it offensive. Personally, I think teen pregnancy has become so common and such a joke that I’m surprised it took Skipper this long to get knocked up.

The doll is part of a multi-media art project by artist Nina Westerberg and while it serves as a creative commentary regarding societies seemingly cavalier reaction to teen pregnancy, we do need to takepart to help educate teenagers about safe sex and contraception. Organizations like The National Campaign aim to help prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy, check out their site at thenationalcampaign.org

I’m sure most people have heard by now of the 17 pregnant girls at Gloucester High School. Yes, that’s 17 soon-to- be-moms all under age 17!  Many of the expectant teenage moms confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together.   One girl even fessed up that the father of her unborn child is a 24-year-old homeless guy!  A homeless guy! Whatever happen to the days when teens avoided getting knocked up? Why are children purposefully having children?

School Superintendent Christopher Farmer told CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller the teens feel, “Motherhood gives them status.”

“It sort of gives you the impression of being an adult, an independent. It may give you an opportunity for unconditional love and attention from the baby and also that you give to the baby,” Dr. Elisabeth Guthrie, a pediatric psychiatrist, observed to Miller. [CBS News]

Of course there are those folks who argue that it’s the fault of the media for “glamourizing” pregnancy.

Read the rest of this entry »

While other industrialized nations seem to be in a bit of a birthing slump, 4.3 million American births were reported in 2006, the largest number since 1961. Studies show that the United States has a higher fertility rate than all of continental Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia. But more people also means more kids. While birthrates have increased in multiple racial and ethnic groups in the US, a rapidly growing Hispanic population has resulted in a quarter of the 2006 births belonging to Hispanic parents. Unfortunately, other major factors related to the higher birth rates aren’t attributed to exemplary causes - they include a drop in access to abortion, poor education, poverty, a decline in contraceptive use and an increase in teen pregnancy.

Teen pregnancy is linked to other critical social issues including poverty and income disparity, and child welfare. Teenpregnancy.org is working toward bringing teens balanced information on both abstinence and contraceptive use. Click here to take action: