Are television shows like Teen Mom or 16 & pregnant promoting teen mothers or are they simply showing the negative affects that having a child at a young age can have on your life? Statistics show that shows similar to the ones that are aired on MTV such as, Teen mom & 16 and pregnant do not have a negative effect on the teen pregnancy rates and actually seem to have a positive effect on the decline in rates over the past few years. This year economists from the Brookings Institution and Wellesley College found that the television shows aired on MTV having to do with teen pregnancy may have been responsible for a third of the decline in teen pregnancy rate here in the United States during those years that the shows were being aired. Although there are great mother-daughter moments during the shows it mainly shows the audience how teen pregnancy is a big change in your life, and it shows life issues and hard truth about how your life changes once you have a child, especially at a young age. During the years 2008 and 2012 the teen pregnancy rate in the United States fell rapidly, around this time the shows Teen Mom and 16 & Pregnant were just starting off.
The president of MTV, Stephen Friedman said, "When we developed 16 and Pregnant, teen birth rates were reported to be on the rise, so we created this series as a cautionary tale on the hard realities of teen pregnancy. We are deeply grateful to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy for their expert guidance.