Sex. Ed. on TV

The message — that babies and parenting are hard work — seems to be sinking in for some of its intended audience. [15 year olds] Leslie, Miguel and Paola all intend to be parents, but, as Miguel says, “not at this age.” – Grigsby Bates, 2010.

NPR’s Morning Edition had a story on “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant”, two TV shows from MTV. These shows apparently offer a very realistic take on what it means to be a teen parent. So much so, the Kaiser Family Foundation is providing free DVD’s of the 16 and Pregnant series (as well as the Think HIV: This Is Me documentary).

I have not seen either of these series, but am interested in finding out if any of my students are familiar with them, if they’re appropriate for early adolescents, and if anyone else has tried them. From the radio program it sounds like they might be a useful supplement to the Baby Think It Over® infant simulators.

On a somewhat tangential note, every time is see the Baby Think It Over dolls, I’m reminded of Elna Baker’s story, Babies Buying Babies (see Act 3), on This American Life. It’s about the choices parents make when choosing the race of a life-like, newborn doll for their kids. The Baby Think It Over dolls are pretty life-like and I’ve heard anecdotes of kids getting strange looks when walking around, not just with a baby, but one that looks like it’s from a different race.

Leave a Reply