According to Times' article "Teenage Fathers: The Missing Father Myth", discusses that not only were teenage fathers willing, but were eager to help. Times also stated that teenage fathers are usually depicted as "churlish scamps, irresponsible hit-and-run artists out to prove their sexual prowess without a thought for the consequences". They went on to discover, however, that "82% reported having daily contact with their children; 74% said they contributed to the child's financial support. Almost 90% maintained a relationship with the mother, whom they had known for an average of two years". The article went on to discuss some of the struggles teen fathers face and what programs are being established to help them as well as teen mothers. I think it is important to remember that for every teen mom there is a father too.
I think that the conflicts that occur between young mothers and fathers is a large part of what makes the show interesting to watch. MTV's main goal is to make money by selling ads, and by almost always including some conflict between the baby's parents, they are making the show more interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn my own personal experience, my cousin, who is a male, and my step-brother are both raising children by themselves. The mothers in both cases have very little to no involvement in their child's life by their own choice. However, I do not think my family is a good sample for fathers throughout the country.
Taylor Z.
Teenage fathers will have a harder time providing for their children then fathers that wait until they have a stable job. There are numerous examples in 16 and Pregnant of fathers that don't finish High School, making it almost virtually impossible to raise a family often making the mother or family members responsible for the well being of their child. I've watched Nicole's episode of 16 and Pregnant (we haven't watched this in class yet) and Tyler the father is unemployed, out of school and virtually has no way to make ends meet. They end up going house to house with their baby, not having a steady home. In the article we read for today, "What we know and need to know about young fathers and fatherhood" it was quoted saying, "It found that b the age of 26, a quarter of young fathers were unemployed and only 4 per cent had professional or managerial jobs compared to 25 per cent of young men who had become fathers in their twenties". Unfortunately, at some point teenage fathers might have it even rougher then mothers as they just don't have the time to get the education needed to really get their finances in line.
ReplyDeleteSarah D
I think that when comparing what we see in episodes of "16 & Pregnant" and/or episodes of "Teen Mom" up againts statistics and researched information, it is important to consider the subjective editing that goes into a single episode of these shows.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed in class the vast amount of footage that much be shot and edited down to create a single episode ("16 & Pregnant") or a series of episodes ("Teen Mom"). Producers are not just going to put in the story of some young pregnant girl without their being some sort of issue at hand. Each episode is edited down, tremndously, to create exposition, conflict, and occassionally a resolution. I think that it is entirely possible that our views of teenage fathers in these shows are being culturally constructed through filmic editing.
Perhaps these boys/men/guys/whatever really aren't involved and that is what makes this teen mom's story so heartbreaking. But consider this also, maybe their involvement or presence is edited out for sheer enterainment/commercial value.
-Andrea W.
Obviously the show is based off of ratings and unfortunately people don't seem to be interested in watching normally functioning families. For effect, they have to cause some drama. But it should be portrayed more equally and the teen dads should definitely get a break.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that the Time article gave the good teen fathers the credit that they deserve. It's got to be frustrating getting stereotyped by television shows into being something your not. I hope that both "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" mix it up a little bit and show some families that are functioning and happy. I know there are some teens out there who do love each other, have had a baby, and/or gotten married and are doing well, with a father who is truly contributing to make things work. I would love to see more of that on the show.
-Kelsey P.
I think the idea of an absent distant father is a vicious cycle. Many young men who have children are from single parent households and so they subconsciously feel like their presence isn't needed. Its sad but its true because no one pushes them to be the man in the child's life and they continue to get away with it year after year. And hyper masculinity is on the rise in the media and part of proving your masculinity is having as much sex as possible without regards to babies.
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