Parents-to-be need support, not shaming
Despite the never-ending proliferation of TV shows such as “16 and Pregnant” or “Teen Mom,” teenage pregnancy has actually decreased in the United States. According to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the city saw a 27 percent decline in teen pregnancies in the past decade.
And yet, Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s administration has decided the next logical step after mandating comprehensive sex education and providing birth control within city schools is to create a “groundbreaking” campaign that will shame teenagers into thinking twice about partaking in less-than-wholesome activities that could lead to an accidental pregnancy.
Using tactics more akin to those of a judgmental church lady, NYC’s Teen Pregnancy Campaign has plastered images of distressed children of supposed teenage mothers, highlighting obstacles they will face growing up with a young mom. Orchestrators of this campaign even came up with the idea of providing a number you could text in an interactive game. That way, anyone could learn what it’s like being a teenage parent-to-be, particularly a future mother who gets to be called a “fat loser” by her best friend at prom, or a future parent who’s ostracized from her folks.
But disregarding the condescending and paternalistic tone this campaign takes, it still doesn’t address the underlying socioeconomic factors that result in teen pregnancy or even offer assistance to teenage parents-to-be — because clearly teens need more shame, and not more support from their friends, family or government.