Stuck in Reality
Story Line of 'Teen Mom 3' Might Actually Get Parents' Approval
How about a good Teen Mom rumor for a change, folks? The scuttlebutt is that MTV is likely to sign Briana DeJesus as the fourth and final choice for its cast of its new upcoming show Teen Mom 3. So why is that worth celebrating?
Easy. This could be a casting decision that really drives home to teen viewers why they need to wait to procreate ... perhaps more so than all the other girls who have come before. The reality series traditionally features not just the teen moms but their entire families. And avid watchers of 16 and Pregnant couldn't help but be moved by the DeJesus' family last season. After all: Briana wasn't the only pregnant teenager in her house.
DeJesus' sister, Brittany, also got pregnant. But unlike Briana, who is now the mother of a 10-month-old, Brittany has had a pretty normal teenage life: because she chose to have an abortion.
Watching Briana come to terms with how her life had changed because of her choices was made that much more real by the contrast with that of her sister. We got that in just an hour. Now imagine that dichotomy in your teenager's face every week. Even your most petulant teenager would have a hard time saying, "Ooh, I think the mom is having more fun." Certainly not with a down-to-earth, uber-honest girl like Briana, who had no qualms about telling viewers just how hard it was with her baby daddy out of the picture, and her dreams of going to college and making something of herself becoming a challenge.
None of the kids on the various MTV shows about teen parenthood are exactly living the high life -- as Maci Bookout made abundantly clear when she spoke with The Stir earlier this month -- but watching the DeJesus sisters leading their different lives because of their different choices could finally end the "glamorizing teen pregnancy" argument once and for all.
Am I saying this means that kids should get abortions? Of course not. But if kids watch two teenagers side by side, one with a child and one without, they're bound to get a pretty clear picture that child-free is the way to be ... at least in the teen years.
What kind of message do you think Briana and her story would send to teens?
Image via MTV
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Michelephant
Christie
jsplash23
I actually hope she isn't picked b/c after watching 16&P and both Teen Moms, I have a feeling that they will force her sister to relive her abortion over and over. Sort of the way Tyler & Catelynn are not allowed any sense of closure about their adoption.
kaerae
dirtiekittie
i would find it interesting - although this isn't the first foray 16&P has made into abortion (there was a special a while back about another teen mom who got pregnant a second time and had an abortion) but to see the stark differences in these two girls' lives would greatly benefit teens, i think.
also, even though it was hard for their family to go through, you can tell that they built a stronger bond from their experiences - good for them, and i hope regardless, it all works out for their family.
jessicasmom1
interesting hmmmm
Patricia Moore
I have seen that episode and I can say it was hard for me to watch, having chosen to have an abortion myself as a teen. If they do cast her, I also hope that they are able to show some of the mental and emotional stress that having an abortion causes too. Especially with her have to watch her sister get to have a baby. I don't want them to make it look like an abortion is the "easy way out" because it's not. Being careful and smart or waiting is.
Rachel Westfall
Cristina Go
Za245