16 and Pregnant

[Deleted]

I am watching. But, wow, I have a much different take on the kids than some of you guys, evidently.

Maci -- I agree; she's doing well. She has a pretty level head on her shoulders. I am glad her parents are so supportive and she can go back to school. Her ex-bf sucks and I hope she leaves him in the dust.

Amber has serious anger management issues. But I also think she is really struggling so it's hard to judge her too harshly. She's miserable and probably has undiagnosed/untreated depression. I feel sorry for everyone in that situation.

Catelynn's home life is a nightmare. She needs to get out of there. I literally pray for those kids to make a better life for themselves.

Farrah -- I don't think she's bad at all. Yeah, she's a little boy-crazy but a) she's a teenager, and b) some of that has to be attributed to editing, I am sure. I actually think she's doing a decent job of juggling baby, school, family and social life. I think her mom and sister are horribly critical assholes. I can't stand either of those bitches. Her mom is the poster child for denial: "Our family does not believe in pre-marital sex." Um... Let me introduce you to little person called Sophia, you jerk. Ugh!

I love this series. I think it's one of the most responsible things MTV has ever done (following up on these moms). (And, yes, I do feel like a dork saying that but whatever.) "16 and Pregnant" showed that teen pregnancy is hard but actually having the baby is when the real hard work starts. This is actual reality TV (although I do agree that they are milking the situation with open adoption. I wish Catelynn and Tyler were able to focus more on moving on).

[margojata]

Farrah's story seems the most scripted. I wonder if they are just trying to set her up with drama (via boyfriends and fights with mom about them) because she doesn't really have much? It's a lousy situation, but there's no baby daddy drama, and she's not dirt poor with fighting white trash parents.

Ryan's parents trying to guilt Maci into getting back with their son felt contrived as well. The dad almost seemed to be reading cue cards.

The real drama is with Amber, and of course C&T. I agree that Amber appears to be dealing with mental health issues. I'm not sure what to make of Gary. Sometimes he seems like a lazy bum, but they have a home and some money - which is more than can be said for most of them.

I love this series. I think it's one of the most responsible things MTV has ever done (following up on these moms). (And, yes, I do feel like a dork saying that but whatever.) "16 and Pregnant" showed that teen pregnancy is hard but actually having the baby is when the real hard work starts. This is actual reality TV (although I do agree that they are milking the situation with open adoption. I wish Catelynn and Tyler were able to focus more on moving on).

Yeah, they are losing credibility with the series by almost pushing C&T towards something disastrous. Like I said, I think MTV got a little kick out of the "no birth control!" revelation, and they are encouraging the constant harping on the whereabouts and identity of the baby.

[shana1246]

Dec 29, 2009 11:36:36 GMT -4 @mulva said:

I am watching. But, wow, I have a much different take on the kids than some of you guys, evidently.

Maci -- I agree; she's doing well. She has a pretty level head on her shoulders. I am glad her parents are so supportive and she can go back to school. Her ex-bf sucks and I hope she leaves him in the dust.

Amber has serious anger management issues. But I also think she is really struggling so it's hard to judge her too harshly. She's miserable and probably has undiagnosed/untreated depression. I feel sorry for everyone in that situation.

Catelynn's home life is a nightmare. She needs to get out of there. I literally pray for those kids to make a better life for themselves.

Farrah -- I don't think she's bad at all. Yeah, she's a little boy-crazy but a) she's a teenager, and b) some of that has to be attributed to editing, I am sure. I actually think she's doing a decent job of juggling baby, school, family and social life. I think her mom and sister are horribly critical assholes. I can't stand either of those bitches. Her mom is the poster child for denial: "Our family does not believe in pre-marital sex." Um... Let me introduce you to little person called Sophia, you jerk. Ugh!

I love this series. I think it's one of the most responsible things MTV has ever done (following up on these moms). (And, yes, I do feel like a dork saying that but whatever.) "16 and Pregnant" showed that teen pregnancy is hard but actually having the baby is when the real hard work starts. This is actual reality TV (although I do agree that they are milking the situation with open adoption. I wish Catelynn and Tyler were able to focus more on moving on).

I agree with you on all of them except for Farrah. I think her priorities are a bit screwed up. But not near as much as what her mother/sister/MTV are trying to make her seem. Hopefully with time and age she will get better.

All of these girls are finding out how hard parenting can be especially when you are a teen mom still trying to manage to get through school somehow. I am not surprised that Amber went off on her BF. Was it right no not at all and I don't make any excuses for her but I do think she needs some serious counseling or a good friend to vent all her frustrations on. She doesn't seem to have the support system she needs and I think it all became too much at that moment and she just lost it.

Anger management classes may also help, IDK? She is exhausted and stressed and I think she has PPD. I kinda feel bad for her she out of all of them I think wasn't ready to be a mother. She was use to others doing everything for her before the baby came around. That I blame on the parents.

[mrsbowling2]

Catelynn and her boyfriend are just so heart-wrenching. I feel like they are not only pushed by MTV (who, let's face it, is probably putting food on their table) to find their daughter or hear about her, but also by the unsupportive, idiot parents who constantly ride them for the adoption. I cannot fathom how hard it would be to give a baby away but I think they're getting a disservice because most people are counseled to move on, not dwell. Also, it sucks for the people that adopted the baby, because they're looking kind of like bad guys through the editing, when clearly they are good people trying to raise a baby they love and care about. And duh, maybe they don't want MT-freaking-V to see the kid's last name!

[lowercase]

Is anyone else still watching "Teen Mom"? I think I watch largely just to dislike Farrah; I didn't really watch "16 and Pregnant" so I'm fairly new to all of these people, but from what I see on this show, she is just awful. She's vapid, petulant, and unbelievably entitled. Watching her on her various dates is just cringe-inducing; she has nothing to say, and always looks shocked when these guys aren't bowled over by her purported beauty and ask her questions about her daughter. Why...did she keep this poor child?

And the way that she and her mom pronounce Sophia's name drives me up a wall. "Soh-FEEEE-aahh." Ugh.

[mrsbowling2]

Farrah's parents are complete and total idiots. If they let her walk all over them and do her dirty work and pay for her life, then they deserve the shit she throws in their face. If my daughter acted that way about her PUPPY I'd kick her ass, imagine treating her daughter that way.

And speaking of asses I want to kick. Catelynn has to have the worst parents in the world. Tyler sort of does, too, but at least his mom is supportive of him. Poor Catelynn has nobody who cares about her. The fact her trashy mom is willing to let her husband threaten violence against Catelynn on camera and STILL not even pretend to take her daughter's side is beyond my grasp.

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2010 23:21:24 GMT -4 @mrsbowling2 said:

Farrah's parents are complete and total idiots. If they let her walk all over them and do her dirty work and pay for her life, then they deserve the shit she throws in their face. If my daughter acted that way about her PUPPY I'd kick her ass, imagine treating her daughter that way.

Exactly! Grr! I HATE that mom. She calls her daughter a bad mom, says she isn't home enough, makes her feel like shit because she dares to possess a sex drive -- then, she says yes to babysitting! If you are that fucking opposed to every single thing the girl does, say NO to babysitting. She's a manipulator.

[margojata]

Jan 8, 2010 1:20:40 GMT -4 @mulva said:

Jan 7, 2010 23:21:24 GMT -4 @mrsbowling2 said:

Farrah's parents are complete and total idiots. If they let her walk all over them and do her dirty work and pay for her life, then they deserve the shit she throws in their face. If my daughter acted that way about her PUPPY I'd kick her ass, imagine treating her daughter that way.

Exactly! Grr! I HATE that mom. She calls her daughter a bad mom, says she isn't home enough, makes her feel like shit because she dares to possess a sex drive -- then, she says yes to babysitting! If you are that fucking opposed to every single thing the girl does, say NO to babysitting. She's a manipulator.

When you're a single teen mother you don't have the luxury of a sex drive. Farrah is a spoiled little twit, but yes, her parents likely made her that way.

Of course I'm sure a lot of it is MTV manipulation (come on Farrah, we need more shots of you going out!). And while her mother is incredibly obnoxious, I can't imagine what I would do in that situation. I think it's easy to say you'd kick your bratty daughter and kid out - but doing it is another story. But yeah, a flat out "I will NOT babysit if you walk out that door" is what they don't seem to say.

This show is awful. While I thought 16 and Pregnant was actually a decent cautionary tale for teens, this show feels like such manipulation. They are using these kids. Catelynn cannot heal as long as she has cameras in her face making her talk about her baby. Is Farrah being prodded to go out so that they have that storyline? Did Amber really want to live in that dive? I don't think it's a coincidence that they have girls acting out all the varied scenarios of teen motherhood.

[Deleted]

I don't know... I just don't see having a sex drive as a luxury, I guess. Acting on it may be, but having one is not. I do think she needs to make the baby and school be higher priorities than boys, of course, but I just can't fault her for wanting to have a boyfriend, too. That's very normal for someone her age. She also seems to get very little emotional support from her family so maybe she's looking for that, too.

There is this whole Madonna/whore complex thing going on in that family's collective brain and it makes me sick.

[margojata]

I think it's a luxury when you're a 17 year old single mother who lives with her parents. Between the job and school, I can't imagine she sees much of the baby anyway. That's why I get the parents' constantly nagging her. I think I would have extreme hostility against my daughter if she sauntered out with her friends the way Farrah does.

But again, we don't really know how much of this is MTV manipulation. The ways it's filmed, she seems to be going out almost every night. And she seems to just GO .. taking it for granted that her parents SHOULD babysit.