MTV's description of "Teen Mom" reads:

Each episode interweaves these stories revealing the wide variety of challenges young mothers can face: marriage, relationships, family support, adoption, finances, graduating high school, starting college, getting a job, and the daunting and exciting step of moving out to create their own families.

While your daughter and her friends might be intrigued at the "perks" of being a mother at a young age ("Maybe I could be on MTV too! They get to go to New York to MTV's Studios!") and can relate to the show's touching mother-child relationships, overall I'd say the show is a more sobering account of what life is like for teens who have babies. In addition to the topics mentioned in the description, there's a lot of drama surrounding absentee fathers, child support payments, living situations with parents, restricted social lives, etc.

I think it's a good show for your daughter to watch. Hopefully the hardships and trials presented in the show resonate with younger viewers about the dangers of unprotected sex and unplanned pregnancy.

Regardless of your restrictions, shes a teenager and if she really wants to watch it, she will find a way. Whether it be online or at a friends house. What needs to be done is you making sure she knows about teen pregnancy and how to prevent it. If your daughter is that impressionable that you think she will get encouraged to do this to herself, then the problem lies there. Banning the TV show wont do any good.

HI, I AM WHAT I CALL A TEEN MOM. I AM 21 AND MY SON IS ALMOST TWO. I KNOW THAT TEEN MOMS ARE THOUGHT TO BE YOUNGER THAN I BUT; MY SITUATION IS NO DIFFERENT THAN SOMEONE A FEW YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME. I WATCH TEEN MOM CAUSE IT IS EASY TO RELATE MYSELF TO THE OTHER GIRLS. THE SITUATIONS THAT THESE GIRLS HAVE PUT THEMSELVES IN IS DEFINITELY NO GLAMOROUS. TEEN MOM SHOWS THE IMPACT OF HAVING A CHILD TO YOUNG. THE BATTLES THAT TEEN PARENTS FACE AND IT ALSO GIVES TEEN MORE INFORMATION ON IF THEY DO DECIDE TO HAVE SEX THEY WILL CHOOSE SAFE SEX.

I am a young teen myself, and the thought of having a baby so early is, well, gross. I'm a traditional girl and honestly plan on adopting children when I get married. I plan on staying a virgin for the rest of my life, and yes i am a teen. Teen Mom should be discouraging teen pregnancy. Personally, I think you should allow her to watch the show, but talk to her about your ideas on teen pregnancy. I truely hope this helps.

As  a previous teen mom myself, and the mother of a tween. I have seen the first  season of the show and thought it was very true to life. Some of the girls didn't become responsible but most did. I must say though some  girls are much worse off then those on the show. Watch it with her tell her what you think and ask her what she thinks. Being truthful and open with each other is one of the best ways to prevent teen pregnancy in my opinion.

Ok, first before my post I'll give you some background. I am a 22 yr old guy, brought up in a divorced household and a student at a local community college.
   Now for my post, ok, so I do not think that Teen Mom should be on television PERIOD. I've seen a couple episodes and it makes me sick, these little girls complaining about how tough life is blah blah blah but at least I'm going through it with my baby.. Cue the vomit now. Someone should tell these girls "Yea, you know why your life is so tough? Cause you had a kid instead of coughing up the money to get it taken care of like any other normal minded person". When I was 18 the girl I was hooking up with (not dating) at the time came to me and told me that she was late, and bought a test and it came out that she was pregnant.  At the time I didnt work, lived with my mom still, and was still in school.  I figured we were on the same page. And offered to pay for the abortion 50 50, she says "No I really want to have this baby" I say "WHAT?! HAHA yea and where u two gonna live, with what money?" she says "we will make it work" I respond "no WE won't LOL, I'm still in school, I don't have a job even if I did it wouldn't be a steady career that you need for a family", well long story short she got the procedure and I never spoke to her again, took 2 months to get her to agree to something that seemed to me like the easiest decision ever.
     That aside, you have the group of people that say "teen mom is great it shows kids that they shouldn't want to do this"... Yea right, your giving kids too much credit to distinguish that on their own. I feel The same way towards this view as I do towards sex education. Yes your showing kids the dangers and sadness of teen pregnancy, but just like sex Ed teaches kids to be careful and stay protected, they are still exposed to thinking about "SEX", accept with this tv show, the kids still get exposed to "teen motherhood".  Kids are going to think it is ok, and acceptable to do something dumb like this if put in that oppertunity when it really isnt, personally I look down upon it, such as "oh your 17? Oh and ur a mother? I'm sry to hear that, why couldn't u guys come up with the 500 bucks to fix it before it got to this point?" and she'll prolly respond "cause I love my boyfriend and I wouldn't give up my son for the world" lol 1) a 17 yr old girl doesn't know what love is, 2) I bet after the fact any person in the right mind would trade they're kid for ONE thing, theyre life before the kid back.
   That's my stand on this topic, would love some feedback, hopefully not from any pro life activists and don't even get me started on them lol, the only thing I gotta tell them is "theyres a time and place for everything, why ruin ur life with the burdens of a child 10 years before u should even be thinking about it, thx for ur ears and I'll ttyl

I watched one show to see what it was about and I agree with the t.v show. I am a mother of 3 and I had my first child at 19. I was with the father, however  had to leave and figure out my life on my own. My mom just turned 16 when she had me. My grandmother put me in a foster home and then when my mom got me back all my grandma did was put her down. While I was growing up, I believed everything my grandma said about my mom. From what her siblings have said and herself she tried. My grandma was not a mom that was ever around when they were growing up but she had no problem saying bad things about my mom. I grew up making alot of mistakes as a teen because of all the negativity. Everyone always had something to say and nine times out of 10 they were not positive. Jennels mom on the show is very negative and you can tell she has always been that way. A 16 yr old should not be able to just sign over custody to anyone without the help of a lawyer or a judge. I do believe in temporary custody. For one no matter what your age is, if you have your first child as everyone say's there is no hand book on how to raise them. My father helped me so much with my first child cause I had to leave the father because he abused me. I later had two more children, big age gaps between all three. However Jennels mom yells at her and puts her down in front of Jennels son. That shows me that Jennels mom is not raising her grandson in a positive manner. If she cared so much about her own daughter or her own grandson, she would take her daughter aside and have talks. I believe no matter what people should always want the child to be with the parents and give them constructive critisim and help them to grow into hopefully wonderful parents.

I have viewed this program with my daughter. Most the teenagers in the show have issues. The issues that the teen moms have are everyday problems. Most of the teen moms are struggling with school, parents, work, money, baby's dad, etc. My daughter does not think the teen moms are glorified at all and neither do I. She promotes abstinence to friends, because of the show.

It is so hard to judge if these shows help or hinder.  In my opinion, if nothing else it does open up an opportunity for parents and teens to have frank and honest discussions that may otherwise be difficult to initiate.

People ( teens/parents) are entitled to their own opinions. Alot of teens are visual learners some may like the show some may not. Even though we discourage our teens to watch different types of media, alot of our teens pick up different behaviors from music, games and peers. The best way to talk to teens about Abstinence, sex and risky behaviors, and teen pregnancy is through communication and trust. alot of us parents become angry first and assume our teens are already engaging in sex. talking to teens about sex and pregnancy is a sensitive topic.