I am a reality TV junkie. As cliché a show as it might be by now, The Biggest Loser tops the list as my all time favorite. Each week I find inspiration in the achievements and transformations of the individual contestants, and it doesn’t hurt that I adore Bob Harper. Bravo also airs several other ‘reality’ based shows that I routinely follow: Millionaire Matchmaker, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, New York and New Jersey (I’ve never gotten into any of the California based series). Mindless entertainment is all that I want and usually what I get when I watch any number of these shows.

While I am somewhat ashamed to admit it, the most recent reality wonder that has sparked my interest is MTV’s 16 and Pregnant. Let me explain. I occasionally check out MTV to keep my finger on the pulse of adolescent pop-culture. Em and Ella are nowhere near old enough to watch MTV; however, as a parent I want to keep current so that I know what else is “out there” that might be contrary to the values I instill in my children. It was during one of my quests for MTV enlightenment that I stumbled across the show 16 and Pregnant and I was immediately horrified that any network would promote teenage pregnancy.

Watching the show was like approaching the scene of a horrible automobile accident. I found that I could not look away. The longer I watched, the more incensed I became – yet I found myself thinking that the show, in and of itself, offers an excellent argument for abstinence or birth control. About every other commercial break, a PSA announces “it takes two people to get pregnant but only one person to prevent it.” Rather than championing the “coolness” of teenage pregnancy, 16 and Pregnant actually preaches prevention. If teens actually follow this show on MTV, why is teenage pregnancy rampant in our age of enlightenment and medical advancement?

Teenagers are, you guessed it, teenagers! Think back to the days when you were in your teens? I can well remember thinking that I knew it all – that after a mere 16, 17, 18 years on the planet I had life figured out and somehow my poor mother was clueless. This is the way teens think. In their hormonally haywired minds, the consequences that result from any given behavior are going to be different for each of them: The ‘real life’ teens on the show that get pregnant and give birth, that subsequently struggle to complete their educations or support themselves financially – the average teen thinks “that isn’t going to happen to me.”

Having a baby is serious business! When I had my children, my life as I knew it ended. Certainly it ended in the most amazing of ways because I was ready and wanted to have children. I had completed my education, had a full-time job and the benefits that go with it. I had a home I could afford and I had a husband. In spite of this, no one could possibly prepare me for the amount of responsibility that comes with having children. Children are wonderfully expensive. Babies are completely dependent little beings who require someone to take care of all their needs, which, at first, they can only commutate through crying and screaming.

Parenting requires a certain level of absolute selflessness, and teenagers are the definition of self-absorption. 16 and Pregnant accurately documents the difficulties associated with being a teen parent. It should send an eye-opening and alarming message to sexually active teens. I know it scares the heck out of me as a parent. As a mom, it makes me think about what I don’t want for either or my daughters. Within reason, I want them to enjoy their youth because life goes by so quickly. One day I was in college and in no time at all I had a ‘real’ job and ‘real’ bills that required payment. I cannot fathom how difficult it must be, as a teenager, to make the transition from care-free adolescent to responsible parent in nine months time. That is a lot of growing up to do. Sadly, even though they have babies, many teen parents do not possess the maturity or level of responsibility this job entails thus the cycle perpetuates itself.

If you are a parent and you’ve never seen this show, I highly recommend it. Not only does it offer food for thought, it can also be a great starting point for a conversation with your teenager. While this might not be a solution for the problem of teenage pregnancy, it might be a small step in the right direction.