Abstract
This research project will conduct focus groups of teen parents in Ohio who have been shown samples of popular television series and youth-produced media that primarily portray teen parenting. An overview of trends in past literature about relationships between teens and media, including parasocial interaction, and statistical data about teen birthrates and teen media consumption in the United States calls for new research about how teen parents relate to these media sample and whether/how media like these samples can have positive effects on teen parents.
Description
How do teen parents feel about narrative media portrayals of teen parenting? In the past couple of years teen parenting has the subject of several reality and fictional television series broadcast in the United States, e.g. 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. In a related direction, youth-produced media is a growing non-profit field for educators, media makers and activists who want youth to create media about their lives, especially around sexual health issues.
An internet search of "teen mom" or even "teen parent" prioritizes pages about the series Teen Mom among and even ahead of research and news about teen parenting. This overlap between the title of a television series and the title of a complex demographic and hotly debated social issue points to the show's success, but it also reveals that Teen Mom the brand and "teen mom" the person need to be examined in relation to each other. The price of ignoring their connection could render teen moms more invisible than they already are.
Through focus group research with current teen parents in Cuyahoga County, Ohio who will view and discuss samples of the above-described media, my project will examine how teen parents relate to the sampled teen parent characters. My project will also question whether current and future media about teen parenting may be useful in reducing certain common negative consequences of teen parenting, such as dropping out of school and giving birth to more children while still a teen. If we can understand what teen parents feel about media representations of them, and if we can learn how teen parents would like to be represented in media, we may be able to develop better tools to create stronger media programming for teen parents that can actually support them and help them improve their lives.
The purpose of this project is to explore how teenage parents relate to media that contains narratives about teenage parenting. I believe that exploring how teen parents relate to various narratives about teen parenting could yield the following results:
· We will learn which of the sample media most accurately and effectively portrays positive and negative consequences of teen parenting
· We will better understand how actual teen parents identify with teen parent characters in the sample media and how teen parents would like to be represented
· We will uncover new potential for current and future media about teen parenting to combat some common negative consequences of teen parenting
Rationale
There are two key facts that precede this research project about how teen parents relate to teen parents represented in media. First, teen pregnancy in the United States is on the rise for the first time since 2000, and most U.S. pregnant teens give birth and parent instead of having an abortion (Guttmacher Institute 2010). Second, a recent Nielsen study demonstrates that U.S. and international teens consume more media today than ever before, and television is still the most popular medium, well above internet activity (2009). The continued prevalence of teen parenting in the U.S. and ever increasing rates of teen consumption of media make ongoing research about relationships between teen media consumption and teen lives relevant and necessary.
The core concept underpinning my project is that people interact with the characters they see in media, a behavior known as parasocial interaction. While my project is not a psychological study nor an examination of parasocial interaction, my research questions stem from parasocial interaction as it explores how viewers respond to narratives (and messages contained therein) based on how they relate to characters and use media to fulfill personal needs (Moyer-Guse and Nabi 2009).
One central assumption behind this project is that teen parents—especially teen mothers—may exhibit parasocial interaction at a high rate because they are often isolated from “real” interaction with peers and adults normally obtained through school or work. If I am correct, this isolation factor makes teen parents both more vulnerable to negative/inaccurate portrayals of teen parenting and more available to positive programming.
Having worked at Planned Parenthood in Colorado and at Scenarios USA in New York—a non-profit that asks teens from around the country to write short films about sexual health issues—I know first-hand about the national fears surrounding teen parenting as well as the significant impact of youth interaction with media especially when it comes to media about teens and sexual health issues. The convergence of these professional experiences gives me a unique inspiration and approach to my research topic.
Literature Review
Plenty of recent research has been done on how sexual content in media (television, movies, video games, music lyrics and music videos) may impact teen sexuality (Adams and Fuller 2006; Chandra et al. 2008). Chandra's ground-breaking study identifies, for arguably the first time, a strong positive correlation between heavy teen television viewing habits and increased incidence of teen pregnancy. Far less research exists about media that intend to depict possible consequences of teen sex, such as teenage parenting. I was unable to find literature focused specifically on how teen parents may interact with media portraying consequences of teen sex or portraying teen parenting.
In comparing teen response to “reality” characters and fictional characters dealing with teen pregnancy, one study found that teens identified better with the fictional characters than with the real-life pregnant teens (Moyer-Guse and Nabi 2009). This result both suggests that fictional programming could have more impact on teen parents than reality programming and calls for more exploration of how media can be intentionally constructed to connect with and impact teen parents. It has also been argued that teens identify media as a significant source of sexual health information (Somers and Surmann 2005), a point that requires further examination of what kind of media teen parents may consider to be a valuable source of information. Other research about what factors influence how teen parents envision their future “selves” and their aspirations and fears for their futures do not examine media portrayals of teen parenting as an influencing factor (Klaw 2008).
Between literature about the impact of sexual content on teen viewers; literature about how teens relate to fictional/reality characters dealing with teen pregnancy; and literature about non-media based factors that influence how teen parents envision their goals and worries for their futures, the impact of teen parenting represented in media programming on actual teen parents in real life has not yet been directly explored.
While there is a dearth of research on how teens relate to youth-produced media, literature about media education does provide a promising and distinctly positive framework for encouraging and exploring teen participation with media, especially media which is about teens. One tenet of media education is the concept of "participatory culture" which describes how youth do and should critique, deconstruct, reconstruct and create media in order to share information and connect with others (Jenkins 2009). That premise opens the door for this project.
Methodology
I selected Cuyahoga County in Ohio for several reasons. Ohio in general bears teen parenting statistics, sex education standards and teen health services access that are not dramatically higher or lower than national (Guttmacher Institute 2010). I also have personal and professional support in Cuyahoga County because Scenarios USA has a local office and relationships with schools and non-school based youth organizations.
Focus groups will be composed of teen parents of mixed ages 16-19. Each group (3 total groups) will be 5-7 subjects in size and will be sex-segregated, two female and one male group. Segregating groups by sex may encourage more dialogue, especially if both the teen mother and father participate. Groups will view samples of each of the following three programs about teen parenting:
· Teen Mom: a reality television series originally broadcast on MTV
· The Secret Life of the American Teenager: a fictional television series originally broadcast on ABC Family Channel
· Two Scenarios USA youth-produced films, one fictional and one documentary, broadcast on cable channels such as BET and HBO but mostly through school systems/programs and non-school based youth outreach programs
Each group will view sample episodes over three sessions spaced one week apart: Teen Mom in one session, followed one week later by episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager in the second session, and the two youth-produced films in the third session. This viewing structure may reduce undue pressure to compare and contrast different programs within one session.
Each session will culminate in a discussion of the viewed samples prompted by some of the following questions:
1. If you were describing these characters to someone else, what descriptive words or personal qualities would you use?
2. Have you experienced problems as a teen parent like what the characters experience?
3. Are there things you wish the characters had done differently?
4. Did the characters do things you would like to do as a teen parent?
5. Is the character doing well as a teen parent?
6. Do you want people who are not teen parents to watch this program?
7. If you had been asked to work on this program when it was being made, what could you have done differently?
Each subject will be given a journal in case he or she thinks of answers or other questions in the two weeks in between sessions, or in case he or she did not want to share with the group. Journals will be collected at the end of the last focus group session unless a subject wants to submit one earlier.
Because of scheduling difficulties some subjects may face related to school, work or childcare, consistent attendance will be challenging and therefore the research plan contains proposed ideas to encourage complete attendance. Completion incentives will only be provided to participants who attend all three sessions unless individual screenings and interviews are arranged to make up for the missed group session.
Because the Ohio office of Scenarios USA will be crucial in recruiting teen parents through the Cuyahoga County school system and supplying group screening/interview space, it is likely that subjects will feel pressured while evaluating the selected Scenarios USA films. This will be offset by a clear explanation that I do not work for Scenariosa USA and that the project is intended for my research purposes.
Research Plan
Literature Review : In addition to past research and rhetoric around teens and media, sufficient literature review will include viewings and selection of the sample episodes or films participants will view during the focus groups. Six weeks is estimated.
Pre-Focus Group planning:
· Week 1: Develop screening questionnaire for focus group selection. Develop discussion questions for focus groups. Prepare application to interview human subjects for the New School University Institutional Review Board.
· Weeks 2-3 (to commence after IRB approval): Work on-site with Cuyahoga County Scenarios USA staff to identify and connect to sources for teen parent participants. Schedule screening and interview space within Scenarios USA facilities or off-site facilities if available. Identify non-Scenariosa USA co-moderator for focus group sessions.
Focus Group Schedule:
· Week 4: Conduct screening questionnaire to confirm eligible participants. Determine groups based on sex and availability. Each focus group session for the same program will take place within the same week.
· Week 5-7: Conduct focus group sessions. Schedule make-up screening/interviews for any participants who miss a session. Provide information to participants on how they can access results.
· Week 8: Return to New York City to begin results evaluation.
Resource Needs:
· Focus group space, furniture and screening equipment will be provided by Scenarios USA
· Digital Video Recorder to record focus group sessions: to be rented through New School
· Computer/hard drive to upload digital video: personally provided
· Ohio accommodations: provided by personal friend
· Airfare: TBD
· Living expenses for 7 weeks in Ohio: TBD
Works Cited
Adams, Terri M., and Douglas B. Fuller. "The Words Have Changed but the Ideology
Remains the Same: Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music." Journal of Black Studies 36, no. 6 (2006): 938-57.
Chandra, Anita, Martino, Steven C., Collins, Rebecca L., Elliott, Marc N., Berry, Sandra H., Kanouse, David E., Miu, Angela. “Does Watching Sex on Television Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings From a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth” Pediatrics 122.5 (2008): 1047-1054.
Jenkins, Henry et al. Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: media education for the 21st century. Massachussets Institute of Technology, 2009.
Klaw, Elena. "Understanding Urban Adolescent Mothers' Visions of the Future in Terms
of Possible Selves." Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 18.4 (2008): 441-61.
Kost K., Henshaw S. and Carlin L. U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and
Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity. New York, NY: Guttmacher Institute (2010).
Jaworski, Beth K. "Reproductive justice and media framing: a case-study analysis of problematic frames in the popular media." Sex Education 9.1 (2009): 105-121.
Moyer-Gusé, Emily, and Robin L. Nabi. "Explaining the Effects of Narrative in an Entertainment Television Program: Overcoming Resistance to Persuasion." Human Communication Research 36.1 (2010): 26-52.
The Nielsen Company. How Teens Use Media: a Nielsen report on the myths and
realities of teen media trends. New York, NY: The Nielson Company (2009).
Somers, Cheryl L., and Amy T. Surmann. "Sources and timing of sex education: relations with American adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior" Educational Review 57.1 (2005): 37-54.
Media Cited
16 and Pregnant. Prod by Morgan J. Freeman. MTV. 11 June 2009.
Teen Mom. Prod by Morgan J. Freeman. MTV. 1 December 2009.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Prod. By Brenda Hampton. ABC Family. 1 July 2008.
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