MTV's '16 and Pregnant' Cited as Cause in Reduction of Teen Pregnancy

It's a kinda "scared straight" effect, apparently.

At the New York Times, "MTV’s ‘16 and Pregnant,’ Derided by Some, May Resonate as a Cautionary Tale":

WASHINGTON — Kailyn Lowry, at age 17, decided to let MTV film her pregnancy and the birth of her first child in the hope of persuading other young men and women to wait to start a family.

“I did get two awesome blessings,” said Ms. Lowry, now 21 and married with a second child. “But I still haven’t gotten my bachelor’s degree, because, one, day care is so expensive and, two, how do you balance studying and having little ones at home?”

Ms. Lowry’s cautionary tale seems to have made an impression on at least some viewers. A new economic study of Nielsen television ratings and birth records suggests that the show she appeared in, “16 and Pregnant,” and its spinoffs may have prevented more than 20,000 births to teenage mothers in 2010.

The paper, to be released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, makes the case that the controversial but popular programs reduced the teenage birthrate by nearly 6 percent, contributing to a long-term decline that accelerated during the recession.

“It’s thrilling,” said Sarah S. Brown, the chief executive of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a nonprofit group in Washington. “People just don’t understand how influential media is in the lives of young people.”

Keep reading.

Notice that the study doesn't "prove" that "16 and Pregnant" caused a drop in teen pregnancy, only that there's a strong correlation between viewership and the decline of teenagers becoming pregnant.

Interesting, though, at the video above, Brian Stelter, CNN's new media analyst, cites Hot Air as a source of commentary on the New York Times piece. Talk about blogs becoming part of the mainstream media discussion these days. See, "Newest way to reduce teen pregnancies: Watching MTV?"