Thursday , March 28 2024
Another week has passed for our American teenager and Baby Borrowers, let's discuss.

TV Teens with Kids – Part III

Last week I wrote to separate pieces on television shows focusing on teens with kids.  This week I'm condensing it all down into one piece.  Really, I'm condensing it all down into one question – why?  Why do the teens on Baby Borrowers want to have kids?  Why does the main character on The Secret Life of The American Teenager not want to tell her parents.  I have trouble fathoming both of these things.

Doing things counter-intuitively, let's look at the latter before the former.  I actually sort of, almost grasp the girl's position – Amy's scared of telling her parents that she's pregnant, that's why she's not mentioning it.  But, and maybe it's just that I'm older than she is, but isn't it obvious she's going to have to say something at some point?  I never understood that whole "delaying the inevitable" thing.  Her parents are going to find out, she's going to have to mention it at some point (I say that because I assume she's not going to go out and have an abortion instantly which is pretty much the only way her parents could remain in the dark).  Amy didn't seem last night to indicate that she wasn't going to say something right then because she was looking for the right way to bring up her "with child" status, she said she was just going to not tell them.  What sense does that make?

Now, I'm not saying that the show is wrong, or being inaccurate or unfaithful to portray our heroines actions in such a way, I totally believe teens act like that, but that doesn't answer my why question.  Yes, her parents are going to be absolutely livid, I know I would be, but they'll get over it and they'll help their eldest daughter out.  Their her parents, that's what parents do.  After spouting words unfit for television, or virtually anywhere else, that's what I'd do if when my daughter becomes a teenager she informs me of such a life altering event.  I also might go out and permanently disfigure the boy in question, but Amy wouldn't mind that so much.  So, no problems there – she tells her parents, her dad hurts the boy, and then the family comes together and heals.  It won't be simple and it won't always be happy, but it's the only way to go about it.

Hypothetically speaking, Amy could always find a TV show like Baby Borrowers and dump her kid off with a bunch of other teenagers if and when she needed a break from caring for her little one, but I see that as unlikely.  Again, I'm not a teen, but I certainly wouldn't hand my child off to some teen who is probably far more interested in being on television than caring for a child.  Plus, even if the teen wanted to care for a child more than be on TV, they're still a teen and they still need help.

Just look at Sasha last night.  Throughout the whole episode she talked about how she'd helped raise foster kids who lived in her house with her mom and taking care of this one toddler wouldn't be so bad.  Then, she completely lost it and was ready to quit the whole show when things with the kid didn't work out as planned.  The toddler's mom dared to suggest to Sasha that maybe she hadn't done the greatest job and maybe she still had some parenting skills to learn, and Sasha turned around and blamed the kid.  It is true that the kid in question was acting like a three year-old, but, he was a three year-old (okay, I don't know that, I know that he was between the age of 2 and 5, which is just how he was acting).  Sasha ended up yelling expletives at the mom and her own boyfriend and the world in general. 

It kind of proved that teens tend to require help raising kids (lots of folks do, it's nothing to be ashamed of), and that's something Amy needs to remember.

About Josh Lasser

Josh has deftly segued from a life of being pre-med to film school to television production to writing about the media in general. And by 'deftly' he means with agonizing second thoughts and the formation of an ulcer.

Check Also

GalaxyCon Richmond: Tara Strong

"Perfect is boring and you're going to make mistakes. If you learn from them, let them go."