StayTeen.org: Change message, Change direction

A commerical was released by StayTeen.org which included laughter, hand clapping, and an array of playful teens. At the end of the video the message 'I love my life, I don't want to mess it up with a pregnancy' was voiced by a young girl.

StayTeen.org tells us that their purpose is 'to encourage you to enjoy your teen years and avoid the responsibilities that come with too early pregnancy and parenting' and that 'we're not telling you how to live your life... we just want to give you some food for thought' (stayteen.org/stay-informed).

Though their creation is said to be based on righteousness, the facts and statements that follow prove negatively otherwise.

Facts like 'Parenthood is the leading reason why teen girls drop out of school' (1) and 'Children of teen mothers do worse in school' (2) are accompanied by partial statements like 'Be honest- There are a million things you'd rather be doing than changing a diaper, right' (1,2,3, stayteen.org/teen-pregnancy).

Examples of teen parent life are not given in factual documentary videos but portrayed by clips from 'The Secret Life of The American Teenager' and '16 & Pregnant'. Both are major television series' each heavily produced and one openly scripted.

The combination of improper/biased examples with harsh facts creates an illusion for the reader, mentally assuming that nothing good comes from a teen pregnancy. And with the title 'StayTeen', we can only assume that after a teen pregnancy, you are no longer a teen; that you are no longer a teenager.

This message is all wrong, and needs to be adjusted truthfully. A pregnancy does not mess up a life, the actions surrounding the pregnancy may ''mess up'' a life, but it is not the pregnancy itself that has ''messed up'' a teen life; nor discontinued the title 'teenager' from a person.