Will "Shame and Blame" Change Teenage Behavior?

3/18/2013

The New York City mayor’s office has drawn fire for a campaign against teenage pregnancy that features a series of posters the office says sends a “strong message” directly to teenagers about the “extremely negative, life-altering” consequences of having a baby too young.

Opponents, however, say that “hurting and shaming” is counterproductive, that changing behavior is more complicated than this, and that teenagers need to be heard and supported rather than shamed.

What do you think of the poster campaign? Will it work? What approach works best to motivate teenagers to change behaviors — whether around drugs and alcohol, work habits, relationships or anything else?

31 Comments

Brad Hall

3/17/2013 11:39:11 pm

I don’t believe this campaign will work just because it seems to negative. I believe that people need support not someone bullying them into not doing something. What i think is that when you’re bullied into not doing something its more likely that you would do that thing just to stand up to your aggressor with an act of rebellion.

Tyler Davis

3/17/2013 11:39:24 pm

I do not think that the poster campaign will work. The teenagers that are getting pregnant are making the choice not to use a condom. Posters won't change their way of thinking. It's the girls' fault for getting pregnant in the first place. The most the campaign is going to do is make the girls' think that everyone is against them and they would start doing it more.

Veronica Klein

3/17/2013 11:53:19 pm

I respectfully disagree. I think it is both the girl's and the boy's fault for getting too intimate before they were ready to have a baby. You should refrain until you are married and ready for children.

Mrs. George

3/20/2013 11:12:56 pm

Really? It's the girl's fault? That is just not the case.

Chris Hopkins

3/17/2013 11:44:35 pm

I doubt the posters will work. Only you can think for yourself, and quite frankly, getting pregnant is a bad choice at a young age. It's the kids choice to do it. People don't think and it gets them in trouble. I say let the stupid people do what they want, the government will support them.

Veronica Klein

3/17/2013 11:48:03 pm

I hope that the poster campaign will work. I see too many young people today with babies. While I'm glad they didn't have an abortion, I don't think you are mature enough nor have the financial means to have another human relying on you 24/7 at that age. I hope the posters will make young adults stop and think before they get carried away. I believe the best way to influence young adults is to be a good example yourself. If young people look up to you, you have the responsibility to behave accordingly. If more stars taught and showed by example how to live right, the young people in America would follow. If you saw your favorite actor out doing drugs or alcohol, you might be more likely to try them so you can be "cool" like your role model. Peer pressure is another big reason why kids get in trouble. If they don't bend to society they will be deemed a loser, so young adults get into bad things so they can fit in.

Nick Gaiski

3/18/2013 10:43:34 pm

I hope they work, and not that I agree with the negativity, but I think people should do what they want. They were educated and warned. Teenage pregnancy is just as bad as adult pregnancy. Let's not get into minimum wage issues. Some teens make as much, or more than adults because they are stuck with minimum wage jobs. So would it be fair to only allow people within a certain tax bracket to have a family? No. Not even remotely.

Lucas Johnson

3/18/2013 04:18:58 am

I do not believe that this campaign is very effective. It’s not the schools place to imply morals, and values. That is the job of the parents (unless the parents are morally strange). My mom had me when she was 17; I went to this high school before I turned one. My mom and dad are still together, not because of the school, but because of our family’s support. Shame and blame is not effective, it creates guilt and anger. It’s a method of control, another method is fear, campaign like this are just for control. They need to be directed in a way to convey support in case it does happen, but without implying shame. To be honest I hate campaigns like this the “top” looking “down”, there is no empathy just anger because they see it as a cause for a bigger problem; never willing to look upon themselves to fix the problem.

Nick

3/18/2013 10:44:18 pm

Well said.

Kayla Kalmink

3/18/2013 04:47:52 am

I hope this campaign work, because the girls and their pregnancy’s at the ages that they need to stop. Girls should be married before they have kids. Being so young they won’t have the finances or a place to live that is not their parent house. Being a parent at this age is difficult because they will have to buy clothing bedding and food, so that means that they are buying more things which means you are going in to dept. the guys that are tied up in this are going to be stuck too, because they are young and are not married the couple can split up and the guy can make someone else pregnant. Depending on it you get the preventative care you can transmit diseases to others.

Nick Gaiski

3/18/2013 10:38:57 pm

I think adults should just educate the students more instead of judge them. If they are given the knowledge, then they have the power to do what they will. If they think they can handle a baby, so be it. Let them. Maybe they can, in fact maybe they will be better parents that our generation. My mom's highschool class lost 18 people by the time they graduated. I would rather a bunch of drama-ridden moms, than a bunch of kids dying. Us as a society have better things to worry about, like learning how to treat people with dignity and respect rather than judging and pointing fingers. This world seriously makes me sick. So if you want to have a baby, then do it. Pop them out all you want. But I know that I won't be silly I'll....never mind that.

Caleb Engle

3/18/2013 11:38:13 pm

I do not believe that these advertisements will work. I don’t even pay attention to ads because I find them extremely annoying, so I doubt other people will. I feel that the only way to fix the problem is having parents educate their kids more on teen pregnancy and how to prevent it.

Addison Millard

3/19/2013 11:22:50 pm

I just want to start off by saying I think teenage pregnancy is completely stupid. I don't see anything wrong with teenagers, at a reasonable age, having sexual relationships. That being said, it doesn't seem that hard to use protection. If none is available, don't do it. That's what the posters should say. There should be no negativity or positivity. Just straight facts. If the kids aren't smart enough to use what they've learned to prevent such things, then they deserve to ruin thier lives at such a young age. Those posters aren't going to do squat, though. Kids are fed crap like "Everyone is special" all their lives, and the ones who are silly enough to take that to heart won't respond to statistics. Instead of telling us what we're doing wrong, point us in the direction to do right.

Sir. Isaac Newton

3/20/2013 11:23:29 pm

Posters can't do squats. They don't have muscles.

Lane Merrill

3/19/2013 11:55:28 pm

I think that the posters are better than nothing. Teen pregnancy rates are rediculously high now adays. Having a child while still a teenager can really mess up your life. I think that people need to know about the consequences of having a child as a teen.

Tyler Falls

3/20/2013 11:06:19 pm

I do not think the posters will work. It’s the teen’s choice to have a baby. If you decide that it is a good time to have a baby then that is your choice. But putting up posters and campaigning not having babies is not going to fix the problem. It’s only going to anger people into doing it even more. People will take it as a challenge. So to me you can have all the babies you want. Like Chris Hopkins said the Government will support you.

Chris Hopkins

3/20/2013 11:08:48 pm

Hey mabye you didn't read it all the way. The government doesn't have the money to support stupid people....

Tyler Falls

3/20/2013 11:12:30 pm

No, the Government does not have the money to support stupid people, but we do. I mean i don't think it is a bad thing, but I hate people who take advantage of the gov't. I mean if you need help every now and then that's fine. But don 't have the government paying for your stuff if you can afford it.

Leah Czinder

3/20/2013 11:07:05 pm

I do not think this campaign will change the behaviors of teenagers. Teens are very stubborn and they believe that have it all figured out. Campaigns have very little effect, if any at all. If you want to change the behavior of a teenager you have to hit close to home. It would take something major to happen to one of their friends or a member of their family for them to realize the behavior is not a good one. I believe that praise and guidance would help with the behavior of a teenager but not to change it. Teen behaviors and morals are formed at a very early age and if they did not have proper guidance when they were young it will have very little effect on them now.

Katy Wallace

3/20/2013 11:11:42 pm

I highly doubt that the posters would work. Honestly, I think they’re offensive. Those posters won’t do much to change a teenagers’ behavior. To change someone’s behavior, they need support, not criticism. Just because someone is a teen mom doesn’t mean that their child is going to have a bad life. I’m a teen mom, not that I’m extremely proud of what I did, but I wouldn’t trade my daughter for anything. The article stated, “a child born to a teenage mother who has not finished high school and is not married is nine times more likely to be poor than a child born to an adult who has finished high school and is married.” Well, I only have roughly 2 months left of high school, and because of such a supportive family, I’m going off to college next year. Also, how is a child with parents that aren’t together any different than parents getting a divorce?

Chris Hopkins

3/20/2013 11:16:35 pm

Good question Katy. It's simple, the stress put on the child. When parents divorce, it puts alot of strain and stress on the kid. When parents aren't together in the first place, I'd assume it'd be easier to adapt since you're not use to a mom and a dad.

Nick

3/20/2013 11:19:51 pm

And since when is parenting only about money. I'm dirt poor and honestly, I'm happier than most rich kids. I think people are entitled to do what they want with their lives, and hopes the best for them.

Mrs. George

3/20/2013 11:20:16 pm

I am very impressed with the maturity with which most of you have handled this topic. Kudos. However, there was more to the question. What approach works best to motivate teenagers to change behaviors — whether around drugs and alcohol, work habits, relationships or anything else?

Corey Robins

3/20/2013 11:29:19 pm

I personally don’t really think the poster campaign will work just because most kids are going to make decisions whether someone shames them for it because I feel like that is how our generations has been brought up, to not care about what others say as long as they are happy. I do think that for some kids that shaming them will work but I couldn’t put a number on how many it would work or wouldn’t. I also think that the younger you tell them something is wrong the more likely you are to change their mind because I feel like around 14 to 16 teens kind of start believing in what they want to believe in whether anyone likes it or not at least that’s how I feel I was. Giving teens options I think is the best way to change their mind on some things.

Steven Wolfe

3/21/2013 11:13:47 pm

I personally don't think that the poster campaign ads will work because most teens will make those decisions with or without the negative ads. Some kids may repond to theses ads but majority won't care about them because thats just how our generation of teens are.

Jon wilcox

3/21/2013 11:15:16 pm

I honestly do not think that a poster campaign will stop teenagers from making these decisions becuase I never really stop and read posters and I assume that other teens do the same. Even if they read it, most just ignore them. If you really want to get your point across then you need to tell them in person before they do it, maybe even scare them with scary stories about other people who did it. If you scare them, they will not start or continue.

Stephen Bowles

3/21/2013 11:26:19 pm

Shame and blame isn't the solution to the problem. Yes, teen pregnancy is a problem. Those having the child are neither mature enough to handle raising a child, nor prepared to support it. Shaming them, however, will not help them. It may scare others away from it, and thus prevent the act in the first place, but those who have already made the mistake are in no way aided. It is necessary to support and help them through the process without condoning the action. In the end, it is the responsibility of the parents to provide moral guidelines for their children, not the government. The solution for many problems facing teens is for parents to be more involved in their child's life; guiding rather than watching; instructing rather than shouting. There are those that can only be corrected by a swift kick in the pants, but gentle prevention is a far better solution than harsh punishment.

Bo Morgan

3/21/2013 11:36:21 pm

I personally don’t think the posters will lower teen pregnancy rates because most teens don’t really give posters any thought or just don’t care to look at them in the first place. Even if they do see the posters I think at first they might think about it, but then after they walk past it they won’t think about it for the rest of the day. I think a better approach is to show teens how hard life is when you get pregnant by telling them through assemblies and speeches with people that have gone through teen pregnancy before.

Jillian Bailey

3/21/2013 11:44:56 pm

I personally do not think these advertisements will be effective. I believe it would cause more trouble than good in the fact that if it did not upset a student directly it could upset a parent who was a teen parent themselves. Also many students wouldn’t even notice the signs and if they did they would only really read it once or twice before it just started to blend in with the rest of the school. And finally teens are stubborn and once they believe something it’s hard to change their mind on it. I think the best way to try and change a teenagers mind on a subject is to give them many options to choose from and not tell them what to do because their first instinct will be to rebel against you.

Austin Jordan

3/22/2013 12:01:58 am

I believe that teens should be shamed by being around in the culture that is totally supportive of teenage pregnancy.

Todd Fox

3/22/2013 07:14:38 am

Trying to shame a teen is not the best approach to prevent pregnancy's. A better approach should be to inform them of what they need to be prepared for and when the best time may be in order to have a good environment for a child. Deploying the posters that New York has can lead to more problems for a young parent.

Will "Shame and Blame" Change Teenage Behavior?

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