NYC Teen Pregnancy Campaign Backlash
On March 4th, the Human Resources Administration released a new ad campaign in NYC aimed at preventing teen pregnancy. The overwhelming response online was that the campaign instead promoted shame and blame on teen parents, with little evidence of how it would reduce teen pregnancy.
NYC Teen Pregnancy Campaign Brings Shaming to Bus Shelters and Cell Phones - RH Reality CheckThe New York Human Resources Administration (HRA) launched a new ad campaign this week that takes the use of shame tactics to prevent teen pregnancy to a whole new level. The ads feature images of young children alongside messages to their would-be teen parents.- The response to the ad campaign included many horrified tweets about the ads, focusing on the reality facing teen parents.
@miriamzperez @JessicaValenti Even if shaming were effective, it makes no sense to spend gov. $$ on it. Society shames people for free.- Many media outlets covered the campaign and its backlash.
City Campaign Targeting Teenage Pregnancy Draws CriticismThe curly-haired baby looks out from the poster with sad eyes and tears dripping down his tawny cheeks. "I'm twice as likely not to gradu...
This Terrible Subway Ad Will Not Prevent Teen PregnancyWay to attempt to make every teen mom/person with a teen mom feel like utter shit when they ride the subway, NYC! This ad, featuring a so...
Lawmakers Slam NYC's Anti-Teen Pregnancy Campaign as 'Pathologically Mean-Spirited, Fatally Stupid'Earlier this week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city's Human Resources Administration unveiled a new, rather direct ad campaign to dis...
New York City calls pregnant teens 'fat' in bizarre mobile game17 hours ago New York City launched a new teen pregnancy prevention campaign this week - and it includes a bizarre choose-your-own-advent...
Mayor Bloomberg, stop shaming teen parents - MSNBCWhatever choices women make at work and in life, those choices are easier if they delay child-bearing. Having a kid while you are a still a teenager can seriously curtail your options. Which is why it is good news that American teen-pregnancy rates are at historic lows!- Reproductive Justice activists in NYC launch a campaign in response to the ads, calling for: public acknowledgement and apology from HRA, removal of all HRA campaign posters, a meeting between the HRA and NYC4RJ leaders, creation of a Teen Parent Council within HRA, composed of teen parents and their advocates, to approve any future messaging around teen pregnancy prevention.
- NO STIGMA! NO SHAME! Campaign Launch Today!The New York Coalition for Reproductive Justice is launches its No Stigma! No Shame! Campaign in response to the Human Resource Administration's, "Think Being A Teen Parent Won't Cost You?" campaign. We ask that you stand with us and sign on listing your affiliation, organization and state.
- Teen mom Gloria Malone wrote about her own experience as a teen parent, highlighting the isolation and stigma she faced.
I Was a Teenage Mother"EVERYTHING'S going to be O.K., mamita," my mother said, before walking into her bedroom and crying her eyes out. I was 15, and I was pre...- Richard Reeves of Brookings argues that "shame is an essential ingredient of a healthy society, particularly a liberal one. It acts as a form of moral regulation, or social “nudge,” encouraging good behavior while guarding individual freedom."
- A Case for Shaming Teenage PregnancyNEW YORK is deploying a powerful weapon to reduce teen pregnancy: shame. New advertisements around the city dramatize the truncated life chances of children born to teenagers; in one, a tear-stained toddler stares out, declaring: "I'm twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen."
- The response from the Bloomberg Administration has been to defend the ads. The tweet below is from the Press Secretary for New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
We've been criticized for edgy, aggressive public service ads, but we're not stopping. Teen pregnancy up next: nyc.gov/html/hra/html/…- Photos of the ads, which appear throughout NYC transportation ads on bus shelters and the subway.
