Last year I began watching the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager with my daughter just to see what it was all about.

I started off a very skeptical viewer because I was concerned that this would give young girls the wrong impression of what it was like to become a teenage mom.  I figured this could be an opportunity for me to share an hour each week with my daughter talking about the issues that came up in the show.  It was a great chance to see where she stood and let her know where I did without coming across as preachy.

The show centers around the life of Amy, a teenage girl who gets pregnant, and all of the choices she has to make now that she has chosen to keep her baby. 

Being a teenage mom myself, I know that there is nothing at all glamorous about going a whole day without a shower and smelling like baby spit up.

Unfortunately we are talking about TV here, and ratings are still very important to the ABC Family.  However I was happy to see that although they did not choose to show the whole ugly truth of teenage pregnancy, they did a decent job of showing the difficulty in balancing life as a teenager and life as a mom.

In the end I think the over all message is that you really can’t balance the two.  You must choose.  Sadly, many teenage moms choose to stay teenagers.  But there are those who rise to the challenge and sacrifice their teen years to be a real mom.

Girls need to realize that if you make a choice to have premarital sex, there’s the very real chance that you’ll become pregnant.  Once that happens you are no longer able to be selfish and only think about what’s important to you, you have to think about the child you are responsible for creating.

I love that The Secret Life does a good job of showing how one decision can change the course of your entire life.  I also love that they show how this choice affects everyone else around her.

The new season of The Secret Life premieres this Monday, January 4 at 8:00.  And if you can’t get enough of this hit show, you can pick up all of the seasons on DVD, in fact Volume Three was just recently released!

More from ABC Family:

Another show that my daughter was really enjoying last year was KYLE XY.

I haven’t had the opportunity to watch this with her yet, but we recieved the complete third season, so I think we’ll have to have a marathon day after the New Year to get caught up on what this one is all about.

Kyle XY is the story of a young man looking for answers to who he is and where he came from.  Filled with drama, action, and love this show has you guessing with all the twists and turns until the final season has ended.

The complete and final Kyle XY season can be found in stores now.

**Although the product for this review/giveaway were supplied to me free of charge from ABC Family, all opinions expressed in this review are solely mine.