A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that "16 and Pregnant" helped reduce teenage births in America by 5.7% in the 18 months following its release. The two authors, Melissa Kearney of the University of Maryland and Phillip Levine of Wellesley College, tracked Google searches about the show and birth control, along with Tweets, all of which spiked when the show went out.
Later this year MTV will introduce a new show called "Virgin Territory", featuring youngsters who try to remain pure and chaste. Whether this will drive horrified viewers to do the opposite remains to be seen.
