Last night, we shared a lengthy post made by 16 and Pregnant star Nikkole Paulun in which she criticized MTV and their Teen Mom shows for their inaccurate portrayal of what it’s really like to be a young mother. Nikkole’s main criticism was that the moms on the show receive a lot of money to be on TV, and don’t really know what it’s like to struggle to pay the bills while raising a child (or children).
Jenelle Evans shared the post on her Facebook page and offered up this rebuttal:
Nikkole Paulun that’s not true at all actually. We struggle just as much as any moms. The richest parents in the world still have challenges raising their children. No one intentionally does this to be on tv and actually teenage pregnancy rate has dropped since this show has been on the air.
Not to mention you were on 16&P and didn’t sign to teen mom just becuz your mom wouldn’t let you. So there’s that.
I LIVE at the beach… Sorry it seems to be like a vacation everyday to you.
Commenters were quick to criticize Jenelle’s response by pointing out that a lot of her struggles weren’t financial.
Here’s what Jenelle had to say in response:
Yeah that’s true but we financially struggle as well.. everyone thinks our lives are just full of money… We pay hundreds of thousands in taxes every year, we cannot get government assistance, if we go to school we pay in full and cannot get financial aid, can’t get WIC, food stamps, section 8 (which makes us pay rent in full on top of water and electric) , if your credit is bad like mine was then you cannot finance even a car for your family and take more money to buy a car in full.
After Jenelle’s comments, Nikkole Paulun seemed a bit surprised. “I wasn’t even mean lol,” Nikkole wrote. “idk why she got so offended.” Nikkole later returned with this suggestion to MTV for a Teen Mom Swap kind of series:
They should do a spin-off where the girls trade lives with regular teen moms so they can see how blessed they really are and how much everyone else struggles.
I can’t imagine that wouldn’t be one of the highest rated series in MTV history! Farrah Abraham’s episode might actually beat out the Jersey Shore finale! But, back to Jenelle and Nikkole…
Jenelle later deleted Nikkole’s post from her page, along with the comments she’d made. She then spent some time at the beach with the kids and boyfriend David Eason. In Jenelle’s defense, it is Saturday, and she does live right down the road from the shore! (I know I’d be there too — although it would be so I could catch some rare water Pokemon.)
