The Secret Life of the American Teenager

This article on USAToday.com gives an overview of the upcoming new show "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". This could be a golden opportunity to talk about tough issues with your entire family.

Teenager, which Hampton calls "7th Heaven with sex," opens with Amy (Shailene Woodley), a smart but vulnerable high school student, discovering she is pregnant after a first-time tryst at band camp. Her story opens the door to numerous character relationships involving students and their families. "It's a lot of people, but that means there's a lot of stories to pick and choose from," Hampton says. Amy would not have her baby until after the 10-episode first season, if Teenager is renewed. Ringwald, the '80s teen-movie queen (The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink) who plays Amy's mother, says her role illustrates the variety of stories. "One of the reasons my character, who is pretty intelligent and fairly liberal, doesn't pick up on something in front of her is that she's focused on the demise of her marriage." In addition to marital problems and unplanned pregnancy, Teenager will explore other tough topics, such as a student who tries to deal with childhood sexual abuse. Some teens will be sexually active; a main character is a Christian committed to abstinence.

Hampton says Teenager will handle sex "in a very clean way," although some topics may be too much for preteens. The show is "a love story, but also a very long and interesting cautionary tale." Teenager can deal with those topics and still fit the network's family-friendly approach, Lee says. "We're going to tell it in an optimistic, relatable way, and we're going to be responsible about it. Our story lines are going to resolve in a way that makes it quite clear what's the right thing to do." Many of Teenager's topics, including pregnancy, aren't that different from the days of Ringwald's earlier films, says the actress, who played a pregnant teen in For Keeps?. Some parents "are still really unwilling to talk about sex frankly with their kids," she says. "It's so much better to talk about it with your kids, and I hope this show opens that dialogue. It really is perfect for ABC Family."

Consider watching this with your family and using it as an opening for discussion. The article above says the show will "resolve in a way that makes it quite clear what's the right thing to do." See if your family agrees.

We blogged about each episode in season one: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.