Teen Mom should be required viewing for all teens since it accurately shows how unhappily-ever-after life becomes after you press the fast-forward button on it. Amber—for example—whose station in life seems less than enviable.
Amber is unable to complete her GED because she is working at a tanning salon in order to support herself and her daughter Leah, since Leah’s father Gary is out of work. Now Gary has met another woman at WalMart, the same place where he bought Amber’s engagement ring (and asked if it was returnable). There is no white picket fence, nor a house, nor paint on the walls. And while Amber and Gary’s off-again-on-again status is peppered with punches and pills, there’s a little girl teetering around the house who was involuntarily brought into this depressing mess.