The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Season 2 DVD with Shailene Woodley, Molly Ringwald, Kenny Baumann

The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Season Two, stars Shailene Woodley, Molly Ringwald, Kenny Baumann, Mark Derwin, Daren Kagasoff, Megan Park and John Schneider. It is apparently really the second half of The Secret Life of the American Teenager Season One, which began with 11 episodes in July 2008 with the last 12 first season episodes aired beginning January 2009. I had mixed reactions to Season One which were predominantly negative. Season Two has more redeeming qualities, but still teaches teens that "everyone is doing it" - it being promiscuous sex.

It is somewhat disturbing to see a group of 20-somethings masquerading as teens. It is even more disturbing to see these adults having casual sex while playing 15 and 16 year old teenagers (the "teen" actors range in age from 18 - 25). By the end of the Season Two DVD, even the purity-ring-wearing Christian teen has started taking birth control pills although she has not had sex yet.

However, the Season Two DVD also portrays the efforts of the minister stepfather of Jack Pappas (Greg Finley II) to help several people - most notably the Juergens family - through counseling and hands-on ministry, and Grace Bowman (Megan Park) not only befriends school slut Adrian Lee (Francia Raisa), but she also notices Amy Juergens' (Shailene Woodley) unhappiness. Grace plans a baby shower for Amy not only to help her with gifts, but even more to show support for Amy. For the first half of Season Two, Amy has wanted to give her baby away to a homosexual couple, because, after all, that is the PC thing to do, but by the Season Two conclusion, Amy has decided to keep the baby.

It may be my imagination, but it seems that Season Two of The Secret Life of the American Teenager is slightly more about relationships and slightly less about sex than Season One, which would be a step in the right direction for this series. The show would be much improved if all of Hollywood didn't think all 15 year olds are already promiscuous. We know teens think about sex a lot, and a series like this could do much to help parents and teens have open discussions about sex if it didn't portray young teenagers having sex all the time as being the norm.

The parents in The Secret Life of the American Teenager are almost as bad as the teens. The Christian mother of Grace Bowman had an affair in her first marriage to Amy Juergens' father. Amy's father has an affair in his second marriage. Amy's mother (Molly Ringwald) also has an affair followed by casual sex with another man. Adrian's mother is the person Amy's father had his affair with. Adrian's father is divorcing his third wife. The Juergens appear to be on the process of getting a divorce. Really, these are for the most part the most narcissistic, self-gratifying, self-centered, undisciplined bunch of characters in a show for TEENAGERS.

However, The Secret Life of the American Teenager does show some of the effects of all this wrong living. Adrian is the school slut because her mother is a slut and her father wasn't there for her. Ricky Underwood's (Daren Kagasoff) promiscuity is due to sexual abuse at his father's hands. The Juergens family is breaking up because of the father's affair, and the heart of The Secret Life series revolves around the high price Amy Juergens is paying for having casual sex with Ricky Underwood at age 15. At least the actions have clear consequences in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and the series has some merit because of this.

Although The Secret Life of the American Teenager is sharp and clever, and has a couple of good role models in Dr. Bowman (John Schneider) and Mr. Pappas the minister, this show contains enough provocative adult material to make it unsuitable for the 15-year-old teenage viewers which apparently are its target market. However, if you are going to let your teen watch it, be sure to watch it with them, and plan some time for discussion afterward.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager Volume Three review coming soon.

Also see:

Sex and the City for Teens: The Secret Life of the American Teenager Season One Review
Kyle XY, Season II Review