The news spoke of an increase in teen pregnancies just the other day. It is a sad fact of life that with all of the educational tools that this country has, that the problem of teen pregnancies continues.
It is hard raising children in today’s world. It is even harder to do it when you are a young (often single) parent yourself. Education is the key to earning higher pay when you enter the workforce. The drop out rate among young women who find themselves pregnant is staggering. The emotional, spiritual, and financial toll is hard to overlook.
Today, all over the news is the headline that Jaime Lynn Spears is pregnant. She is all of 16. She met the father of her unborn child in church. It underscores that even with sex education, religious training, strong family bonds as well as the availability of multiple birth control methods; teen pregnancy still happens.
Being a role model is not easy; Jaime is a star of Nickelodeon’s show “Zoey 101”. Being a role model with a very famous sister who is in obvious crisis with her own family life is even harder. Jaime (and Brittney) Spear’s mother is writing a book on parenting in the public eye.
Jaime Lynn’s pregnancy will no doubt add a whole new perspective to that book. It was interesting to me, to hear Jaime Lynn supposedly comment that she was going to raise her child in Louisianna where her child can have a “normal family life”.
She knows that living her life in a fishbowl is not good for her child. Yet, that is how she herself grew up. Her sister’s shadow cast a huge influence on how Jaime’s path to adulthood took shape.
Whatever is going on in Britney’s life ( whether it’s addiction, spoiled diva like behavior, or mental illness, or just denial that things are out of control) she loves her sister. Can Britney come out of the fog in a real way to help her family deal with this new developement?
I can see how the choice’s a young teen would make in wanting and needing comfort and affection; during the time her mother and her sister were at odds, could turn into making misguided choices in developing a sexual relationship outside of marriage. It obviously, goes against her personal belief’s and yet…here she is ….a statistic.
While announcing her pregnancy; she also advocates waiting to have sex until married. While this probably reflects her true feelings…it also shows the difficulty that teens face in making choices regarding their purity.
Everything in the media is flaunting sexuality. We are sending our young people mixed messages. We wave the joys of sex in their very faces and then we tell them to wait. Those mixed messages are destroying our families. The cost of that is tremendous.
More often than not, teenaged parent’s live in poverty. Raising their children in environments that continue to keep generations in bondage to that way of life. Jaime Lynn should not have that problem with finances due to her families income from fame and fortune…but, there will be issue’s to deal with to be sure.
The impact on Jaime’s young fans is important to consider. Hopefully, Jaime will make good come from her situation and use her celebrity to advocate for abstinence. Sadly though, the media will portray this with drama and hype to make a dollar. Even though a new life is a gift….the circumstances could be better.
Human beings need love and support and they will find it in whatever way they need to do. The hope is that they find it in healthy ways that will empower them to a long, healthy and spiritually fulfilling life for them and their children to come.
Write where you are 
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