People Features
Sister Spears pregnancy lifts curtain on teen sex
Dec 20, 2007, 16:35 GMT
06/09/2007 - Jamie Lynn Spears - Nancy Drew World Premiere - Grauman\'s Chinese Theatre - Hollywood, CA © David Gabber / Photorazzi
Los Angeles - On the popular kids' TV show Zoey 101, she plays a butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her mouth goodie-goodie. In real life, her character was a little different.
Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old sister of troubled pop star Britney Spears, announced her pregnancy to the world Wednesday.
In an 'exclusive interview' with OK magazine, the younger Spears said she was 'shocked' to be in the family way after having sex with her boyfriend, Casey Aldridge, the 19-year-old son of a papermill worker in her home state of Louisiana, whom she reportedly met at church.
Spears is perhaps the most famous young teenager to become publicly pregnant in recent years, and her situation immediately became the topic of the day in the US news media.
Experts said that Spears's status as a role model could weaken the taboo of teen pregnancy. But they also acknowledged that it could focus attention on the problem and provide educators and parents with a teachable moment to talk to kids about the dangers of unprotected sex.
'This is a very shocking and bad lesson for kids,' said child psychologist Judy Korianski. 'Kids look up to the character that she plays. They confuse who the star is with who the kid is. This is a lesson for parents to talk to their kids about safe sex.'
That's probably not what they were thinking in the White House. Since taking office seven years ago US President George W Bush has backed a sex-education policy that preaches abstinence until marriage, rather than what most professionals view as the far more effective method of advising kids to delay sex while also teaching them how to engage in safer sexual behaviour.
The news of Spears' pregnancy came less than two weeks after a government report found that the incidence of teen pregnancy was rising for the first time since 1991.
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2006 teen birth rate was 41.9 births per 1,000 females aged 15- 19, compared to 40.5 births per 1,000 in 2005. It was the first increase in 15 years.
Health care professionals are unsure how to interpret the figures, whether they represent a mere blip or a reversal in the long-term trend.
'It's way too early to know if this is the start of a new trend,' said Stephanie Ventura, head of the CDC's reproductive statistics branch. 'But given the long-term progress we've witnessed, this change is notable.'
According to Planned Parenthood, the federal government has spent more than 1.5 billion dollars on abstinence education since Bush took office. Cash-strapped states are required to match the federal spending, meaning they often have no money left over for more effective sex education.
The result is that 'fewer than half of public schools in the US now offer information on how to obtain birth control, and only a third include discussion of abortion and sexual orientation in their curricula,' according to Planned Parenthood.
Research has shown that in the sexually provocative society of the modern United States, abstinence education is like spitting into the wind.
Some 88 per cent of teens who pledge to keep their virginity in school still engage in premarital sex but are less likely to use contraceptives than other kids. Planned Parenthood blamed a policy that it says amounts to censorship of sex education, as one of the prime reasons that the US has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world.
That sexual illiteracy might be why Spears said that both she and her boyfriend were in 'complete and total shock' when they found out she was pregnant.
'That Spears was shocked that she was pregnant suggests that she wasn't ready to have sex,' said Bill Albert, deputy director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. 'Anyone who has sex can get pregnant, and if you don't know that, you probably shouldn't be having sex. Zoey 101 needs sex education 101.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
No one is surprised that teens are having sex, but what is disturbing is that the lame-brained mother would allow her young teen to live with her young teen boyfriend at probably way before 16, since they have been an item for awhile. Also, I agree that Nickelodeon should have been more aware of Jamie Lynn's actions when she is supposedly representing a sweet, innocent girl on her show. Is it 'do as I say, not as I do?'
she is a fat frickin hoe. we think that she got rape !!!!!!!!
It was no worse than the garbage you just spewed out!!
she's 16. he's 19 and he's still walking the streets? why haven't the police picked him up yet?
Because they are now claiming he is only 18!!??
Look.....now see here.....Teenagers ahve been doing it since the 1940's and since even before that. Teen aged people were getting hitched to one another in the 18th and 19th centuries but somewhere in the 20th century we changed the age of legal tender. Some feel this was a good move.
In order to control our youth here in America. We have a picture in our minds of a 16 year old girl riding a pony and playing with Barbie dolls. Look again people this is the 21st Century. We have all but lost control but with the tiniest thread.
It's no ones fault but our own that we put in place a TABOO that has increasingly been broken over time and now it is only visible?
Jamie lynn is not a whore or a slut or any other foul name the prudes want to call her. She is a young woman.
She has a job she has money her place in life has already started.
We only want our young to have good jobs and not being home the parents of Babies. We look at our kids and want them to be kids forever.
FACT- There is nothing wrong with Jamie having a baby. It's us who are apalled that she is so young and how can this be?
As I stated above in the first paragraph. Look read and learn about yourselves.
but she is still a whore/slut /and whatever
I agree with Macaffery's comments 100%! Why is it so few stand up for celebs whenever they're involved with something? This goes back to Vanessa Hudgens's nude photos that caused quite a chaos for many readers. It looked like World War III was erupting! After Vanessa, the nasty comments went with the false rumor that Miley Cyrus was pregnant, which of course she's not. Now, it's Jamie Lynn's pregnancy that's getting the same attention. For those of you who call Jamie bad names like you've been calling her, put yourself in her shoes and really think about what would happen if you were in that situation and people all over the world started calling you names like that. Whether you agree or disagree, I speak my mind and I'm sticking with it. Yeah, this is the same 'Anonymous in NJ' that was defending Vanessa Hudgens when rude comments were made about her. That's why I included her name near the beginning of this post. That's all for now.
By the way, do you know why there is so much underage teen pregnancies in this country as opposed to...say, most countries in Europe? Any guesses? I'm not sure exactly what TABOO Macaffery was talking about, but I can think of one that may or may not be the same thing. It's called nudity...and not the porn kind, the natural kind. Yet, for Americans, we prudes seem to be brainwashed into believing nudity must be equal to sex. I admit that I, myself, used to think that way, too. Yeah, I used to look at porn sites, left and right and think that when people are naked, they are involved with sex. Well, I've changed my mind since then. I don't know when the change started, but when I first started looking at natural nudity, I used to believe it was somehow related to pornography. But, I did research and learned that natural nudity has absolutely no relation to sex at all. Here's a website, actually a few that may help some of your prudish ways of thinking. One is: www.purenudism.com and another is called: www.clothesfree.com. Both have good information and pictures of REAL people doing REGULAR things in the nude...not airbrushed supermodels engaging in sexual stuff. While I still occasionally look at porn once in a while, it's becoming less frequent and, maybe one day, I can break the habit all-together. If I want to look at naked people, I just look for naturism or nudism for real people instead of porn stars.
P.S., Macaffery, is nudity the TABOO you were talking about? If it is, then we think alike, buddy.
no....I was referring to underage JAILBAIT and child molestation and statutory rape and sex with underaged girls and boys.
It is absolutely wrong to have sexual contact of any kind with a child or to even think about it. (under the age of 18)
The Taboo created by society is that CHILDREN are still CHILDREN until they turn 18 years of age. Any type of sex before hand is strictly frowned upon. No oral with a young girl or fellattio with young boys by 30 year old school marms of course no intercourse with a young girl and definately no sodomy with said underage girl. Once she hits 18 though it's on...so long as it is consented upon.
I think it's wonderful that Brit's kids will soon have cousins to pl;ay with!
just little sluts doing their thing.
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she is a fuckin* hoe why dint she use protection i think that they should just throw her out of the show and never come back cause shes being a bad influence to the kids at age 10-18..... nicklodean shouldnt even let her do her good bye show.. they should of just fired her when she told everyone she was pregnat... im sorry but its the fuckin* trueth ... i know the trueth hurts but it was retarded of her to do it at such young age ,, what a biotch... go to the garbage where you belong ...that waz reyna your friend.
fuck u u shoud never had it bich and ur mommy shoud kick u out of the house. joanna ure friend..
I thought profanity was not allowed on this site. Here, we can clearly see the f-word written out in the comment above mine. And, by the way, Jamie Spears did nothing wrong. Okay, yeah, she's a little young to be having a baby and I admit that. But, why is it suddenly okay when a girl turns 18? Why is 18 the magical number? To me, 12, 16, or 18...they're just numbers to me.
stupid...one day you'll get it. it's ok. shh baby shh.....
It's moronic for those who are repressed and inhibited to try to impose their unhealthy intolerant 'morality' on others. The very people who most vociferously criticize people with a well adjusted view of sexuality themselves exhibit poorer morals. They are fighting against their own nature and trying to bring their war to the culture at large. Research indicates that fundamentalist Christians have the highest rate of divorce for instance: 'alphadominance.com/?p=416' Those who claim the highest morality are in fact the least moral among us. Atheists behave better than these imbeciles.
People are afraid of nudity and sexuality when they have guilt and shame issues over things which are a natural part of humanity. These individuals need therapy, not to have popular culture or legislators listen to their intolerance. Even in the context of marriage we are one of the least sexually satisfied cultures on earth: 'alphadominance.com/?p=510'
What healthy well adjusted Americans need to do is to embrace their sexuality, maintain the emotionally healthy approach to life and rub the noses of the uptight party poopers in it until they loosen up. If it were up to me we'd adopt the European model of normative sexuality, nudity in commercials, topless beaches being the standard, women being able to breastfeed in public without persecution and a sex positive attitude with rational sexual education for our youth to replace the dysfunctional inanity of the 'just say no' approach. It's shown that unwanted pregnancy and transmission of venereal disease declines with realistic sexual education, not with the abstinence only approach. Just look at Sarah Palin's daughter. Classic case of what teaching stupid fundamentalist values results in. Spare me.
Formerly 'Anonymous in NJ', I've come out with my name and my lifestyle. I have to agree with the previous comment above mine.
kazIUe hi! hooli?
ahh...phooey! It's all B.S. . Countries with more openess about sexuality promote perversion and child molesters and kiddie porn industry.
Here in the USA we have enough problems with pervs and rapists and creepy weird child touchers.
We can't be more like those other countries. The last thing we need is these freaks walking around stalking Moms nursing their babies in public. To understand the validity of your argument you really need to comprehend the sociological pathology of the said region. Kids should not have Kids...we need to evolve as a species and start promoting more mature points of view.
page: 1
ShannonDec 20th, 2007 - 18:44:44
Great article and so right on!
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