I'll be honest. I don't care for the Spears family much at all, but I do like Britney's music. Her song "Gimme More" is a pretty skanky song, but I listen to it. And while hearing about Britney's latest court decisions or her new buzz cut is pretty entertaining, I really don't care. I don't pay that much attention to her, nonetheless her sister. Actually, now that I think about it, I never paid attention to Jamie at all. I don't watch her tv show "Zoey 101" and other than knowing that she is 16 years old and related to Britney, I really know nothing about her, and certainly never cared if I did. So why all of a sudden when she's pregnant, I do?
I guess there are some logical answers. First of all, I always had the idea that she was heading in a good direction. She had her own career going, and I assumed after seeing all of Britney's mistakes she would do her best to take care of her life. Apparently I was wrong. It is kind of shocking to hear how such a star who seems so sweet and innocent could wind up pregnant at the age of 16. Kind of like Vanessa Hudgens and her nude pics. I mean, she's a Disney channel heroine, playing one of the main roles in two of Disney's biggest movies, and she knows she has young girls looking up to her. I guess I just kind of compared Jamie to someone like Miley Cyrus. I mean, Hannah Montana is the same age as Zoey, and her show is reaching out to millions of young girls. And when I mean young, I mean young. Most of her audience at Hannah Montana concerts are like 5 years old. If Zoey was a famous singer like Hannah Montana (which, being related to Britney Spears, could be a possibility), she would have young girls that age showing up to her concerts too.
Second reason is the simplest one: because she is only 16 years old. And the father is her "long term" boyfriend of 19 years. Which kind of makes me wonder, at the age of 16, do you have long term relationships? Long term to me is like, 2 or 3 years. Obviously the term "long term" has some pretty flexible boundaries. I mean, the average high school relationship lasts 3 months, so I guess doubling that might lead you to believe it's long term. Anyways, it's not the point. What is the point is that she is so young. She had her whole life ahead of her, and she kinda just threw it all away. For me it's not so much "Oh my gosh, she's pregnant what a skank!" To me it screams, "This poor girl, I sympathize for her, she's just too young."
I can't condemn Jamie, and even if I could I wouldn't. I'm not perfect, I have my own flaws and mistakes, so I'm not going to criticize her for hers. She admits that premarital sex was a bad idea, and I can bet you most teen parents would probably say the same. It's kind of funny to me because there are plenty of 16 year olds out there who are pregnant. Jamie's not the first, and she certainly isn't the last. But because she is famous, because people look to her as an idol, we get upset to see that she is imperfect, she is human.
What I am hoping to see out of this is that our culture needs to change, or at least take a step toward change. The abstinence idea isn't working. What needs to occur is for teens to realize when sex is appropriate, like when you're really in love, and how to stay protected. That's the whole idea behind saving yourself for marriage, that you're saving that intimate moment for the one you truly love. If you're not ready to commit your life to whoever your with, then you're not ready to have sex with them. Because look at the outcomes. If you, (or if you're a guy, your girlfriend) ends up pregnant, you're all of a sudden committed to the rest of their life anyway. Not meaning you have to marry them or anything, but you need to take part in raising the child. And I could go on, but you get the picture.
My point to all of this is, I hope Jamie's pregnancy doesn't have a negative influence, but a positive one. I hope this motivates people to learn what it is we need to do to prevent teen pregnancy, and to teach young adults when they're ready for sex, and if they are ready, how to stay protected. My fear is that if this doesn't happen, it's only going to be an encouragement to young girls to follow what their idols are doing, and to me that would be tragic. Because, I'm older than Jamie and I barely know what I'm doing with my life, I can't imagine having to plan for myself and my baby. I have a friend who is a teen mother, and all her dreams are changed now that she has a daughter. It's devastating to me to hear how her goals for college and everything are changed, all because of one simple mistake. It's a mistake with a consequence that lasts for a lifetime. And it's because of all this that I care about Jamie Spears being pregnant.
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