Jamie-Lynn Spears is 16 years old. She is characterized as the "together" one in the family. In the words of her mother, she has never broken a curfew. She met her boyfriend and father of her baby at church. While Britney is melting down with broken marriages, custody battles, bizarre behavior, and signs of a nervous breakdown, Jamie-Lynn has been peacefully enjoying the stardom of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, playing basketball, hanging out with her girl and boy friends and her family, and cheerleading.
Although Jamie-Lynn Spears will not be fired from Zoey 101, as first rumored, the tabloid press is sprawling their disapproval of her pregnancy.
Jamie-Lynn is 16 years old. She is characterized as the "together" one in the family. In the words of her mother, she has never broken a curfew. She met her boyfriend and father of her baby at church. While Britney is melting down with broken marriages, custody battles, bizarre behavior, and signs of a nervous breakdown, Jamie-Lynn has been peacefully enjoying the stardom of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, playing basketball, hanging out with her girl and boy friends and her family, and cheerleading. Her TV image, Zoey, who is the first girl to go to an all-boy's school, is a well-adjusted, confident, middle-class girl. Like most shows, Zoey 101 promotes liberal values: acceptance of everyone, especially girls who are going to boy's schools!
When Jamie-Lynn announced in an interview with OK magazine that she is pregnant, and plans to raise the baby with her mother in Louisiana, the press received the news with shock, amazement, and dismay. There were concerns that Zoey 101 would be cancelled. The reason: setting a bad example to teenagers and children who watch the show. Mothers complained that they would have to explain "such things" (as teenage pregnancy) to their children. People were outraged at the "hypocrisy" of a good, church-going girl.
What can you expect, says one commentator, from someone from the Spears family? In other words, the public is painting Jamie-Lynn with the same brush as Britney. In the "leave comments" section of news tabloids on the internet, one finds far, far more insulting terms, such as "Go home to your mama, white trash" and jokes about the famous "ditzyness" of the Spears sisters. Nobody can believe that the celebrity is also a real person who makes mistakes.
This finger shaking, which is extended to Jamie-Lynn's mother, is a little surpassing. Whether we like it or not, teenage pregnancy is a reality. If mothers aren't talking to their kids about the reality of teenage pregnancy, their friends at school will. And maybe a little more "mother" involvement with their daughters would help with problems that girl's face. In the end, though, Jamie-Lynn isn't doing anything much differently than any other teenage mom.
But there are positive comments, too, including touching ones from other young moms, who acknowledge that yes, Jamie-Lynn made a mistake. She was pretty "dumb" to put herself in that position. But she's doing the right thing. In the words of one commentator, "She wasn't responsible before, but she'll be responsible from now one." Any person, stupid or clever, poor or rich, popstar or unknown can end up in a situation where they have to make an important choice. Jamie-Lynn might not be the brightest light of intelligence (hardly surprising when she's been groomed her whole teenage life to be a pop celebrity), nor a good role model, but she is making the best of a hard situation. One day, her son or daughter will look her in the eyes and thank her. And to Jamie-Lynn, that's more important than anything else is.
