All in the Family

This is not even a topic I particularly wish to speak about because of how disappointing it is, but I'm going to take a stab at this situation.

For those of you who have yet to hear to "big news", Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spear's little sister and popular star of the tween hit "Zoey 101", is pregnant at 16 years of age. I am not disappointed about the situation itself (except for the fact that she has so much money and yet was not using conception, or not as far as the media has been informed at least). No, I am disappointed in the fact that parents are trying to hide this information from their tween and teen children.

Read this: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/us/21girl.html?ref=todayspaper

At first I thought nothing more of this article and the whole mess than "does fuck-up run in the genes"? But it happens. All the time. My high school had a fair share of teen pregnancies and even middle school had a case. Yes, it would be ideal for parents to think realistically and teach abstinence, but protect on the side of caution. Not talking about sex doesn't not lead to sex it just leads to ignorance about sex and consequences. Anyways, originally nothing stood about enough about this case to bother writing a blog about it....that was until I read this little gem:

"Ms. Akusis said she hoped that her younger sister and stepsister, who are both 11 and love the show, would not find out about Ms. Spears. “I don’t even want to bring it up with them,” she said. “I don’t want them to be disappointed.” It would be like their discovering that Santa Claus was not real, she said."

I understand not wanting them to find about, but if has every intention of never discussing it with them she is missing an ideal opportunity. These girls look up to Jamie Lynn, and up to this point she has been a good role model, but this proves an all too important point, even celebrities fuck it up. Money, power, influence, and all the help in the world does make you immune to life. It can happen to anyone. If I had a child who watched the show I would be using this as an indirect but effective way to show what can happen. Here is my conversation with my imaginary 11 year old girl.

"I see your looking at that article about Zoey. What do you think about that?"
[Insert typical response]
"Well, she was 16 and I don't think she had a good idea what could happen to her. Some girls think that things like this can't happen to them. She has a lot of responsibility ahead of her. If you want to discuss this more or have any questions please come talk to me. I hope you are willing to come to me before something like this becomes a problem so that I can help you be prepared and make good decisions."

Alright, obviously I don't know what I'd honestly say because I'm not a parent dealing with this, but I guess my point is that the real world exists. I remember the word sex was taboo in my house. Comedy Central comedians, even the predominantly clean ones, where often rapidly turned off because my mother was uncomfortable with topics of dating, even marital relationships. This still continues in my 20's. Although my mother knows I'm not the innocent being I was when I was 11, she still has no ability to discuss serious topics without an atmosphere of discomfort. My father on the other hand has a much different approach. He doesn't directly discuss anything, but uses other examples and makes comments on it.

No matter what direction individual parents take, I highly doubt that woman will keep her children ignorant to the situation and I can only hope she will take the time to give her children a tool for the future. There is nothing more effective in life than knowledge.

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