CATEGORIES: Celebrity Condoms Sex Teen Pregnancy
December 19, 2007
The Spears Girls & Sex
Last night I went to bed hearing some unsettling news that Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant. A tween icon, a supposed “role model” for youth, is now a pregnant teen - and just another statistic.
While news like this conveys just how important it is to talk to our kids about sexuality, sex, condoms, and good decision making, it is also an indictment of how we are failing as parents. Jamie Lynn waited until Thanksgiving to tell her mother and decided to announce the news on the cover of a tabloid. What is wrong with this picture? And why do the Spears girls have such a complicated relationship with sex and more importantly, condom use? Why do so many teens fear talking to their parents about sex - especially in the midst of a crisis? They fear our judgement. And sometimes we need to sit back, remember what it was like for us, and listen. And when you finally talk…
use this opportunity to talk to your kids about self-esteem, healthy decision making, personal responsibility, and the fact that while Jamie Lynn Spears may (and I use that word loosely) have the resources (at least financially) to take care of her baby, this is not how teen pregnancy plays out in real life. Jamie Lynn does not represent the average teen; her family is clearly not the average family.
But we are - and it is possible to instill healthy, positive messages about sex, allowing kids and teens to explore their values alongside of yours, to help them develop self esteem, decision making skills, and most importantly, a chance to see that sexuality is so central to who we are. When we know that (and know how wonderful it can be), we won’t squander it. We will protect it (and we will protect the ones we care about). In the end, that’s really why I wrote Third Base Ain’t What it Used to Be.
