News, Former Teen Star Applauds Jamie Lynn Spears for Keeping Baby. (Friends, lisa)
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Lisa Welchel, Who Played Blair on 'Facts of Life,' Said She Relates to the Teen TV Star.
The news that 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant caused an earthquake in the tween world. Now it's time for the aftershocks, especially from moms.
Britney Spears' younger sister used to have a squeaky-clean image that anxious mothers could relate to. And her character on the hit show "Zoey 101" was someone their teen and preteen daughters wanted to be like.
"I'm so proud of her for stepping up and being courageous and taking responsibility for her choices, and I believe she's being a good role model — a good role model in that situation, to choose to have the baby..."
Both Levkoff and Welchel said that having a celebrity example like Spears to talk about might be just the opening parents need to start a frank discussion about sex.
Many parents, however, might be wondering what to say.
Welchel said she talked to her daughters, who are 15 and 16, separately about Spears' pregnancy.
"Both of their responses, and it was a different time, was, you know, this is a wake-up call, not for the kids, for the parents. This is happening everywhere, every day," Welchel said.
I agree with Lisa here.. it's a wake up call that even someone like Spears can have this happen. I'd like to say that my daughter wouldn't but who really knows? We can't watch our kids 24/7.
With my son I've always preached to "bag it".. if he's going to do it, don't count on the girl to protect herself. So far, at 22 this hasn't happened yet. I'm very proud of him for listening.
With my daughter who is 14, this is a real concern to me and while I think she's young yet, I need to not only talk but try my hardest as a parent that she is protected.
My problem with Lynn is that she did not do this.
I don't know how I feel about her decision.. I don't watch the show and right now am glad my daughter doesn't either, but I will use it as a chance to speak to my daughter about it.
Last year my 17 year old 'gifted student' daughter got pregnant from a 15 year old. I assumed she would opt for an abortion....but she didn't. After almost having a nervous breakdown, I realized this was about her and the baby, not about me and my feelings. She is now finishing school and we have a wonderful 4 month old living in our house. She has proven to be a responsible mom who truly loves her baby. The dad involved seems to love the baby too....unfortunately he's too young to even get a job at McDonalds.
It's hard to make a judgement call because teen pregnancy seems to be a MAJOR epidemic in the United States....many of whom chose to keep their babies. It's not a good thing, it's not an easy thing, it disrupts the lives of everyone involved. But unless a teen decided NOT to get pregnant, there isn't a whole lot you can do as a parent but support them and move on. There is a new life here and it's my job to make sure he is welcomed and adored.
I would like to blame Hollywood, the boy involved, me being a single mom, or any other number of things. But in the end, I have no one to blame.....life just happens. We need to be careful to judge because I sure used to...before it happened to my own family.
Well I don't knock or applaud Jamie Lynn Spears. I think the whole situation kind of shows that the Spears girls have this habit of engaging in risky behavior and not thinking about the consequences.
I think teenage pregnancy is really sad; but in today's society you never know...it can affect any family. My mother had me when she was 14. My Grandparents (her parents) did talk to her and tried to make an effort to get her involved in positive things. She was just stubborn. On one hand I'm glad to have been born; but on the other, being of a child of a teenage mother is no picnic. I wasn't even really raised by her (but by my Grandparents) -- but still, whenever she tried to do something for me it was always a trainwreck of a mess. Now she's trying to do all the mom & daughter things (she has two other girls ages 18 and 12 now)...but I'm 28 and while I do love her, we just don't have that bond. Like the other day, I was changing my shirt and she saw my tattoo and said, "Oh I never knew you had a tattoo, when did you get it?". I told her 2 years ago. Her response, "Oh you should have called me...I was thinking about getting one too..."
Her intentions are good, but when I was a child, she was so concerned with school and her boyfriends/husband and getting her life established there was no room to work on a relationship with me. Some teenage moms can do it, but a lot (including mine) could not handle it.
I think I read somewhere once before that Lisa Welchel is a very staunch pro-life supporter so I'm sure that's where her pride in Jamie Lynn's decision is coming from. Hopefully, she and her baby will be ok. Her sister was 20 something years old and married when she had her kids and I think she proved that prerequisite will not guarantee a good mother.
I don't think being a teen mom automatically makes you an unfit or irresponsible parent. Women used to rear children while in their teens and it was considered the norm. We just happen to live in a society now where the age expectations are different. Teen girls of years past hooked up with guys who knew now to hunt, fish, or build log cabins. These young boys today are not ready to be fathers. Most of them are too unmotivated to even mow the yard.
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