Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnant At 16: Is Lynne Spears An Even Worse Mother Than Britney?
Lynne Spears, what were you thinking? Or not thinking and not doing? Did you never sit down with either of your daughters—Britney, now just turned 26, and the divorced mother of two toddlers or Jamie Lynn, 16 and now three months pregnant—and give them The Talk?
You know the one, where mothers warn their daughters about the dangers of unprotected sex: as in, you can get pregnant if you don't use contraception and you can contract any one of a number of dangerous sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. Or were you too busy pushing their careers to ever have this heart-to-heart with them? Were you too tied up lining up meetings with record company executives, TV networks, publicists and tour managers to check on whether you were instilling personal values and self-esteem in your daughters?
And what kind of mother upon hearing the news that her 16-year-old daughter is knocked up, reacts by picking up the phone and negotiating to get her daughter's photo plastered on the cover of a magazine with a tell-all interview by the daughter and herself inside?
I mean, she's 12 weeks pregnant—that's all—and not even showing—and you are very possibly already making big bucks off of your minor daughter's pregnancy! I say "possibly" since the magazine concerned hasn't announced that they paid for this deal, but since they have been very public about paying for other big cover scoops, there's a good chance they paid for this one. And of course, Jamie Lynn could be getting all that possible money herself. Maybe you aren't getting a cut? But there you are clearly mentioned as a participant, on the cover for millions to see. Still, I wonder, is that all your daughters are to you? A gravy train? And the world is well-aware of how daughter #1 Brit turned out—she's arguably one of the saddest, most messed-up young women in this country and a mother who's lost custody of her kids due to her hard partying and questionable parenting.
A source told Star magazine that ""She picks up guys all over the place. She never keeps condoms in the house and I wouldn't be surprised if she had unprotected sex." Lynne, have you still not had The Talk with her, after her two little surprises?
Then of course, there is the even bigger question—why do Jamie Lynn and Britney choose men who have so little respect for them that they're not careful about preventing a pregnancy? Do Jamie Lynn and Britney feel insecure and unloved? Lynne, what is that about?
And is Jamie Lynn's 19-year-old football-playing boyfriend who she apparently met in church in the Spears hometown of Kentwood, La. just an irresponsible ne'er do well? I mean, it takes two people having unprotected sex—in his case, with a 16 year old—to make a baby!
Apparently Lynn has had to postpone her book deal with publisher Thomas Nelson, who publishes inspirational books and bibles. She was supposed to publish a tome about raising her daughters in Spring 2008. Oops! I guess it's just not the right time for that.
And oops, maybe Jamie Lynn won't be deemed an appropriate role model to continue starring in Nickelodeon's teen hit show, Zoey 101. Her character on that show, after all, is smart and savvy and since I've watched it a lot, I can say that I doubt her character would be careless enough to get pregnant at 16.
Both my daughters—the 17-year-old and the 10-year-old—think it's terribly sad that Jamie Lynn is pregnant and they wonder why that family is so messed up. They can't imagine how she can do a good job of raising a baby when she's just a baby herself.
But on the other hand, she and Lynne can think of the publicity and the potential opportunities to potentially make more money if they decide to go that route. There are the "We're So Happy" cover photos taken with 19-year-old dad Casey, the potential engagement photos, the potential wedding photos, the photos of the baby's beautiful nursery, the first pics of the baby after it's born and the "How I Got My Figure Back" photos and exercise routine feature.
After all, Jamie Lynn's already pregnant, why not cash in?
As a mother, I just have to make the plea to other mothers of teenage daughters: You've got to talk to your daughters about being responsible.
What do you think readers?
Follow Bonnie Fuller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bonniefuller
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I liked your article Bonnie. It's apparent that the Spears family has some big problems. However, somewhat understandably, you've missed an important point when you discussed Lynne Spears cashing in on her daughters pregnancy, namely us.
Lynne Spears actions are despicable but she couldn't get away with it if the public wasn't screaming for every possible bit of tawdry slime she was willing to sell. We are the enablers for this kind of stupidy and greed to no small degree. If we accurately judge Lynne Spears actions for what they are, slimey, greedy and self-serving, then the publics apparently unquenchable desire for this kind of tawdry tripe can only be characterized as voyeristic, smug, self righteous and possibly sadistic.
About time someone wrote this!. Thanks.
Yup, pretty darn sad! The biggest tragedy are these babies! Who is looking out for them? Certainly not the moms, nor the grammas, the lawyers are making plenty of money, and probably have hog tied whoever can really stand up for what is in the best interrest of these babies. You know, the fact that she is 16.....is that legal??? Did this mom allow her to have sex right under her nose?? I'm getting to where I just am sick and tired of all these people benifitting finncially, at the expense of these babies. Some one needs to step in!!!
Bonnie,
You and the Star / Enquirer, et al, can do your part by ignoring the train wreck that the Spears family has become, and NOT feature those upcoming stories that the other rags will no doubt produce special reports on.
The temptation to do otherwise may be too great, though.
"Phillipa"........I have two daughters. We had The Talk. They were very popular as teens and I might add both beautiful young women. They didn't want for dates.
Neither of my daughters got pregnant in their teens. My oldest had her first baby at the age of 35. The youngest had her baby at the age of 30. And our family didn't go to "church" so that proves that morals can be taught at home. Guess we were lucky, considering that they didn't meet a "boy", who was three years older than them, in bible school class.
Children never learn by the example of others, unless they already have some moral fiber left over from learning not to lie in class, cheat on your homework or shoplift.
As for the older "sis", someone better make sure that KF gets those children away from her because they appear to have a much better chance with him.
Now, who can we select to rear this latest little Spears? Not Jamie Lynn or Lynne!!!
I think most people have missed the point: This was a career move. This is their "career". This is what they do: the celebrity train-wreck. Who says that America has no growth-industries?
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!! My goodness -- most young people have sex -- shocking isn't it??!! Who says that her mother did not instruct her about contraception and the dangers of unprotected sex? I am tired of self righteous people who do not get behind this young lady and give her some support. She is going to become a mother at 16 and will have great responsibilities.
Regarding the interview for the magazine, it may be that they were trying to preempt the "scandal". We see celebrities do this all the time with baby photos, wedding photos, etc. Jaimie Lynne gets her picture taken no matter where she goes. If she didn't come public with it immeidately, once she started to show, the paparazzi would profit off of that "baby bump". Giving interviews takes the power away from the paps and the gossip columns and allows the celebrity to be the one who controls the situation. They take the paps "scoop" away. Not a big deal, really.
Bonnie, why are you criticizing the Spears family? Looks to me like they're living the American Dream, you know, getting rich and famous. Ok, so there's a down-side to it, but who cares?
Until you Americans learn to let go of this Dream, things will never improve.
I can't even believe I clicked on to this hot "news" item.
The Spears' have once again stayed on the front pages for all of us to gasp in horror at the latest, dramatic faux pas that this family seems to generate like rabbits.
Good grief.
This nation should get out of the Spears girls' panties and focus on serious issues. I'm sick of this muck every day on the news when we can barely pay tribute to our Fallen Boys and Girls in Iraq.
Normally I could care less about the behaviors of stupid drug-addled celebrities, but this incident matters to me because it is yet another nail in the coffin of satire.
Lynne Spears was going to write a book on parenting? Even before her 16 year old got pregnant, her first daughter (I'm optimistically assuming there are only 2) has proven herself to be a complete and utter disaster. I can't imagine the most brilliant satirists coming up with something this absurd, unless someone has written a story about Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty getting jobs running a rehab clinic.
For years I've wondered: Why is anybody surprised at either Britney or Jaime? Look at where they come from (the environment in which they grew up) - what could you expect but this outcome? Why would anybody expect them to be superior role models?
How about folks sitting down their "boys" and giving them "The Talk" before they end up being irresponsible "men" and "fathers"? Why is it that we always want to vilify the mothers and victimize the daughters? Granted, there are more angles to this story besides the supposed "roles" mothers and daughters are to fulfill--like for instance how we as a society continually deify celebrities, dismiss the dangerous role large corporations like Viacom (i.e. Nickelodeon) and Disney play in tricking out these young women for our entertainment pleasure. Nevermind, the billions of dollars these CEO's are making off of our blatant ignorance (believe me half of the folks reading your article are going to cop that issue of OK! Magazine with Jaime Lynn on the cover...who's to blame now?).
How about the role we ALL play in feeding the egos of not-so-talented individuals (and contributing to their not-so-well-being) by buying into the "fantasy" of celebrity---again, thanks to hyper-consumerism!
Would someone please write an article that digs a little bit deeper into issues concerning how we have all been duped and socialized into thinking that somehow we play no role in the way most U.S. kids are raised nowadays?
Bonnie, with all due respect, I really think your article misses the boat entirely. Blaming other women for how they "raise" their children yet not acknowledging the myriad of other contributing factors that play larger more significant roles--does us all a disservice.
Stop blaming others for "their issues/problems" when we are ALL just as guilty of blissful ignorance!
Yes, Daughters should be talked to. They should be told about the misery of having children at a young age and the hell it will bring into their lives. They should be told that when they have children they will give up any free time to do anything else but raise the child. Everything gets harder. Try to get an education. Try to find a baby sitter, and forget about enjoying life.
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