What is the effect of media broadcasting celebrity teen pregnancy on teens?

Ever since the teen sister of pop star Britney Spears, Jamie Lynn Spears, came out with her news about being pregnant at 16, the paparazzi have gotten their fair share of photographs and headlines have been posted.

Now what is the effect of celebrity teen pregnancy on today’s teenagers? Jamie Spears is the star of Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101,” a show made particularly for a teen audience. And with fans like this and young teen girls that adore her, it can come off as quite confusing to them when their idol becomes pregnant so early. This may make some teen girls think that getting pregnant at such a young age is not as bad is it seems. But this of course would be the wrong message.


A lot of people have been pressuring her as a negative influence to the young teen girls out there but she could actually also be a teen following the trend of teen pregnancy in 2006 and not making it. The teen birth rate in 2006 increased by 3 percent compared to the year before. It was the first increase of its kind in more than a decade according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These statistics may come as a shock to many but even the professionals in healthcare are not totally certain about their interpretations of these numbers.

According to Reuters, Stephanie Ventura, a center official remarked "It's way too early to know if this is the start of a new trend. But given the long-term progress we have witnessed, the change is notable."

But although some experts speculate that Spears may be part of the rising pattern in teen pregnancy, her pregnancy may break through the existing taboo regarding teen sex.

Child psychologist Judy Korianski told Reuters, "This is a very shocking and bad lesson for kids."

The amount of attention that Jamie is getting regarding her pregnancy could also spark a positive focus on the issue wherein the realities of teen sex and pregnancy could be discussed. Because of her popularity, counselors or teachers, even parents could use her predicament as the starting point of important conversations regarding sex education. More importantly, keeping a teenager well-informed is a good point that parents should take from Spears’ situation. Use whatever negativity that may lie in this occurrence in a positive way.