If you haven't already heard the shocking news Jamie Lynn Spears, sister to popwreck Britney Spears is 16 and pregnant.  Apparently the star of Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 is more than 4 months pregnant and due in early spring. Jamie Lynn and her 18 year old boyfriend, Casey Aldridge whom she met at church are soon to be parents and both families are very excited about the news. After recovering from the initial shock of this story I started to wonder...

1) Isn't it illegal for a 16 year old and an 18 year old to be "together"?

2) Who did Lynn Spears think she was kidding when she wrote the parenting book "Pop Culture Mom" which chronicles her life as a mom and talks about how to raise high profile celebrity children? The way Britney turned out may have been a fluke but now that I've heard the news of little Jamie Lynn, I don't think that even if the book does eventually get released that people are going to buy it. I could be wrong, but she's the last person I'd be looking to for parenting advice.

3) Is Lynn Spears responsible for what's happened to her children? Where was she when one of her children was having a meltdown and the other was hooking up with older boys? I have two children of my own so I realize that she can't control everything they do, but she was certainly first in line to negotiate her cut of the cash for the rights to their scandalous stories. In fact, she helped Jamie Lynn negotiate a $1 million deal with OK! magazine which includes the exclusive rights to the pictures of Jamie and Casey's baby. It seems wrong to me that her mother would want this to get out on the cover of a magazine; the publicity can not be good for the Spears clan and it should have been discussed within the family before the story was released. (The only reason I can think of to sell this story to the press is to take some of the spotlight off of Britney who is clearly spiraling out of control.) Britney was not even told about her sisters pregnancy, she found out from a media outlet.

4) What is Nickelodeon going to do about Zoey 101? The season three finale of the top-rated show is scheduled to air on January 4  with a cliffhanger:  Will  Zoey remain at her California boarding school, Pacific Coast Academy, or move to London with her parents? If she remains on the show how will they hide her pregnancy and more importantly should they? If they chose to continue to air the show will we let our kids watch? A lot of young girls (right or wrong) idolize her shouldn't they take a stronger moral stance? Are they glorifying teen pregnancy or just doing their jobs? This is not the first child star to get into adult trouble, Disney Channel overlooked the fact that underage Vanessa Hudgens had her nude pictures on the internet so I guess it can be done but are we sending the wrong message? Will our little girls think it's cool to be 16 and pregnant? I can hear it now,"Jamie Lynn (Zoey) has a baby I wish I had one"

Nickelodeon released a statement saying "We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well being."

I hope that means they will no longer carry the show, but maybe as a mom I'm being a little too critical.

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