National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy- Statement on Jamie Lynn Spears 6/19/08

National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

Statement on Jamie Lynn Spears

6/19/2008

(Washington DC) - In response to the birth of a daughter to 17-year-old actress Jamie Lynn Spears, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy issued the following statement from CEO Sarah Brown:
"Every child deserves a warm welcome and we hope that Jamie Lynn Spears' new daughter, Maddie Briann, will be surrounded by much love, support and comfort. But the media frenzy that is sure to now erupt, as it did when this pregnancy was announced last December, provides every parent, teacher, media outlet and more a chance to state the truth: babies need and deserve adult parents who are committed to each other and to decades of being the best parents possible. Hundreds of thousands of teens and unmarried young adults get pregnant and become parents every single year, and few of them have Hollywood beginnings or endings. Getting pregnant and bearing children is one of the most important steps that any person ever takes, and it deserves careful planning, thought and consideration."

Key data. Recent data show that the declines in teen sex and improvements in contraceptive use have leveled off and that the teen birth rate is on the rise for the first time in 15 years. At present, 3 in 10 girls in the United States become pregnant by age 20. Despite a 38% decline between 1990 and 2004 (most recent data available), there are more than 729,000 teen pregnancies annually. In 2006, there were 435,000 births to teens. Moreover, at present, half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.

For more information: Please visit http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/

About the National Campaign: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to improve the lives and future prospects of children and families and, in particular, to help ensure that children are born into stable, two-parent families who are committed to and ready for the demanding task of raising the next generation. Our specific strategy is to prevent teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy among single, young adults. We support a combination of responsible values and behavior by both men and women and responsible policies in both the public and private sectors.

Jamie Lynn Spears

It's been about a month since Jamie Lynn Spears announced her pregnancy to the world but the press coverage has yet to die down. Read the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy's take on the issue below:

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In response to the news that Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old star of the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 is pregnant, Bill Albert, Deputy Director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy encouraged parents and teens to consider the following:

• The Spears pregnancy provides parents with a teachable moment and serves as a perfect opportunity to discuss with their kids the important topics of sex, love, relationships.

• That Spears is a celebrity with a “good girl” image underscores that teen pregnancy can happen to anyone. In fact, one in three girls in the United States gets pregnant by age 20.

• Spears is 16 and her boyfriend is 19 years old. While an age difference of three years means little in an adult relationship, age differences of even two or three years can be significant in teen relationships. Teens who are in relationships with partners three or more years older are far more likely to report that sex was unwanted, are far less likely to use contraception, and far more likely to get pregnant than those teens who are in relationships with someone their age or
slightly older.

• That Spears was shocked that she was pregnant suggests that she wasn’t ready to have sex. Anyone who has sex can get pregnant and if you don’t know that you probably shouldn’t be having sex. Zoey 101 needs sex education 101.

• Jamie herself now says that she thinks that it is better to wait to have sex—a sentiment that is shared by most sexually experienced teens. In fact, 60% of sexually experienced teens say they “wish they had waited longer” to have sex.

“We hope that Jamie’s pregnancy encourages her young fans to think carefully about sex and contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the lifelong challenges of being a parent,” said Albert.