What I Will Tell My Kids About Jamie Lynn Spears

My kids are little, but I am slowly preparing for this kind of conversation when they get older and their Jamie Lynn Spears disappoints them. First, I will make sure that my kids understand that celebrities and athletes are not role models. As fans we expect the celebs we idolize to be all knowing and all seeing. We forget that they are mere mortals just like us (except for Will Smith and Tom Brady and Harrison Ford and Gisele).

The fact is that Britney Spears has made extremely questionable decisions. She is detached from her family and she has tarnished her image. She started out as a clean cut, all-American girl in a similar to Jamie Lynn’s current image, but her popularity, power, paranoia and cash got to her and she more or less went off the deep end.

My message to the kids is that people like Jamie Lynn and Britney let their popularity, fame and power go to their heads. They thought they were invincible and did not have to answer for their actions. Jamie Lynn decided it was OK to have unprotected sex and now she is going to end up a teen parent. She is going to lose her childhood. She is going to be changing diapers and making bottles instead of going to the roller rink or making public appearances. It may even cost her her job if Nickelodeon decides she has failed to portray the Nickelodeon image. I will also explain to them that there is plenty of time for this when they are old enough to make their own decisions– like 30. I am very much a guy who is not encouraging his kids to grow up anytime soon. I am very much a dad who tells his kids that it is OK to be young and I like to tell my kids about the advantages of being young and that growing up means responsibilities.

So in summary, Jamie Lynn made some bad decisions and she is going to have to accept the consequences. Do not do what she did. Enjoy your childhood and do not rush into adulthood. What more is there? If you have kids who are devastated by this kind of thing, you may have let them get too attached to a false idol.