Jamie Lynn Spears Sending the Wrong Message?

In December 2007 Britney Spears' little sister announced that she and her boyfriend are expecting their first child together. Every cable network, tabloid and teeny-bopper magazine in the country went nuts. (It probably doesn't help that her sister is going through a much-publicized custody battle over her two children and has been proven to be an unfit parent.) Jamie Lynn is the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101".

This situation brings up two major issues.

The first issue is that Jamie Lynn is 16 and her long-time boyfriend is 18. Should her boyfriend be charged with statutory rape? A few talk radio hosts that I've heard talking about the issue said that they would like to see him charged. Personally, and age difference of 2 years even at that age is not a big deal to me.

Now, statutory rape laws vary from one state to the next. However, it's not like this pregnancy is a result of a one-night-stand - they have been together for a number of years. Even though they're young, their relationship is more stable than her sister's relationship with K-Fed. (Well, have you ever seen anyone with a less stable relationship than them?) If the age gap was more than 3 or 4 years, then I think there would be more of an issue and a bigger push to see him prosecuted.

The second issue and more importantly: Was this an irresponsible move on Jamie Lynn's part? Not just because of her age, but mainly because millions of teenage and pre-teen girls look up to this girl as a role model? For this issue I'm going to have to side with the more family-values-based, conservative side.

If you're a teen actress who is seen as a role model and you want to run out and have sex, do it. More power to you. Keep it to yourself though. Don't put yourself in a position where something like a pregnancy could result. Not when you have millions of little girls looking up to you. When you're in the spotlight as much as she is, and you are well aware that you are a role model for young, impressionable girls, the first thing you do before taking a step like that in your life should be to question how that would affect your image as that role model. Nothing less.