Jaime Lynn Spears pregnant. The news buzzed all over the media, from gossip blogs such as Perezhilton.com to MSNBC to CNN. 16 year old Jaime Lynn is impregnated by her boyfriend, Casey Aldridge, 18, and is now roughly six months along (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22318291/) They met when Jaime Lynn was only 14 at their church. He is described by others as a “good guy” and was voted Class Favorite by his peers at Amite School Center in Liberty, Mississippi. Jaime Lynn encourages other kids to wait, but has chosen to keep her child and deal with problems as they come. Her popular Nickelodeon show, Zoey 101, has not been cancelled and new episodes continue to air.
With Britney Spears leading the crazy wagon, people didn’t expect Jaime to follow closely behind. When the story broke, every media market appeared to be in a state of disbelief and were simply reporting the facts. Shortly after, mom Lynne Spears was targeted and labeled a terrible mother. What’s interesting about this crisis is that although Jaime is responsible for her own actions and is the one carrying the child, she doesn’t really appear to be the one targeted. The emphasis on this situation is that of the horrible job Lynne has done of raising her two girls. With headlines like “Destroyed by Mama” the blame has been placed on the mother.
That was prior to Jaime Lynn actually showing the bump. Now that her pregnancy has evolved, pictures are being posted of her in baggy t-shirts with her boyfriend, both walking around like a happy couple. However, the quotes that are attached to those pictures are a little more diverse, some congratulating the couple for sticking together through this and taking responsibilities for their actions, others plotting the demise of her career and prematurely labeling her a has-been, or rather a could-have-been.
The story first surfaced as a result of her mother, Lynne, selling the story to OK magazine for $1 million. Jaime and her mother were able to tell their story their way. Friends of the family are speaking up of their shock and initial devastation. Oddly enough, Britney created her own scandal by claiming that in fact, Jaime wasn’t pregnant, despite the fact that she went public with the declaration herself. Her boyfriend, Casey, is yet to make a statement to the media stating his opinion on the entire situation. Nickelodeon released a statement wishing Jaime the best and supporting her in this rough time. Jaime Lynn now appears very cool and collected about her pregnancy and has told the media that she plans to raise her child in Louisiana in a normal, everyday setting.
Blog coverage on the incident is a little less supportive than that of the media however. They are shaming her for her bad judgment and inability to make the right choice. Some are calling it statutory rape, as she is only 16 and Casey is 19 years old. Then of course, there are the blogs that claim the entire Spears family is just crazy and “like sister like sister.”
The important thing about this coverage is that Mainstream Media seems to be more understanding of the situation. Also, Jaime has chosen to get pregnant at a time when it has become trendy to be young and pregnant. This does seem like something that Jaime and her career can overcome together. She has spoken openly about her situation and, although she is a teen role model, perhaps her situation can be used to teach others what not to do. With the birth of her child she will embark on a brand new journey that, without a doubt, will be documented fully by the paparazzi. If she maintains her feet firmly on the ground, she can create a whole new image for herself and her future career.
