OK, am I old fashioned or is this totally out of line.
National TV, magazines, press? I thought an 18 yr old & a 16 yr old was a form of rape? She is to young to consent to him, legally. What kind of lesson are wesending to the young of this world. BABIES having BABIES. I think we have to draw the line somewhere.

16 is legal consent in Georgia...up from 15...
Probably, similar in Mississippi

MONTANA TOO!SCARY.

I STARTED AT 16. I LOVE MY KIDS!
BUT,I DO WISH I WAITED.

She is already a teen star, kids look up to her.
What a message.

http://www.coolnurse.com/consent.htm

most states allow it at 16. And in Mass. Idaho, and Delaware it's 16 for girls but 18 for guys tell how that makes sense?

The sexualization of our youth throughout the '90s and continuing today has gotten way out of control.

you know i was 20 years old before i had my first of two children and ill tell you it was hard then....i cant imagine 16....thats a child itsself and i feel we as parents should stand up and be parents and educate our children on these tragedies that destroy young ones lives....

Peachie, couldn't agree more.
Some major points of this world HAVE to change.
This is a pet peeve of mine.
Married at 18, yes girlfriend was pregnant.
Made it work for 14 yrs & Stayed involved after the divorce.
I am not an angel, but very old fashioned.

nothing wrong with old fashioned in my book.....better values

Most states that have 18 as the age of consent still only consider sex with a 16 or 17 year old "contributing to the delinquicy of a minor", even 13 - 15 isn't called "statchitory rape" anymore but "carnal knowladge". An 18 y/o being with a 16 y/o in my humble, is no big deal, 16 y/o's know what they're doing;^]

I concur

Sorry, StarSailor, but the "sexualization" of our youth has been going on LONG before the 90s.

You may be correct, but with the whole bigger impact of media and the bigger media outlet I would say the '80s and '90s did a much worse job than ever before.

How many movies and such were there where there was the idea of sex with teachers? Alot.

Now I don't think media leads people to violence, except in those who already have a screw loose to start out with, but I do believe it leads much more to things of sexualization of society, as it does leading younger people to drink and smoke.

Anyone ever watch MTV recently? I'm 25, grew up and watched MTV really in the mid-90s and such, there was nothing on there or VHI like there is now. The Hills and all this other 'reality' crap (we all know that stuff is scripted to some aspect). From what I've seen, and trust me it hasn't been much, but just from the promos you see these underagers at parties carrying red plastic cups (which you know do not contain fruit punch, though surely kool-aid, if you understand that reference) and acting as if their lives revolve only around boys/girls and sex/relationships. I seriously do not remember overhearing one person, those who actually watch that stuff, talking about how John (example) is a genius and going to attend Harvard or something like that.

Have any of you gone onto Myspace lately as well? You can see how the sexualization has really gone overboard, now pre-teens and teens are on there posting incredibly sexualized stuff and pictures of them partying (and not the sleep-over party stuff and video game sessions after a day of playing football that I remember). I mean, if any of you have children that age or have cousins, nephews, and nieces that age do not even think of going on their myspace page, especially if you have a heart condition, and looking at what they put on there, mostly pic-wise, and then the comments they get from people with them.

The whole thing makes me really sad, upset. I mean, maybe I was naive or whatever, but I seem to not even caring about women until I was like 17. I mean, yeah, women interested me and stuff before then, but I had much more desire to play sports, videogames, and hang out with my buddies riding bikes around town, playing pickup sports, and adventurering. I lived in a town about of 3000, lots of kids around, and back when I was young it was very active on weekends with kids out playing and doing sports, nowadays you don't see anything.

Not only that, but I have younger friends, my bro is two years younger and growing up in a smaller town I had friends growing up that were much younger, the younger brother of a friend and thus became a friend as well. They graduated highschool not too long ago and I heard stuff that blew my mind on what went on in and out of school. Absolutely shocking stuff that teens are doing these days, and they told me if I thought highschool was bad that there was worse stuff going on in middle school.

There were such things as BJ Clubs, and not the store BJ club cards stuff.

This is middle school girls, 7th grade and earlier.

I really think my life will be cut much shorter if I ever have a daughter. lol, so sad.

I'll stand by my original statement, Starsailor. But, while this stuff's been going on for decades now, we have a much easier access to hearing about it.

I graduated high school in 1980, meaning I was there in the late 70s. I knew of at least THREE teachers (one female, two male) who were having relationships with students. And, to be honest, it wasn't exactly a well kept secret, either.

The point is, today we have YouTube, MySpace, and hundreds of cable channels and Internet web sites. MUCH easier access to info than ever before. Things like you mentioned have been going on for decades. These days, our methods and availiability of information is miles greater than they were then, where word of mouth was one of the top ways to gather info.

Well I'm with knoxman on this one I would have graduated in 1977 and it was going on strong at that time shshhs. My grandmother was under 16 when her first was born. Back then some were only 14 when they got married.

Myself I was 24 when my first was born and married and it was still tough. Having kids is no picnic like some seem to believe it is.

I would not give anything for mine. But.......... also no matter how much you talk to your kids they don't always listen. And it can not always be blamed on the parents.

I talked to mine all the time about kids having kids still did not stop my son. He is 25 now and his little girl will be 5 in Jan. My daughter is 23 and well she did listen no kids yet.

They need to realize to enjoy life while they are young wait a few years to have kids and proctect themselves. But.... we are a society that we must learn things the hard way in order to learn them at all.

I agree. Teenage girls have been having children out of wedlock for much longer than just in recent memory. It just wasn't talked about the way it is now. It used to be that if a girl Jamie Lynn's age got pregnant, she'd be hidden away, have her baby in seclusion, and it would be given up for adoption without anyone being the wiser.

I think it's so strange how people are reacting to this story. Sure, what these two teenagers did was foolish, but it's not so unusual. It's only shocking because she has a famous name. Look at the case of Keisha Castle-Hughes, just last year. She was just 17, her boyfriend 20, when their daughter was born. But there was no where near the intensity of reaction to her situation.

The thing is, Jamie Lynn's story is like many other girls her age. She clearly made a poor decision, but I think that rather be inspired to imitate it, her fans might learn to see it as a cautionary tale. Maybe her young fans don't think that if they have unprotected sex that this could happen to them. Maybe them seeing her have to deal with the consequences of her actions will actually teach them what NOT to do. I know that if I were a parent of one of her fans, that's how I would approach the topic-learn from her what you shouldn't do.

Lynn Spears had her parenting book postponed indefinatly. I think that is hilarious.

The Spears family is just screwed up and the only ones I feel sorry for are the babies!

pregnant at 16......YOU think that she is the first one in the world to get pregnant at that age????

2 of my best friends in highschool got pregnant...it was hard for them but they got alot of help from their parents. Im sure Jaimie lynn will too....

OKay...this is not to anyone or at anyone..but why is it when its a freaking celeb that does stuff that regular people do ..its like its the first time it ever happend?it been going on for years and it sucks....move on