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Nickelodeon And The Baby Mama Drama

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2007

When 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears recently told a tabloid she was pregnant, parents of her young fans went into crisis-management mode to address the sensitive topic with their children.

By contrast, Nickelodeon, her employer, ducked and ran.

"We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation," the network said in a statement. "We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well-being."

Instead of focusing on the unwed Spears, whose sister Britney lives life with an anything-goes attitude, the network should have focused on its customers - the millions of impressionable young girls who deserve a better role model than this.
Nickelodeon plays too big of a role in American culture to ignore the public dalliances of its childhood stars. Yet for more than a week now, the network has relentlessly promoted the season finale of "Zoey 101," in which Zoey, played by Spears, leaves her fictional boarding school and the boy who secretly loves her. It's almost laughable given the real-life drama in Spears' life.
Nickelodeon should have done what many parents will - pull the plug on the series. Instead, it continues to encourage pre-teen girls to idolize Spears.

By the time Nickelodeon figures out its misstep, it will have missed a teachable moment, one in which people are held responsible for bad choices.

As for Spears, some say she deserves credit for planning to carry the baby to term. She would be more deserving of credit were she to give the baby to an adoptive family that could provide stability.

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