Bristol says that teen abstinence is “not realistic at all,” which shows progress in the political media discussions that began when her pro-abstinence mother, Gov. Sarah Palin, confirmed then-17 year old Bristol’s pregnancy last year. However, in the Fox News interview, when asked about her views about birth control Bristol declined to comment. She seems to want to be an advocate for teens avoiding pregnancy without explaining how they can do this. She also perpetuated the myth that teens today are more interested in having pre-marital sex than teens in previous generations. In fact, according to sex research for at least four decades about 95% of Americans have been having premarital sex.

Perhaps Van Susteren made Bristol defensive by asking her a personal question about why or if she did not use contraception (which she declined to answer). But, despite that, when asked how she could change the fact that teens have sex and may get pregnant, all Bristol could muster was a statement that she as a teen mom can scare teens into not having sex. No mention of the need for teens to use birth control or more effective sexual decision making methods, or for them to have comprehensive sex ed or better communication with their parents, or any other factors that truly could help teens avoid pregnancy.  

I certainly hope that Bristol does not try to speak to teens about pregnancy prevention until she learns how to discuss the use of birth control and condoms. Teens may be positively influenced by hearing about the profound challenges of teen parenthood from a teen mother. However, only telling teens how tough it is to be a teen mom won’t keep teen sperm from uniting with teen eggs.

None of this should be anyone’s business, but Britney’s. Yet, why is this pop culture gossip of interest to a sex educator? It has me thinking about the roles that parents play in their teens’ and twentysomethings’ sex lives, and the messages that this story gives about teen sex.

Teenagers should be made to feel that they can trust and confide in their parents about their sex lives if needed. Previous claims about Britney’s loss of virginity at 14 were only made by tabloids, such as 2007 US Weekly. Now her mother is divulging her stories. Is it possible that twentysomething Britney could have consented to allowing her mother to reveal these details? If Britney is, as reported, under a conservatorship by her father, then ethically gaining her daughter’s true consent would be unlikely. It was unethical for her parents to promote her as chaste to sell albums a decade ago, and also unethical to now portray her teen years as “troubled” to sell books.

Even more relevant to sex education: The timing of the release of Lynne’s book comes the same week that Gov. Sarah Palin made a choice to run for Vice President, thus bringing her pregnant daughter, Bristol Palin, under scrutiny. Both Lynne Spears and Sarah Palin have said that they believe that people should wait to have sex until marriage; yet, their teens did not wait. Maybe these stories could have a positive impact on Americans, illustrating that the abstinence-only message is not based in reality. In truth, 95% of Americans have sex before marriage, and this figure has been consistent for decades (Finer, 2007).

Speaking of a Jamie Lynn – Bristol connection: Lynne Spears denies reports that she had a baby gift sent to Bristol Palin, on behalf of Jamie Lynn. Her rep says there is no truth to the story that Jamie Lynn sent the following card: “Dear Bristol, Hang in there! XXOO, Jamie Lynn Spears.”

Photo from britneyfans.org

Teen pregnancy is not more accepted today than ever before, but it certainly seems to be sanctioned by our political candidates.

It was announced today that Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant. According to The New York Times, Sarah Palin said, “Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”

Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama seemingly condoned this teen pregnancy, saying: “My mother had me when she was 18.”

Obama also said, “How family deals with issues and teenage children – that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics.”  His remark does not alter the reality that teen pregnancy is now most certainly a topic of our politics.  When a hurricane occurs along side a political campaign, it becomes a topic of our politics.  Similarly, when the “abstinence-only” VP candidate’s teenage daughter’s unwed pregnancy is announced during a political campaign… this is a political issue. I hope it opens up the conversation about the causes, consequences, and possible methods of preventing teen pregnancy, as well as the issue of sex education.

Comprehensive sexuality education should be funded and/or mandated, and the government must stop funding abstinence only sex education. Also, political parents should be able to say that Americans should talk to their teens about how to prevent pregnancy. Research has found that when parents talk to their teens about sexual choices, values, and birth control, then teens are more likely to delay sex and less likely to have an unintended pregnancy. Either Bristol Palin didn’t know how to use birth control, or she didn’t care to use it. This is related to how she was parented, and what she may or may not have been taught by her mother about sex, love, and life. I find it disturbing that thus far there have been no statements from the political campaigns about sex education, parenting, or about the fact that teen pregnancy is preventable. 

Jamie Lynn Spears, the Gloucester Girls, fictional Juno, and now Bristol Palin.  Will spotlighting another high profile (“celebrity”) teen pregnancy, help or hinder the conversation about teen pregnancy, sex education and parental education? More of my thoughts on this are here and here. Teen pregnancy has been a very public issue in 2008. It’s sad that another teen in the public eye had to become pregnant in order for this to become a political issue. It’s worse that politicians are still silent about the most important issues of teen pregnancy.

Bristol Palin and Trig Palin: Photo from The New York Times

Posted by Dr. Sari Locker