Young Hollywood just isn’t as young as parents want to believe.
Fans were outraged when the allegations from a woman claiming Justin Bieber lost his virginity to her and fathered her son are gracing every tabloid cover and making parents a little squeamish to see the teen heart throb possibly in deep water. If Justin is the father, how will they explain that to a fan base starting as young as eight years old? If the Biebs was only sixteen at the time, do you have to explain sexual abuse of a minor and statutory rape to your Disney channel viewers at home? Is this the perfect time for having a sex talk with your child?
Overwhelming to think about but this isn’t the first time a young star or starlet may have done something stupid that their tween and teen fanbase may be struggling to understand. Read as the exploits of Lindsay Lohan, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Lynn Spears, Miley Cyrus- and the list goes on and on. Perhaps it really isn’t the fault of these misguided youth because their handlers turned a blind eye to premarital sex, drug use, and sexting; but it is great examples to sit down with your kids and explain the situations and how your child can avoid them.
Chances are if you have a teenage girl, maybe they have fantasized about losing their virginity already and are going to think that maybe its not a big deal if someone represented so pure as Justin Bieber is already having sex. The truth is that as children are maturing much faster and many households due to the economy are working longer shifts of second jobs, there aren’t a lot of adults around when the teenagers are hanging out. Things are going to happen. Might as well use the time you have to throw in a mention of condom use, and how to avoid STDs.
Some parents believe that talking about sex is going to seem encouraging to their kids. That may not always be true. Even if you present the information that many schools are blocking like how clients of any age can come into Planned Parenthood and ask for information or in many states have a health screening or pregnancy counseling without parental consent- kids are bound to make informed decisions about their health.
Personally, I hope Bieber is the daddy. I would like to see him stand up and realize his fan base is predominatly young girls and teens and set an example that a real man is responsible for his children and take care of this child. Maybe do some youth outreach projects on how to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted viruses among youth. This could be his moment to turn this all around and not go into hiding and shame like other young celebs and do something good with the influence they have.
If nothing else, this is a good time to talk to your kids about older peers trying to pressure them into having sex, and that girls and boys can be charged with statutory rape if the partner or their family choices to press charges.
Chances are your young Bieber fan is really confused about all the press this is getting so go in there and have an honest talk with your kid and even if you don’t know what to say, answer their questions about sex and teen relationships.