Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 13932 Location: everythings better in, texas USA
Sex 101 Posted: 12-20-07 18:58pm
NEW YORK - Nickelodeon is considering a
special for its young audience about sex
and love following the news that
16-year-old "Zoey 101" star Jamie Lynn
Spears is pregnant.
The television network has made no
announcement about the future of "Zoey
101," its popular program aimed primarily
at youngsters aged 9-14. Filming for the
show's fourth and final season has
finished, and episodes are scheduled to
begin airing in February.
For the special, Nickelodeon said it's
talking with Linda Ellerbee, the veteran
newswoman who has stepped in frequently in
the past with shows on talking to children
about difficult issues in the news. She's
done shows about same-sex parents, AIDS,
the Columbine shooting and President
Clinton's impeachment scandal.
"I think it's important that something be
done," Ellerbee told The Associated Press
on Thursday. "But I think it's important
that it be done in a measured way, and not
just to feed the beast of news stories.
A Nickelodeon spokesman, Dan Martinsen,
confirmed the discussions but said no
decision had been made.
Spears, the younger sister of pop star
Britney Spears, told the OK! celebrity
magazine this week that she was pregnant.
The father is her 19-year-old boyfriend,
Casey Aldridge. She said she plans to
raise the baby in her home state of
Louisiana.
Nickelodeon has made no comment beyond a
supportive statement for its star: "We
respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take
responsibility in this sensitive and
personal situation. 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."
The company has received a mixed response
so far from its viewers, and the news has
launched a public discussion about how
parents should deal with it.
"This is a great opportunity for parents
at this moment to talk to their kids about
this more important, to listen to their
kids about this," Ellerbee said.
Rather than focus strictly on Spears,
Ellerbee said she's considering producing
a broad discussion about how people know
they're in love, when is the right time to
have sex and what are the value systems of
their parents and friends. It could air as
soon as next month.
"Right now what Nick is trying to do and
what I am trying to do is figure out what
is the best thing to do for kids," she
said.
One television critic, David Hinckley of
the New York Daily News, wrote Thursday
that to end "this sordid moment" with a
lesson, Nickelodeon should pull the plug
on "Zoey 101."
"If Nickelodeon keeps Jamie Lynn Spears
because her product sells, it runs the
risk that a valuable message it has spent
years crafting could shift from 'trust us'
to 'whatever,'" Hinckley wrote.
Although Nick executives are still
discussing the future of "Zoey 101," it's
considered unlikely that it would shelve
the final season. The third season ends
Jan. 4 with a cliffhanger episode about
whether Spears' character continues to
attend a boarding school in California or
moves to London with her parents.
Executives at Nick's rival Disney Channel
public relations crisis this summer when
Vanessa Hudgens, the 18-year-old star of
its "High School Musical" franchise, posed
for nude photos that were leaked to the
Internet. Hudgens apologized, Disney stuck
by her and the issue quickly faded.
nickelodeon sex ed class
