Teen Star Announces Pregnancy

"It was an accident, you could say, but it's a blessing," said Brittany Martinez, a senior at Lubbock High School. "There's a big big number in our senior class," said Angela Yeomen, another senior.

"There's at least ten." Now, with child star Jamie Lynn Spears announcing her pregnancy, many believe it sends the wrong message to young girls. "To me it sends the message that you get attention that way," said Sherry Coffman of Lubbock.

"It says that it's okay and there is no consequences when really there is," said Yeomen. There's no doubt that Spears is not your average sixteen year-old. "If I'm a child star then I have money to take care of things," said P.J. Mann of Planned Parenthood. "That doesn't mean I'm going to be a good mom. It just means I'm going to be able to operate a little bit better than you are." The reality for teenage parents is grim. "They are disproportionately poor," said Mann.

According to national studies, teenage parents are more likely to drop out of school, use welfare, commit a crime, and neglect their children. Teen childbearing costs taxpayers at least $9.1 billion dollars a year, but some say the true cost cannot be measured. "There's a loss of dreams, and what could have happened, and what she could have been and what he could have done with his life," said Mann

Brittany Martinez is confident she won't be the stereotypical teenage mother. Two months after she gives birth, she'll graduate from high school and plans to attend college this fall. "It's exciting, but it's kind of scary because I'm eighteen and barely getting to live life, and now I've got a baby to support," said Martinez.