Now, this wasn't a troubled, wayward teen, but a smart, talented student in the throes of her first love affair.

Thinking ahead, she'd made sure to protect herself from the possibility of getting pregnant.

Of course, I'm just a family friend, so I could be calm and objective.

My girlfriend, who wasn't exactly a saint herself back in the day, was all worked up. But at that point, what could she say to her daughter? True love waits?

How'd that go over? Especially given the current state of affairs in which an anything-goes sexuality is glamorized, teen mom Jamie Lynn Spears and her newborn make the cover of a national magazine, and those stars who are public about postponing sex find themselves ridiculed the way the Jonas Brothers were during MTV's Video Music Awards.

In case you didn't hear, host Russell Brand repeatedly made jokes about the fact that the tween-singing sensations wore purity rings - symbols of their decision not to have sex before marriage. "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks - who also wears one - jumped, albeit clumsily, to their defense saying, "I have just one thing to say about promise rings: It's not bad to wear a promise ring because not everybody - guy or girl - wants to be a slut."

Wiseguy Brand later apologized, saying, "Promise rings, I'm well up for it. Well-done, everyone. It's just, you know, a bit of sex once in a while never hurt anybody."

Carol Platt Liebau, author of "Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls (And America, Too!)," calls this an example of how our culture has put itself in opposition to traditional values. "The whole rallying cry seems to be 'why not?' " she writes. "It makes it difficult for parents to get the message out there in a way that sounds relevant and not preachy."

Ironically, the VMA broadcast was just days after Americans learned that the Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. She was front and center, incidentally, during a portion of the Republican National Convention. Given Gov. Palin's opposition to explicit birth-control information for teens, the news of her daughter's impending motherhood has re-ignited debates about abstinence-only sex education.

"It's troubling on a lot of levels," said Joe Fay, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. "It has implications beyond this one family, implications as far as cultural attitudes toward teen pregnancy and major policy and funding decisions that affect teens across the country."

At least one positive thing comes out of the latest headlines surrounding this issue, and that's a fresh opportunity to get conversations going with youngsters about being sexually responsible. According to statistics, an estimated 400,000 babies are born each year to mothers between 15 and 19 years old.

"It's the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject," pointed out Fay, who's in Denver attending a conference on preventing teen pregnancies. "We call it a teachable moment anytime these media events occur.

"It's a time to start the conversations and for parents to share their values. Just start asking them, 'What do you think of all this?' Try to get a conversation started." *

Have you peeped a hot trend that hasn't been reported? E-mail heyjen@phillynews.com and let me know what you know. To discuss this column and to also see what else we're talking about, log onto my blog at

http://go.philly.com/hfyje