Bristol Palin – The New (Expensive) Role Model

I was somewhat disturbed today after reading that Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is hitting the lucrative speaker circuit. I guess in her short 19 years she has become such an expert that she is expected to get between $15,000 and $30.000 for each appearance. (Yes, I am jealous; few people listen to me and it’s free.)

She will speak about being a young single mother, experiences on the campaign trail, her parenting approach and her outlook on life. Is anyone forgetting that she is only 19? Is there such a vacuum of people with real life experience that our new experts are still teenagers?

I’m not very impressed with what I have heard from her already. In her noble attempt to discourage other teenagers from following the path she has taken, it seems that the gist of her message is that being an unmarried teen mother is hard work and not much fun. She speaks of things like not being able to do all the things other kids get to do. My sense after listening to her several times is that her message makes abortion seems like a good option for a kid who finds herself pregnant. Now I know that is probably not what she wants to convey but maybe that is the problem of having a teenager become the expert.

I’m glad Bristol Palin didn’t abort her child. She took the hard road and as time goes on, she will experience the blessing that right choices bring.

What is wrong with the adults that won’t leave her alone to learn from life, to raise her child and to hopefully get married to a responsible young man who will help her in this difficult job? Oh yeah, that brings up the father of the baby and another sad part of this story: as in most cases like this, the relationship didn’t last but the consequences did.

There are lessons to be learned from Bristol Palin’s life but I’m not sure she is the best one to tell those stories, at least not during this time of her young life.

Philip