By Chrissy Bernal

Assuming you don’t totally avoid television, radio, Twitter, Facebook…you’ve no doubt heard that Snooki is pregnant.

In a weird way, I was relieved.

I know you’re thinking, “Um, why would you be relieved that a woman who makes her living by being drunk on national TV is pregnant?”

Here’s my thought process…

There has been a sort of “Jersey Shore Effect” on American teens.  That show has glorified and made celebrities out of people who relentlessly party, exhibit public drunkenness, extreme profanity and shameless sexual activities.  Teens the world-over are mesmerized.

Teens want to dress like the show’s “characters,” tan like them, talk like them and unfortunately party like them.

It’s been sickening for me to watch how enthralled teens are.  I don’t let my 13-year-old daughters watch it, yet they see enough of them in commercials and previews to know who they are.  My 17-year-old step-son thinks it’s one of the greatest shows on TV—despite his knowledge of my disapproval for the show.  Perhaps that’s a reason why he likes it. Haha

I read a statement by Margaret Bernstein on Cleveland.com that said, “For many parents, the reality TV trend is probably a bit like having your teen's most troubling friends hanging out, cursing and smoking, in your living room -- except you can't kick them out.”

What a true statement.  The only way I’ve found to combat it as much as possible is to limit the exposure as much as I can and to remind the kids as often as I can that reality isn’t always reality.

Despite parents’ best efforts, Snooki and her crew influence our teens.  This is why I’m relieved that she’s pregnant.

Jersey Shore will most likely not be the same ever again.  Wahoo!

It’s my hope that this pregnancy will inspire her to change her self-destructing party habits and demonstrate the responsible behavior needed during pregnancy and parenting.

Perhaps teens will see that even at 24-years-old, bringing a child into the world is a challenging and self-sacrificing act.  Perhaps they’ll watch her trade the liquor bottles for baby bottles; late night club hopping for late night runs to the store for pickles and ice cream.

I’m hoping teens will see how much her life (and her fiancé’s life) has to change in order to prepare for and accommodate a baby and it’ll give them a reality check.

So far, the coverage I’ve seen of Snooki’s actions after the announcement of her pregnancy is making me hopeful that she’ll rise to the challenge and be a positive role model finally.