Yesterday was the joyous day that the world welcomed the birth of the newest member of the Spears family (born to 17-year old Jamie Lynn Spears) but just one day earlier, Time magazine published a news report on a shocking discovery at a Massachusetts high school in Glouchester. According to the Time report, a group of girls at Gloucester High School entered into a “pregnancy pact” in order to try and become more popular … that is, the girls did everything they could to get pregs in order to be “cool” and “loved”. Some are blaming this mad notion on the popularity of movies like Juno and on the attention that JL Spears has enjoyed since revealing that she got pregnant late last year, but it seems to me more a matter of lax sex education:
As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies—more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno and Knocked Up for glamorizing young unwed mothers. But principal Joseph Sullivan knows at least part of the reason there’s been such a spike in teen pregnancies in this Massachusetts fishing town. School officials started looking into the matter as early as October after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, “some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were,” Sullivan says. All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. “We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy,” the principal says, shaking his head … “Families are broken,” says school superintendent Christopher Farmer. “Many of our young people are growing up directionless.” The girls who made the pregnancy pact—some of whom, according to Sullivan, reacted to the news that they were expecting with high fives and plans for baby showers—declined to be interviewed. So did their parents. But Amanda Ireland, who graduated from Gloucester High on June 8, thinks she knows why these girls wanted to get pregnant. Ireland, 18, gave birth her freshman year and says some of her now pregnant schoolmates regularly approached her in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby. “They’re so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally,” Ireland says. “I try to explain it’s hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m.” The high school has done perhaps too good a job of embracing young mothers. Sex-ed classes end freshman year at Gloucester, where teen parents are encouraged to take their children to a free on-site day-care center. Strollers mingle seamlessly in school hallways among cheerleaders and junior ROTC. “We’re proud to help the mothers stay in school,” says Sue Todd, CEO of Pathways for Children, which runs the day-care center.
I have to say, I am totally shocked by this. It’s one thing to see this sort of thing in movies or to see it happen among wealthy celebrities but to consider that there are girls out there … groups of girls … who have been inspired by these sorts of things to get pregnant by any means necessary (a homeless man?!) just so that they can fit in … it is so sad. I mean, who or what is to blame? Can this sort of behavior really be blamed on extraneous influences or is it more a matter of class society? I cannot say that having babies is wrong but for children at such a young age to make this sort of decision on their own with only the support of their like-minded friends to encourage and support them seems entirely wrong … and extremely sad. Who knows if this sort of thing is happening in other parts of the country … and if so, what can be done to help educate these kids that what they are doing is wrong and very dangerous (ie. the unprotected sex with whoever just to get pregs). I’d be very interested to see if this sort of “pregnancy pact” phenomenon is more widespread … or just a localized thing. If anything, this proves that safe-sex education is of dire importance. Man … this is just so crazy.
[Photo credit: INFdaily; Source]
It is not up to the schools to educate young people about sex. It is up to the parents. I asked my Mum when I was about 10. She sat me down with all of her nursing books and explained everything to me. These kids do not have a clue what they are in for. I read this story and was horrified at how casual they feel about what they are doing. I feel bad for the young ladies and more so for the children they are bringing into the world.
PS: I won second place in 6th grade for a report about a Human Sexuality thesis I wrote for the PTA award. Guess I was a bit ahead of the times. That was back in the early Seventies. Back in the times when your parents had to sign off for you to take the course. Thanks to my Mum. A great lady.
PPS: Trent, I would love to meet you the next time I go to LA.
Where were these girls parents when this was going on? To simply blame this on a movie like Juno (which actually had a very good message) is asine! Our country must have sex-ed to educate these girls. Obviously their parents aren’t around enough if they feel the need to have babies to make them feel loved unconditionally.
I also feel this country has so many so double standards about this. How many celebs have had kids in the past year without benefit of marriage yet we celebrate and plaster their pictures all over the internet and magazine covers. What message does that send to kids? Lets see: Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Richie come to mind but there are many more.
Parents, sit down with you children and set good examples for them. Quit blaming everyone else and do your job right.
This story makes me sick. When I was in highschool it was NOT cool to get pregnant. As for the comment left by 123 – get a life loser. If you don’t like what Trent has to say on HIS OWN site, then don’t come here.
Unfortunately, I have heard about this story, because I live in Gloucester. While I am out of high school, and attended a different high school, this story has been going on for a while, and has caused a lot of discourse in our community. It is totally inappropriate for these girls to be so young, and having children, and making the plans to become pregnant at such a young age. This story was causing huge problems before the “pact” came out into the open, because there are usually only four pregnancies each year at the high school, which is still a lot in my opinion, considering it is a small community. Lax sex ed curriculum, the refusal of the school board to allow the distribution of contraceptives, and providing a day care for the teen parents are all parts of the problem. Another part of the problem is the fact that many of the parents may not be supervising their children, and I know many grandmothers, that raise these babies as if they are their own, and are excited when they find out their daughters are pregnant. There is no one reason this happened, and the media can’t be blamed. If the teenagers made this pact, influenced by celebrities and movies, they have bigger problems with their perceptions of reality.
I am still amazed this story has made national headlines, and that it showed up on Trent’s blog.
those poor babies.
hey at least the bum, got laid.
I have to say that I disagree with what a lot of commentors are saying about daycare in the school. This is not an unusual thing, and is very beneficial to teen moms AND their children. These at-school daycares were in large part put in place in the early 90s when teen pregnancy was at an alltime high. My sister had her daughter at the beginning of her Junior year, when she had just turned 17. Because of the daycare on campus, she was able to graduate from high school. She also had to work in the day care and take parenting classes. I don’t know if the school in the article is the same, but every school with a daycare I’ve had first hand knowledge of (and A LOT more than you know of exist) follow the same guidelines.
Should teens be getting pregnant, especially on purpose? NO! But do you seriously think that not having a daycare in the school would make them rethink their choice? That’s just like the parents that argue sex ed should be abstinence-only based, and that handing out condoms is what makes kids have sex…as if they wouldn’t do it if they just didn’t have the darn free condoms. Daycares were prevented to help deal with an already existing epidemic and to give the BABIES the best start possible by socializing them and giving teen parents the parenting lessons most of them really need.
123 SUCKS…. You only wish you were as hot as Trent!!!!!! HATER…
123.. why do you have so much hate? Man, relax…
Sex ed is only about the prevention of pregnancy, not about the challenge of raising a child. I read about an experiment where they placed high-risk kids (I am assuming this assesment was based on class and geography) into a program to expose them to babies with colic and it decreased their rate of teen pregnancy. I am a mother and I love my kid so much I feel like my heart is going to explode sometimes. But young children are inherently selfish (they are too young understand how their behavior affects others) and will NOT provide unconditional love.
It’s one thing to see a young girl with her cute little baby dressed up like an adorable doll and want one. It’s another thing to wake up several times during the night to feed and change him, bath him, clean up when he pukes, pees and poops on himself and probably you, bounce him for hours while he screams at the top of his lungs. I think kids should learn WHY they should prevent prgnancy.
Am I the only on that suspects a self esteem issue? I understand the need for unconditional love and, unfortunately, sometimes the only person who loves you unconditionally is yourself. I am not one to judge who has children and if they are married or how old they are, but I am certian that these girls are missing out on life experience that would make them better parents when they are older. And that the teen years they are loosing to parenthood is to the detriment of both them and their children. So sad.
Why has no one mentioned the cost of raising children. How can a 16 year old support a baby? She can’t – her parents will have to. And what about the other fathers? These girls are completely selfish – their immature decision has impacted so many people’s lives. These girls will end up on welfare or woking for mcdonalds b/c none of them have college educations yet unless they’re lucky enough to have wealthy parents who will raise their babies. This is such a shame. Yes, young girls sometimes get pregnant, my mistake – but this was purposely without thought to what happens after the baby shower. I guess there’s a reason why we can’t vote till we’re 18 or drink till 21 – our youth today can’t be trusted.
Well put Trent.