There was an article in Time Magazine last week that had a lot of people talking. It claimed that 17 teen girls at Glouchester High School in Northeastern Massachusetts were pregnant after many of them made a pact to have babies and raise their children together. The high school in the small economically-depressed fishing town has just 1,200 students, and 17 pregnancies represents an increase of 4 times the amount of teen pregnancies the year before. The story raised all sorts of ethical issues about whether the media attention paid to Jamie Lynn Spear’s pregnancy at 16 and movies like the Oscar-winning film Juno glorified teen pregnancy and made a difficult and life-altering choice seem fun and attainable. Free day-care and a baby-friendly policy at the school also were cited as potential incentives for young girls to get pregnant.
One of the pregnant girls from Glouchester went on Good Morning America this morning with her boyfriend to talk about the pregnancy boom at her school. Five months pregnant Lindsay Oliver, 17, said that there was no “pregnancy pact,” but that a lot of the young pregnant girls did vow to raise their babies together.
Lindsay: “There was definitely no pact. There was a group of girls who decided… they were already pregnant before they decided this… that they were gonna help each other with their kids so they could finish school and raise their kids together. To do the right thing was their decision, not ‘let’s get pregnant, as a group.'” [Transcribed from video of GMA shown above]
When asked why so many teens were pregnant, Lindsay’s boyfriend Andrew Solitas said “I saw in the press conference that they can’t even confirm that there were 17 girls who were pregnant. I guess girls are just unlucky.”
Andrew, 20, is working full time and goes to community college. He said that his girlfriend Lindsay, 17, was on birth control but that she still got pregnant.
When asked if there was any reason that so many girls got pregnant, Lindsay said it “was just a coincidence.” She denied that the film Juno encouraged her. She said she didn’t understand why people thought the movie even glamorized pregnancy, because “In Juno she couldn’t even take care of the baby, she gave it up for adoption.” She also denied that Jamie Lynn’s pregnancy influenced her.
As for the way the school doesn’t distribute contraceptives, Lindsay seemed to indicate that did make a difference. She said “They won’t put any kind of contraceptive in the nurse’s office.. they should be giving them out.” She said “[kids are] obviously having it [sex] anyway” when asked about it.
Andrew and Lindsay said they will name their baby, due November 12, Chloe Jade. He said “we’re trying to do everything we can to make it right for the mistake that we made.”
Good for them. She said all the right things.
The abject irresponsibility and subsequent “blase” attitude here makes me want to VOMIT. Complaining because the school won’t hand out contraceptives? Get your OWN, you IGNORANT CHILD.
Schools providing special perks for teen moms like free daycare and tutoring, is not really fair to non-pregnant students.
You’re missing the point people which is, CHILDREN HAVE NO BUSINESS HAVING CHILDREN. EVER. PERIOD.
I can’t believe this made national headlines. My sister-in-law is a high school nurse and they have at least a dozen girls pregnant at the same time each year.
It is shocking and sad, but nothing new. Hell, one got on the school bus one day while she was in labor because her mom made her go to school! WTF? It’s the parents’ fault, people, and has nothing to do with contraceptives being handed out at school.
This is what happens when lazy parents assume the public school system will teach their children about sex. And why the hell couldn’t this 20 year old man buy contraceptives?
Are there no statutory rape laws in this place?!
It’s always someone else’s fault, but never that of the teen or the parents bringing them up. It’s up to the government and schools to provide, educate and help. WTF ever. Unless you are without a brain, you know how to avoid getting pregnant, period. Just another 17 children who the state will be paying for for the next 18yrs!
Cheers to President Bush’s abstinence only programs. They are working as well as the majority of the programs he has pushed since he came into office. According to the NY times for the first time EVER woman under 30 are having more babies (50.4 %) out of wedlock than in wedlock.
The cost of providing these teens with a decent sexual ed. class and birth control is considerably cheaper than the cost of having a 17 year old child try and raise a child.
Cici
Couldn’t agree with you more..why should it be the school’s responsibility to provide birth control?..if you can’t afford to go to a drug store and buy condoms or some other form of contraceptive then you shouldn’t be having sex. It’s quite simple.
It could be worse. they could be 13 and 14 and not almost out of high school. What is the statutory rape law in Mass? If he is 20 he shouldnt be having sex with a 17 year old.
Girls are just unlucky and the mean old school won’t give away contraceptives. These attitudes blow me away.
Girls have always been unlucky in that they are the ones who can get pregnant. Which is a damn good reason for practicing abstinence until you are an adult and ready to risk the necessity to take on that responsibility. Or, in the alternative, to buy some condoms and carry them with you and make the boy use them. Condoms are easy to buy, they’re out in the open on racks in every supermarket and drugstore.
I don’t think Juno glamorized pregnancy. I thought it was a terrific movie, plenty of laughs along with the poignancy of a young girl realizing she was not ready to care for a child, and deciding to give that child to someone who was ready.
cici- at 15, 16, 17 years old, not all girls have the ability to get their own contraceptives. they have to get a prescription and often permission from their parents. having birth control in the nurses office would definitely be a positive thing.
cindy kennedy- i don’t see how having services to aid young moms continue attending school has any effect on non-pregnant students whatsoever. it doesn’t change anything about their situation.
wow, maybe it’s because i’m from a socialist country, but i’m blown away by the number of people on here who refuse to lay any blame on the social systems in place that clearly lack proper sex education and availability of contraceptives.
obviously, in a perfect world, 16 year old children wouldn’t be having sex and their parents would educate them on the risks and details of reproduction and STIs, but clearly that’s not happening. other steps need to be taken.
Having sex is a human biological urge and it’s very strong when you are a teenager. Contraceptives given out freely in every school, clinic and street corner would responsible. Added to that sex education starting in preschool. We teach kids the fundamentals of writing and arithmetic but bodily functions and processes are somehow harmful, it’s absolute rubbish.
amy-
you don’t need a prescription or permission to buy condoms. Something is better than nothing!
Amy – school nurses in our country do not hand out oral contraceptives; you need a dr’s examination and Rx for that. What school nurses hand out are condoms and that’s what I was talking about. I’m saying GET YOUR OWN CONDOMS and don’t rely on the school – that’s simply NOT an excuse. You don’t need parental permission and a Dr’s written prescription for CONDOMS.
Amy–CONDOMS are also contraceptives; don’t need an Rx for those…just a couple dollars from allowance.
well sexual orientation in pre-school is a lil bit too much, lol
that this story ever made it onto the news is amazing to me. it was on BBC world service the other day. It is so foucauldian to listen to the old male principal say that these women have no idea what it means to be pregnant and yadaa yada. like he does? im so sick of the anxieties the media has about female bodies and the crazed paternalistic rantings about this pregnacy “pact”-like its some kind of mutant insanity witchcraft. there is something wrong with a society that is so deeply disturbed and overwrought with anxiety when women’s bodies do something unsanctioned.
Im not promoting teen pregnancy or condoning the irresponsibility of not using contraceptives, but I am standing up for these women’s right to be pregnant if they want to be. the state/paternalistc power structures have no business telling these women how their bodies should behave. and before all of you jump down my throat telling me how all of these moms will be on welfare and the babies will never have a normal life and everyone is so uneducated, blah blah blah: plenty of moms who had babies at an “acceptable” age are on welfare, and dont raise their children right.
this is a ridiculous “scandal” and evidence of our puritanical obsession with controlling women’s bodies.
I heard about this on Irish radio the other day, where they spoke to what I believe was a journo from the area (I didn’t catch the start) He had a slightly different perspective on it… (now I’m not saying this is the fact, but it seems more likely than the generalisations in the article mentioned above)
1 – Not all 17 girls made the “pact”. 8-9 of them did. There are allegations that while some had young boyfriends, others deliberately went out to get pregnant (the rumour is a 25 year old homeless bloke is one 😕 ). So the couple up there may not be actually one of the “pact pregnancies” (if indeed there was a pact).
2 – the school- or the school nurse – WANTS to give out contraception without the parents knowledge. But they can’t. But this wouldn’t have affected anyone daft enough to want a child at 16.
3 – The creche facility is designed for 8 out of over 1000 (or something) students. So it is an exception rather than the rule. However there was about 10 two years ago.
4 – The journalist felt that it was a very insular community. The norm is to stay and play out one’s life within the town, with little reference to going outside for education, or going to cities such as New York to broaden horizons. He thought they thought “well, we’re only going to get married and pregnant sooner or later; we’re not going anywhere; we can still stay in school and it’d be “fun” to have each other around as the babies grow up”.
So Jamie-Lynn Spears had damn all to do with anything. (When I was a teen, and even teens I know now would be very derisive of people copy-catting celebrities, so while they can use it to justify the pregnancy after the fact, I’m sure it had nothing to do with the decision to get pregnant.
“Free day-care and and baby-friendly policy were cited….”
“If you build it they will come.”
—A line from the Kevin Costner baseball movie “Field of Dreams.”
that’s fair, condoms are a must. but i still think they should be made more available than they are. as the girl pointed out, some of these kids are embarrassed to go out and by any form of contraception.
although i think the biggest part is education.
This is the year 2008 and there is absolutly no reason for any unplanned pregnancys
Amy- I agree. Obviously its up to the parents to educate their children as to the potential consequences of sex. And its up to the “child” to make their decision based on what they know.
BUT I think its also important to teach kids REAL sex-ed in schools. And I think the kids need access to birth control other than going to their parents or buying a box of condoms at the the drug store where Aunt Suzie works…
Why is this newsworthy? Children having babies, especially in our abstinence-only era is not shocking. What’s shocking to me that people would actually think a stupid movie or stupid Spears would wield any influence.
I’m all for mandatory depo shots for 18 and younger, but hey, that’s just me….
These kids are embarassed to go out any buy any form of contraception? Ok, but they aren’t too embarassed to get naked and have sex? Whatever!
I think pinning this on “paternalistic society” freaking out when “womens’ bodies do something unsanctioned” is hilarious. Reading Camille Paglia while drinking heavily lately? And justifying it by saying that there are older women on welfare who are worse mothers? What kind of excuse is that?
The problem I have with teenage girls getting pregnant on purpose might indicate that I have a problem with their bodies- specifically their brains. When I was 16, I knew a hell of a lot better than that. Somebody dropped the ball on these girls if they didn’t exercise some control over their OWN bodies. And the ones who actually did get pregnant by accident might be equally upset at the fact that their body has done something “unsanctioned”. If I was a teen on birth control that failed, or used a condom that broke, I’d be pretty pissed if I ended up pregnant.
And by the way, why is dispensing contraceptives seen as encouraging sex, but the day care center in the high school is A-OK? My school didn’t have @#$%! day care. But hardly anyone got pregnant. Why? Oh yeah- they handed out condoms. Case closed.
no, sorry, rhymeswith, case isnt closed. these women chose to be pregnant. these arent ‘unplanned pregnancies’ in all cases. the problem the prurient media has is withthe fact that this could have been planned. there isnt a certain ‘age’ when a woman can be pregant and when she can’t. this happens all the time in other places around the world and it isnt newsworthy there. this is only examined as a ‘social’ problem when women in america are pregnant at a young age. i dont think there is a specific age when a woman can be a good parent and when she can’t. this is the equivalent of reporting a story about a group of 17 women who made a ‘pact’ to go out and buy a pound of cheddar cheese. uninteresting. useless reporting.
if journalists want to report on the rate of teen pregnancies quadrupling at a Mass. high school, Im all for it. but forcing these women to come out on national television and name themselves, as if they are wearing a scarlett ‘A’ on their chests and explain themselves to people who have no business caring about their bodily status is wrong and disgusting.
Just remember everyone, when you are a teenager you know everything!!! I am certainly not condoning what these girls have done, but honestly why is everyone always in an uproar when teens get pregnant. For centuries and centuries young girls, many younger than the ones in the story, had children and it was the norm. Now everyone automatically assumes the mother’s will be on welfare and the children aweful. Besides all of this, the parents and girls themselves have no one to blame but themselves. I am pretty sure, now correct me if I am wrong, until the past few decades there was no sex ed!!! It is not the schools fault these kids are pregnant. It probably would have done some good but sex ed should definately be a parental responsibility. That being said, having a day care and no contraceptives sounds like the ultimate oxy moron to me!
It all goes back to the question of how to teach sex ed. I was taught like the movie Mean Girls “if you have sex you will get pregnant and die”. My mother explained that it is something that I should wait until I’m in love to do and that is what I did.
The school system can not be solely responsible for teaching sex ed. They also should not only teach abstinence even though it scared the hell out of me.
I can see how kids are afraid to ask for birth control but you’re all right, Condoms are like $7 for a pack of 20 and it is like a teenage girl buying tampons, Embarrassing but Necessary
If I was preggo @ 16 I would be far more embarrassed at that, then i would be buying condoms..
there is enuff blame to share and pass, but seriously, the schools are now being required to do everything for the students… what the hell are the Parents there for?
If my pre schooler was taught about sex ed in preschool id be pissed. im not against telling him about good touch bad touch, but anything else is opening him up to tmi to soon.
Parents need to be more responsible and not be afraid of parenting their children. I may not always be my sons best friend, but im not supposed to be, Im his Parent! 🙄
Sorry Bros, this isn’t about women’s bodies doing something “unsanctioned.” That is ridiculous. The point here is that they aren’t women, they are girls. Plain and simple.
I went to a Catholic high school and if I remember correctly, there was no sex education but there was a sexual health clinic a few blocks away and most of the sexually active girls at my school were on the pill and we had very few pregnancies. Why? Because we didn’t want to waste our futures. I’m not saying teenage mothers have no future but it’s a hell of a lot harder to finish school and go on to university when you’ve got a toddler.
I think people forget the sex is a human urge…just look at animals…
My great grandmother got married at 13.
I don’t think society has look at the fact we expect people to go thru high school and college and never have an unplanned preg.
the problably is we want to say be responsable but we don’t want teach kids alternatives to sex.
Amy – if they are too embarrassed to buy condoms, they are too immature to have sex – period. I agree, schools should educate teens about sex and pregnancy, but it should also be taught at home. I am so sick of parents relying on schools to give children every single piece of life lessons and education they need. You’re a parent for a reason, you need to be an influence on your child, too!
Don’t you all get it? The majority of these girls WANTED to become pregnant, I’ve been out of school for some time now, but when I was in school girls told me they were trying to get pregnant…that’s the real issue here, why do these young girls think life with is baby is so glamorous? 🙄
I like the “if you build it, they will come” referral to the day care. I don’t think offering free daycare to these kids is the answer, how is that going to teach them anything in the future?
I think it’s disgusting that our children are even THINKING about sex at such young ages! When I was her age, the closest thing we had to sex was HOLDING HANDS and a girl was a slut if she kissed too many guys. What the heck is happening to our country?!
@You, society does expect people to go through high school and maybe post-secondary and then start a family.
I doubt your great-grandmother got married at 13 because she wanted some action. Back in her day, things were waaaaay different.
I think Depo Provra should be easier to obtain(IE with out Parental permission)
It’s not for everyone, but I personally love it- and have for almost 5 years. that being said, I completely disagree with what stunner said about buying condoms- both my boyfriend and I HATE buying them, so we don’t. I guess I’m just lucky depo is easy to get here in Canada. I had sex ed at home and in school- and it was much more pleasant in the school setting- and extremely complete- where as with my mom, it was a basic- very basic- explanation of how women get pregnant. Ya’ll need to come to Canada and take our sex ed class! (no bananas, i promise) we had baby think it over, which hasn’t made me not have sex- but it sure as hell stopped me from being dumb about it. (baby think it over is sort of like caring for an egg for health class- but high tech- it cries and you have to take care of it, because it has a tamper proof computer in the back that records how it’s treated– very very effective)
I agree with Shannon Jo and the Persistent Cat (as if cats are anything other than persistent 😉 )
The girls in the “pact” wanted to get pregnant. I’m no expert, but I’ve watched enough trashy day-time talk shows and a lot of girls on them said that they wanted to get pregnant because they wanted unconditional love. The journo I quoted earlier said the same thing.
So there is obviously something going on in the background there if these girls think the only way to be loved is to have a cute little child who’ll HAVE to love them 🙄
As regards YOU’s 13 year old child-bride gramma,
but be that as it may, it would have been very risky back then to have a child that young especially as children were more poorly nourished in comparison to modern kids.
In Ancient Greece Sparta (500BC – 200BC) was pretty unique amongst Greek city states as women had children from 18 years onwards, because they felt that women would be fitter to rear the family (men were in the army until they were 70) and less likely to die in childbirth. Also they thought the child was more likely to be healthy.
Now this lot routinely left weak children to starve to death, so it looks like they had good reason to hold onto the opinion that it wasn’t healthy to have children very young.
I don’t know how recently your guys were in high school, but I can tell you that when I was there (6 years ago) the abstinence only policy was in place. Luckily, I wanted to go places in life and got my ass on the pill, but a lot of people are just too stupid to even think that far ahead. People just think that it wont happen to them. I was also very scared of my parents. And I hate children. Great motivation.
As for the sex-ed issue, there is a problem with teaching abstinence only. It doesn’t tell you any of the means to protect yourself if you do choose to have sex. I know that’s not an excuse to not seek out protection, but refer back to the stupid people comment. The government is taking a naieve stance towards the issue that kids are having sex at a younger age.
I also like to point out that although parents bare responsibility, so do schools. I think that people trust schools to teach them the right statistics, etc. because they have better resources than some parents may have. I also think that in many cases it’s easier information to absorb and take seriously when it is from a third party.
I’d also like to know when people were in high school because when I was there there were no condoms anywhere except for behind the counter at gas stations. I grew up in very liberal Washington State. If it was that was for us, what is it like in red states???
Also, a semi-related point of disgust, when I was attending University at Madison Wisconsin there was a point where the legislature tried to keep the university hospital from giving out condoms, plan-b or even prescribing birth control because it was a state funded institution. The law didn’t pass, but it was close. That’s what I call scary.
wow…I can’t even write the name of my alma mater right.. University of Wisconsin- Madison. Geeze.
what a bunch of two faced double standard hypocrites on here today. Most of you were having sex by 15. The fact that you did not get pregnant or get someone pregnant, is LUCK my friend. Or maybe you did and you chose abortion.
YES the schools should make daycare available because the mother should have the right to continue school. Or else you bible thumping right wing nuts will complain about her welfare status… you know… your 3 cents out of your check… cause OMG you really needed that 3 cents.
The girls are in depressed towns, depressed economies and DO NOT have the lovely view some of you on here project. So get a grip on reality okay?
It is a SOCIALOGICAL issue when we tell kids to NOT have sex and then glorify it by the music and movies we not only allow THEM to partake in but CLEARLY practice ourselves.
Hypocritical bullcrap. I cannot stomach it.
Lilly,
It isnt that easy to just get pregnant. Women can only get pregnant 2 or 3 days a month, when they ovulate. it isnt LUCK that people on this thread didnt get pregnant. And that Fact that I just shared should not be a reason not to use a condom. Condoms are 99.9% effective. I only know one person who got pregnant while using a condom those odds are pretty good.
Also, I’m 25 and didnt have sex till I was 18. Most everyone I know was around 17 or 18 when they started having sex a few girls were 16 but only the sluts of my school were having sex at 15. You cant say most people have sex at that age.
I dont think kids should be told NOT to have sex but I think it should be special your first time and I will teach my kids to wait until the right time and they are in love. Maybe in small rural towns kids get bored and have sex. that is something that I was never faced with.
Wow, I think the comments are much better then the article itself. I have a lot of strong feelings on this subject, but then don’t we all.
Parents are definatly responsible for teaching their children right, the schools are there to teach them what their parents can’t. Sex ed should come from home and school. Parents are there to keep their children safe until they are wise and smart enough to navigate this world on their own. Children that age are not wise or smart. They will have sex, this we know from our teen years. We all made it out of the teens without babies because we were taught to be careful or fearful of the results. Teach teach teach. Our best hope for our future is to teach everything we can and hope that even a fraction will stick in their heads. We are only bringing the downfall of our society by allowing our government to dictate what is ok and not ok to teach the children.
We also have a much more self centered society then we ever have before. People say the last three generations are the “me generations” and I have to agree. They are some of the most over indulged pampered children I have ever met. I think that when you get what you want and are never told no or told that you are responsible for your actions you are more apt to think that a movie makes pregnancy look fun and “oh I think I want to do that too.” People on a whole are not holding children or the parents responsible for their actions. I am so amazed that you can watch a child in a store destroying product that the parent has no intension of paying for and if the employee says anything to the child or parent about the bad behavior the employee is the one that is wrong for saying anything and making those poor people feel uncomfortable. This country has become too decedent and spoiled, it is already over the crest of the hill and on its way out in my humble opinion, just like the romans.
Okay so there is my soap box, please feel free to ripe it apart. We are all allowed our different opinions and I welcome discussion, because through discussion and open minds we all can learn and grow.
wow wow wow, i graduated highschool two years ago and 6 girls were pregnant at graduation. in the past 2 years since i’ve been out the numbers have increased dramatically. everyone was required to take health to graduate, let me just say that didn’t help. it is not the schools responsibility to give protection to students. i have not only attended high school, but i’ve worked at one. teachers and school officials think that if they avoid it, it isn’t happening. before teen pregnancey used to be so frowned upon. people welcome it now and throw baby showers at the school. if parents are not willing to talk to their kids then at least inform them that there are planned pregnancy places and free clinics that will inform and prevent pregnany.
Lilly, who’s being hypocritical? It isn’t luck that I didn’t get pregnant, it was because I didn’t risk it. My parents never had “the talk” with me, nor was it taught in school but the fact is, I KNEW WHERE BABIES CAME FROM!!!! And like Hello said, I didn’t want to ruin my life, my parents would kill me and I don’t like kids.
I think you should calm down and reread the posts. There are a lot of varied opinions but I don’t see anyone being hypocrital.
And get off the argument that I do one thing but expect them to do another, I’m a grown woman and don’t have to justify my actions to a teenager. The fact is, I know better then they do.
@Jema, it’s interesting what you said. I went to a Catholic high school and we were all on the pill and there were few pregnancies. At the non-religious high schools, there were way more pregnancies. Odd, you’d think it would be reversed. I do wonder if the fact that we had a sexual health clinic in such close proximity helped. As well, I’m Canadian so we have universal health care. In the US, would you have to pay for a doctor’s visit to get a prescription for the pill?
Two things: the teen pregnancy rate has actually gone down since 1990 (check the National Bureau of Health Statistics). Second, the girl in the item above was on contraception. Three, condoms are cheap but not free (they should be). If you’ve priced oral contraceptives, you know the cost is ridiculous (up from about 20$ per month in my most fertile days to $50 or > bucks now.
Schools need to teach sex ed because too many parents, perhaps most, don’t do a good job of explaining how biology works. It’s absolutely incredible how many grown women have no idea how the female body works. An awful lot of people think that relying on the rhythm method or pull-out method is an effective form of birth control. I bet some of those people are otherwise known as “mom” and “dad”.
The other half of the parent equation is this: if the parents wouldn’t provide guidance, were they there to provide positive reinforcement for using contraceptives, such as telling the kid “if you get pregnant, we will skin you alive”? Because that made me think extra special hard about who I let get in my pants, and under what circumstances.
its also funny that people on here keep crying about it being the parent’s responsibility to teach their children about sex and sex-ed. if theydidnt get a thourough sex education, how can they pass it on totheir children? ignorance begets ignorance. its one thing to say “if you have sex, you will get pregnant” but its a whole other thing to give information on STD’s, all the methods of pregnancy prevention, where to get oral contraceptives, how they work, how important it is to tak thme on time, etc. parents dont always have all the answers and they should have had a read sex-ed class too. these children will one day become parents and wont be able to educate their children on sex-ed either.
It’s not hard to get birth control at 15 or 16. I started having sex with my boyfriend at 15 (who I am still with now at 22) and I knew I did not want to get pregnant. So what did I do? I went to the city’s health clinic, got an exam, and they gave me oral contraceptive and condoms. And I used both at that age and have never had even a pregnancy scare. So to say it’s the school’s responsibility is stupid. If these girls dont want to get pregnant there are ways for them to be smart and proactive at an early age so things like that do not happpen.
P.S. I never even had to tell my parents about it as the clinic has a policy of keeping things private.
CC- I appreciate the statement but I am going to be honest with you…. it is MUCH easier for a young person to get pregnant. You are speaking in generalities. However, you can get pregnant as long as it is during an ovulating cycle. THE ISSUE with younger girls, is that even during menses, their bodies can be mid cycle already because they are NOT regular. This is why there are absolute confirmed cases of people becoming pregnant while at the end of their menstral cycle. As someone educated in medicine I am not going to argue and have anyone say this is not true. It most certainly is. During the second or third year of medical studies you do actually go through anomolies typical of certain ages. So believe it or not, nature has not caught up with society. Between 15 and 23 it is markedly easier to become pregnant than older. By 30, some people require a calendar. BIOLOGICALLY we are not designed for what SOCIOLOGICALLY we hold as true.
By the way I am not advocating for young motherhood I am talking about the biological facts.
Cat- yeah there are alot of hypocritical posts although it may not necessarily be you, I did not particularly address anyone. Not sure why you took that particular statement personally. However and again, I lived in an average neighborhood growing up and I am now in my late 30s. I am 100 percent certain of who was doing what at what age.
We GLORIFY sex in this culture. Have you WATCHED what teens see? We celebrate youth and sexuality. And then we tell our teens.. oh but NOT YOU.
Its a very double edged sword. It is sociological and it is wrong. When you combine that with the impulsive psychological makeup of a teen who is also biologically “fertile ground”, you get situations like this.
Depressed economic towns tend to have this more often than not but ask ANY healthcare professional or high school educator and they will tell you that there is nothing more contagious than teen pregnancy and teen suicide.
Most parents of teens presume “not their child” and off that child goes at night, etc. In my particular region both mother and father work. They presume they have a “responsible teen”.
So the START of the conversation then is a NOTE TO ALL PARENTS… THERE is NO SUCH THING as a “responsible teen”.
However, the idea that there should be no help for teens that do have children is absurd, disgusting, and fails to embrace what will ultimately assist them in preventing these behaviors from continuing.
As for those that said “if you build it they will come” no sweets, that is about as absurd as saying if you give them condoms, they will do it more. THEY ARE doing it. THEY ARE getting pregnant.
SOCIETY has the burden of the repercussions of what we portray and accept. STOP allowing teens on TV and videos to be acceptable. STOP allowing inuendo at 13 years old…and you will see a difference. Since that won’t occur, yeah you definitely need to come together as a community and DEAL.
Also CC what you are saying about your age and sexual activity I am 100% certain is NOT true in New York, New Jersey or Ct. The age, is getting younger and younger and it has nothing to do anymore with being a “slut” as you so eloquently put it. There is a peer pressure amongst these children that perverses itself and again based on a million factors, these kids do not “hold strong”.
And ANYONE who does not pull their head out of the sand about this… to be frank, it will BE your kid.
I am extremely troubled by the number of people posting that responsibility for teen pregnancies lies with the government–not educating well enough, not providing free birth control, not permitting underaged minor children to obtain prescription birth control without parental permission. Um, whatever happened to personal responsibility?
If a girl is old enough to start putting out, then she is old enough to take responsibility for preventing unwanted pregnancies. You can’t have it both ways; she is either responsible or she is not. Trying to foist blame for her actions onto others is a cop out.
Underaged minor children should not be having sex. Period. End of story.
Wow…
There are a lot of comments, so who knows if anyone will ever get to this one, but I’m from Illinois, and because of Bush’s abstinence only programs, MANY stores will not allow anyone under the age of 17 to buy condoms, as 17 is the age of consent.
Its very obvious that even with rules and regulations like that in place, kids are still having sex. So why NOT hand them out in high schools?
About girls being old enough to have sex…if no one RESPONSIBLE is talking about it (parents, educators), and all these kids see are examples in media, how can we possibly expect them to understand the negative repercussions, and make good choices? And I’m not JUST talking about STDs and pregnancy. What about the emotional commitment that’s involved, and the experience of losing your innocence? Open dialogue is what will make kids understand WHY they shouldn’t be having sex.
It’s like telling a toddler NO, and when they ask why, a parent responds “because I said so”
It’s an inadequate response and will only prompt the child to do it.
We live in a prude society, convinced that if we discuss sex, REAL sex, not TV or movie or music video sex, that kids are going to rip off their clothes and do it. But it’s quite the opposite. The more informed the conversation, the more informed the teen.
Hear hear SilentA!
Underaged minor children should not be having sex. Period. End of story.
Sure, but how are you going to stop them? Kids are going to experiment with sex (& drugs & booze), thats just how it is. What is the harm in EDUCATING them as to the potential consequences of their actions? Sending kids out into the world without the knowledge they will need to deal with what they see is just a plain ole bad idea. And the notion that sex-ed encourages kids to have sex is complete bullshit. If they know the consequences they’ll be less likely to do it. Plus they will be properly prepared if they do decide to have sex.
And as for Most of you were having sex by 15 :
Thats a pretty fucked up thing to say. I’d be ready with some real stats if I said something like that. Personaly, I was 17. And the vast majority of my friends were the same age or older. Hardly anyone in my (Catholic) high school had sex at 15. And, like Persistent Cat related, we were all MUCH better prepared when we were ready for it.
Thanks Bodhi!
I didn’t have sex until after my 18th birthday, and I was one of the last of my frends. To be honest, I was completely prepared, and it is one of my fondest memories.
And the fact of the matter is that kids are getting sexually active earlier and earlier, and they need comprehensive education!
my fiance’s 11 year old sister overheard girls on her softball team talking about getting fingered and giving BJs.
Are you kidding me?
I think this young girl is wrong to blame the school for the fact she got pregnant. Its not the school’s fault, its her own fault. She chose her actions. So what if the school does not hand out contraceptives? That is not their job. Their job is to provide an education.
Its hot in here!
This reminds me of a school in Vietnam where I went to work during my gap year, one male teacher made 28 girls, (yes T.W.E.N.T.Y ef-ing E.I.G.H.T) pregnant. When I heard, I was flabbergasted (mild term), so many questions, how was he going to look after the kids, they were all under age, was he going to jail? And the girls, what would happen to them? Actually, I never found out what happened to them and him.
Now on this story, clearly these kids have no sense of worth or purpose. Most kids today don’t. Their babies will not have a sense of purpose either and the cycle will continue.
No unplanned pregnancies? You people are ridiculous. first off, condoms break and girls often miss taking the pill. Second, LOADs of teenagers have sex and don’t use condoms.Oftentimes the girls is embarrassed to ask. Yes, in an ideal world, if you are uninhibited enough to have sex, then you can talk about condoms. this is not the case. I know lots of adult women who are shy to talk to their partners about their bodies, or what they like, or even use the word vagina, so why fault a 15 year old for being shy about asking about condoms?
I also came from an economically depressed town and I had sex with my boyfriend because we were bored and it seemed fun. So maybe there were no good movies out this year, or the movie theater closed, or their parents had less money to take the girls shopping, so they entertained themselves with sex. We need better education. And free condoms and showing people how to use them in sex ed classes.
We live in a prude society, convinced that if we discuss sex, REAL sex, not TV or movie or music video sex, that kids are going to rip off their clothes and do it. But it’s quite the opposite. The more informed the conversation, the more informed the teen.
I agree with this statement completely. What child/teen wants a baby, really? Very few if they know what it actually entails. How will they know? We educate them. What child wants a disease that could kill or impair them forever? None would, so we tell them all about it. In an age appropriate manner of course.
It’s sad the kids feel they have nothing else and want to bring kids into that same stifling hopeless environment. Here’s a pact, let’s all help each other get condoms, get the shot if we can’t take the pill on schedule, and graduate. We can then plan for school or a job and support each other efforts to move beyond whatever limited futures we see now. We’ll even encourage the boys to do the same thing and we won’t have any babies until we can afford to take care of them financially and emotionally. And while the administration won’t let the doc or nurse hand out condoms, everyone seems to have found out how to share some free love. If they were too ashamed to go to a drug store how about ordering over the net or getting those inserts and the guys get the condoms?
They should not be filing charges on any boys the same age as the girls or there should be prosecution of girls and boys. I’m sure there are some negligence laws or other wrist slaps. Oh that’s right having babies, hopefully no multiples, will be punishment enough for them.
Juno was just a movie with a decent theme about selflessness and Jamie Spears has plenty of cash to take care of a few kids. The townies, not so much!
it’s sad it is. in louisiana they start teaching sex ed in 7th grade. they even have a sex ed meeting for the parents. they don’t wait till highschool to give the egg baby projects. If they started that youbg in other state this probbally wouldn’t happen.
You can’t just blame the school! Is there a Planned Parenthood clinic near by? They give them out like nothing….any kind you want! I guess their parents forgot to watch Dr. Phil that day!
A side not on Depo shot. It’s not always effective. My younger sister got pregnant at 17, and almost half of her graduating class (if she had graduated) got pregnant within 6 months of recieving the depo shot. I wouldn’t trust that shot for anything, if I didn’t want to get pregnant.
seems to me that if these 17 year old girls were pregnant but married nobody would report on it. really it’s the fact that these girls are unwed that send people into a tizzy. stupid.
Dear All
Please do not pured your head in the sand,you permit sex for yr kids and you plame them when get pregnant.
All pregnancy controls have % risk,so you try to be honest and forbiden sex till 18 years old
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