Pact or Not, Teens Are Pregnant in Gloucester...and It Could Happen Anywhere
TIME supports its original contention that a pact exists with another story published Monday, quoting additional sources. But the Boston Herald disputes TIME's take on what's going on in "Pregnancy pact story unravels," citing statements made by the head of the school's onsite daycare center and a 17-year-old Gloucester student who appeared on Good Morning America.
The Christian Science Monitor sees the pact debate as ultimately irrelevant:
...[T]he incident is alarming whether or not students entered into a pact, experts say. At a time when the nation's teenage pregnancy rate is rising for the first time since 1991, the Gloucester High controversy has rekindled a longstanding debate over how best to discourage teen pregnancies.Feminist blogger Melissa McEwan, the force behind Shakespeare's Sister, says in an op-ed in The Guardian that we're focusing on the wrong issues in this case - that looking for an easy excuse as to why such a large number of girls became pregnant is a flawed exercise:"What's happening in Gloucester is a microcosm in some ways for what we're seeing at the national level," says Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in Washington....Teen pregnancy rates may be surging because officials are diverting resources to social services that seem more pressing, says Albert....
Maybe it's just another way of our reinforcing our collective need to make such girls victims, because the thought of young women aggressively expressing their sexuality, recklessly or deliberatively, and possibly for their own satisfaction, makes us feel all icky.Whatever the reasons are for the girls becoming pregnant, they need support at this time, not judgment. If a pregnancy pact did exist but is being denied out of concern for the community's image, it's important to realize that Gloucester is not the only small town where something like this is happening; it just happens to be the only one that we know about. If it can happen in Gloucester, it can happen anywhere.
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Comments
Personally, I do believe it was a pact. Thats not just some big coincidence, but yea the more important question is…how can we stop it. First of all, stop glamorizing pregnancy. When Jamie Lynn Spears got pregnant it was all over the news. A lot of young females saw it. A lot of them idolize her. It wasnt a positive look at all. They think if she can do it, they can to. Bull. Most importantly, we as parents, have to take control of our homes again. We’re allowing our kids to play roles they are not ready for. Focus on what they’re doing and who they’re with. Notice the changes they’re going through. We have lost sight of whats important in their lives. Just because your child becomes a teenager doesnt mean that you get time off. Teenage years are the most important yrs. That’s when they really began to develope into themselves. We have to monitor them more carefully without making them feel like we’re smothering them. Also validate your children. By doing so you instill self esteem and self love. They wont look so quickly to get it from others, especially young girls. I just think that our roles as parents have become a little slack and its time to step it back up. We need to stop focusing so much on ourselves and put the focus back on our kids.
So, if this were inner city girls,do you suppose you would be hearing this nicey,nice talk about self esteem, important teen years, Spears,statutory rape, homeless sperm donor, give me a break. No, it would be more like girls gone stupid, bastard kids, just more welfare mothers using the system.
I might add, that if these sperm donors/boyfriends were charged with statutory rape and the girls had to get involved with the Court System, they might not think it were so “cute”.
However, this most likely will not happen, but it sure would give a message about consequences for this type of action/stupidity.
I believe these girls knew exactly what they were doing and made this choice. I guess it is time for the “baby egg” lesson of being a mother
and for the fathers that step up.
Life’s lessons, unprepared, good luck.
To add to the last comment, the sad part is that others girls just might think this is “cute” and follow suit.
A wake up call for the educational systems need for sex education, I hope.
As for the comment of, less focus on ourselves and more to our kids. Could be that we do in fact give them too much, enough is just not enough and they just demand more attention.Boy what a lasting form of attention
I know these girls are young and I do not mean to sound so callus, however, the more attention this gets,Hmmmm.
Smh…M.L.L, I dont care what part of the city you live in. This has nothing to do with demographics. If these parents were giving them too much attention as you put it, wouldnt they have picked up on what was going on? Im a father. I cant speak for all parents but I know whats going on in the lives of my children. I notice when they are down. I ask questions. I made it a point to develope good communication with them. We talk. There is absolutely nothing that they cant come to me about. That was the point I was trying to make. I dont know where you’re from or if you have kids at all, but all you have to do is look around. Its a known fact that todays generation of kids and teenagers are a little bit over the top. They are exposed to a lot of things now. And a parents job is to make sure that they know and understand all of these things that’s going on around them. Point out the positive and negative. Discuss it. Get their views on things. And to be honest a lot of parents DO NOT do that. You cant just tell a child “no you cant do this or that” and leave it like that. You have to explain to them why you said no. Its not that hard to do. You are entitled to your opinion, but its talk like that, that has our teens and kids in the situations that they are in. And for the record….YOU CAN NEVER GIVE YOUR CHILD TOO MUCH ATTENTION.
You really have an obligation to remove or otherwise correct your initial story about the mythical pregnancy pact — the first poster says it all: “I believe it was a pact…” What about the fact that there WAS NO PACT. It was strictly bad luck, poor access to birth control, and abstinence only education coming home to roost. Take a listen to FAIR’s coverage of this: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/07/07/the-myth-of-pregnancy-pacts and consider removing your old story.