Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High

The article that blew it open:

Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High - TIME

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.

The question of what to do next has divided this fiercely Catholic enclave. Even with national data showing a 3% rise in teen pregnancies in 2006—the first increase in 15 years—Gloucester isn't sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control. In any case, many residents worry that the problem goes much deeper. The past decade has been difficult for this mostly white, mostly blue-collar city (pop. 30,000). In Gloucester, perched on scenic Cape Ann, the economy has always depended on a strong fishing industry. But in recent years, such jobs have all but disappeared overseas, and with them much of the community's wherewithal. "Families are broken," says school superintendent Christopher Farmer. "Many of our young people are growing up directionless."

. . .

Gloucester's elected school committee plans to vote later this summer on whether to provide contraceptives. But that won't do much to solve the issue of teens wanting to get pregnant. Says rising junior Kacia Lowe, who is a classmate of the pactmakers': "No one's offered them a better option." And better options may be a tall order in a city so uncertain of its future.
Click to expand...
 
WTFFFFFFFFFF?????!!!!! :shock:
 
Sheesh!!! :shock: I am make sure that I will never live or send my daughters to that school :eek:
 
Wokamuka said:
I don't get it. How is the internet responsible for these girls' behavior?
Click to expand...

People aren't sheltered and isolated anymore. More people are now getting ideas from others. Some acts on things they see and take it from there.

Understand this please, I'm not saying that we should shut down internet. It has been a great thing and will be. Just like everything else in life, it's a double edge sword.. there is good and bad in everything including internet.
 
Secretblend said:
People aren't sheltered and isolated anymore. More people are now getting ideas from others. Some acts on things they see and take it from there.

Understand this please, I'm not saying that we should shut down internet. It has been a great thing and will be. Just like everything else in life, it's a double edge sword.. there is good and bad in everything including internet.
Click to expand...

Nowhere in the article did it say that the girls got the idea from the internet.
 
Secretblend said:
People aren't sheltered and isolated anymore. More people are now getting ideas from others. Some acts on things they see and take it from there.
Click to expand...

Pfft. More likely it's linked to parenting and sex education.
 
Banjo said:
Pfft. More likely it's linked to parenting and sex education.
Click to expand...

Then explain why we seem to see alot of same thing in short period of time in recent times?

like those videos of girls hitting one girl, when one came out, few more came out shortly after.

Notice that I did say that when one gets an idea, the others take the idea they saw or heard and build from it. That is what I am talking about.
 
Secretblend said:
Then explain why we seem to see alot of same thing in short period of time in recent times?
Click to expand...

Because the mainstream media is everywhere these days. So it gives us the impression that it is happening more often. However, that's not always the case.

Back then, a lot of communities were more isolated and the incidents rarely made the papers. If something happened, they sometimes kept it under wraps and pretend it never happened.

like those videos of girls hitting one girl, when one came out, few more came out shortly after.
Click to expand...

That's more likely linked to the lack of good parenting. A parent should be able to teach the child what is right and what isn't. So, when they see a person's action, they may become inspired to do the same because lack discipline and moral values due to poor parenting.

Notice that I did say that when one gets an idea, the others take the idea they saw or heard and build from it. That is what I am talking about.
Click to expand...

Yes, but if a child knew better, that child wouldn't do it. Like I said, it's often due to the lack of discipline and moral values among children which the parents are responsible for.
 
Banjo said:
Because the mainstream media is everywhere these days. So it gives us the impression that it is happening more often. However, that's not always the case.

Back then, a lot of communities were more isolated and the incidents rarely made the papers. If something happened, they sometimes kept it under wraps and pretend it never happened.



That's more likely linked to the lack of good parenting. A parent should be able to teach the child what is right and what isn't. So, when they see a person's action, they may become inspired to do the same because lack discipline and moral values due to poor parenting.



Yes, but if a child knew better, that child wouldn't do it. Like I said, it's often due to the lack of discipline and moral values among children which the parents are responsible for.
Click to expand...

Of course it is cause of lack of parenting. If a person is raised correctly, most of the time they wouldn't do stupid things like we see. However some things on internet doens't help tho if they aren't be raised correctly.

It is a combination of everything and now the internet is part of the mix.
 
Secretblend said:
Of course it is cause of lack of parenting. If a person is raised correctly, most of the time they wouldn't do stupid things like we see. However some things on internet doens't help tho if they aren't be raised correctly.

It is a combination of everything and now the internet is part of the mix.
Click to expand...

That's a problem for sure. Parents should be able to limit a child's access to the internet and be able to surf only the websites they approve of.

Also, children shouldn't have access to the internet in their bedrooms. If a computer to be put in there, it should be only used for homework and games with no internet connection, nothing else.
 
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.
Click to expand...

There is nothing in the article about charging the 24-year-old father with sexual assault.

What's up with that?
 
*blinks*

Uhh...

Gee...

Boy...

This... is... seriously... screwed... up...!!!
 
More reason why abstinence should be taught! This is a ridiculous childish idea! What is wrong with them?!:ugh:
 
Back
Top