US schoolgirls in pregnancy pact

Officials at a US high school are investigating reports that a pact made by a group of teenage girls to get pregnant and raise their babies together is at least partly behind a sudden spike in pregnancies at a high school in Massachusetts.

Time magazine reported that 17 girls at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, a largely Catholic fishing town of 30,000, are pregnant, four times as many as last year. All are 16 or younger.

Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan told Time that the girls confessed to making the pact after the school began investigating a rise in pregnancies that has left 17 girls at the school carrying a child. Normally, there are about four pregnancies a year at the school.

Sullivan has told Time that students were coming to the school clinic multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and "seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were." Sullivan also said some of the girls reacted to the news they were pregnant with high fives and plans for baby showers.

Local officials said at least some of the men involved in the pregnancies were in their mid-20s, including one man who appeared to be homeless. Others were boys in the school.

Movies and celebrities at fault?

American teen pregnancies are showing signs of rising after steadily declining from 1991 to 2005. Some blame the trend on films such as Juno and Knocked Up, arguably pro-pregnancy films that show young, unwed mothers, or celebrities such as Jamie Lynn Spears, the 17-year-old sister of Britney, who recently gave birth to a baby girl.

But it could also be argued that the cause of the pregnancies may lie closer to home. In the past academic year, Gloucester High School administered 150 pregnancy tests to students. The school forbids the distribution of condoms and other contraception without parental consent — a rule that prompted the school's doctor and nurse to resign in protest in May.


words fail me, i cannot speak, thats shocking.

Well everybody is blaming the media again. Why don't people blame their parents.Sure kids will do what they want but it is a parents job to put the media into the right perspective for them. The parents are to blame.

One of the most stupid thing I have ever heard I must say.

It just really annoys me to the point that I am almost laughing in frustration.

I dont know what the worlds gotten into.

Quoting Riley Dean's Momma:“ Well everybody is blaming the media again. Why don't people blame their parents.Sure kids will do what ... [snip!] ... will do what they want but it is a parents job to put the media into the right perspective for them. The parents are to blame.”

Both are to blame.

Quoting Nicole B:“ Both are to blame.”

I agree but you never see the media (oddly enough) putting any of the responsibility on the parents.

Quoting Riley Dean's Momma:“ I agree but you never see the media (oddly enough) putting any of the responsibility on the parents.”

Too many parents don't care about what their kids do. It's as if they are a freaking inconvenience having them. The media are responsible for not putting more emphasis on parental accountability which is also the governments fault with the laws.

I just heard that on fox news, thats crazy. They were saying how when some of the girls were testing in the school clinic, they were getting real upset when they werent pregnant.
I could have got pregnant when I was a teen, and am very glad I didnt. I mean I would have had my baby and loved it, but I would never think of planning that at that age, that is just so sad, and insane. I hope the girls in hte pact that havent got pregnant, smarten up before they do.

Quoting Nicole B:“ Too many parents don't care about what their kids do. It's as if they are a freaking inconvenience having ... [snip!] ... are responsible for not putting more emphasis on parental accountability which is also the governments fault with the laws.”

I have always been a firm believer that people should have to have a license to have kids.

This makes me soo mad! I broke the story in March thread yesterday! GRRRR There girls are 16-17 years old and get pregnant with the snap of a finger and us ladies who are more than deserving struggle. I have been so angry because of this story! Makes me want to drive up to Glouster and smack them all!

Quoting *~*~Lisa~*~*:“ This makes me soo mad! I broke the story in March thread yesterday! GRRRR There girls are 16-17 years ... [snip!] ... than deserving struggle. I have been so angry because of this story! Makes me want to drive up to Glouster and smack them all!”

Whats really frustrating is that they are planning it like a trip to Disneyland. They can't realize it is a lot of work too.

 I'm not laughing in frustration, but definitely shaking my head in disbelief.  

As far as who is to blame:  The media definitely puts teen pregnancy out there in the open, but it is a parent's job to sort out all of the information (and misinformation) that is coming at a child, and teach them responsibility.  I am by no means saying that being a young mother is BAD, however imo it is irresponsible to TRY to get pregnant at a very young age.  

I tend to be more understanding of the teen girls that get pregnant with teen boys, but when it is 20 something men, not to mention a homeless man, I have to wonder why the parents are even allowing their children to spend time with these guys.  I can really only base my feelings on my own childhood/teen years, and when I was 15 or so, I didn't have friends that were in their 20s, and I highly doubt that my parents would have allowed me to spend alone time with older men.  I so wish that all kids were brought up in that manner...no boys in the room with the door closed, parents actually knowing their kids' friends' parents and (God forbid) checking up on their kids!  My Mom & Dad knew my friends' parents, and I don't know if they checked up on me, but I always knew that if I told them I would be at a certain place, they would find out if I were lying.  I just have to wonder, when any teen "epidemic" arises (pregnancy, violence, vandalism, drugs, etc etc):  Where are the parents?

Quoting Riley Dean's Momma:“ I have always been a firm believer that people should have to have a license to have kids.”

Or at least attend and pass a parenting course. Call me crazy but I would be happy to attend something that could help teach me how to care for my child better. I read books and have learnt from the mistakes of my parents but there are somany ignoranat or uncaring people who are so caught up with their own lives to take time out to improve for the sake of their kids... Grrr. This topic arcs me up LOL

Quoting Nicole B:“ Or at least attend and pass a parenting course. Call me crazy but I would be happy to attend something ... [snip!] ... are so caught up with their own lives to take time out to improve for the sake of their kids... Grrr. This topic arcs me up LOL”

I don't care what but something needs to be done. I don't think anybody really likes the topic, scratch that any sane person.

Quoting Riley Dean's Momma:“ I don't care what but something needs to be done. I don't think anybody really likes the topic, scratch that any sane person.”

So true.. lol Stop giving teen pregnancy so much media attention would be a start...

Quoting Nicole B:“ So true.. lol Stop giving teen pregnancy so much media attention would be a start...”

Electronic Shock Collars like dogs? To be disarmed when deamed fit?