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The Baby Club?

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Wilma
Post subject: The Baby Club?
Posted: Sat 21 Jun , 2008 4:15 pm
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Hey everyone! I was just watching the news and came across this story of a bunch of teenage girls who made a pact to get pregnant together.
Here is the Time article.
Time magazine article by KATHLEEN KINGSBURY wrote:

Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High


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."

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.

But by May, after nurse practitioner Kim Daly had administered some 150 pregnancy tests at Gloucester High's student clinic, she and the clinic's medical director, Dr. Brian Orr, a local pediatrician, began to advocate prescribing contraceptives regardless of parental consent, a practice at about 15 public high schools in Massachusetts. Currently Gloucester teens must travel about 20 miles (30 km) to reach the nearest women's health clinic; younger girls have to get a ride or take the train and walk. But the notion of a school handing out birth control pills has met with hostility. Says Mayor Carolyn Kirk: "Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children." The pair resigned in protest on May 30.

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. —with reporting by Kimberley McLeod/New York
I wanted to ask what does everyone think?

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jewelsong
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Posted: Sat 21 Jun , 2008 4:29 pm
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Maybe some reality classes would be a good idea for these teens.

A "pregnancy pact" indeed. Lord.


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Crucifer
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Posted: Sat 21 Jun , 2008 4:38 pm
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It seems to me that they don't really want babies. These girls seem to want a living, breathing doll to love and play with.

I'm intrigued with Mayor Carolyn Kirk's statement, that
Quote:
"Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children."
So, the children can choose to get pregnant and have a baby and all the complications (no offence to all the people here who once were babies) that come attached, but they're not allowed to choose not to do that? :scratch:

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Lurker
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Posted: Sat 21 Jun , 2008 7:09 pm
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I think these girls just seeking "attention".
Look at me I'm pregnant, we can hava a baby shower, look at all the nice presents we will get, everybody is going to fuzz over us once these babies are born, now I feel loved. Sure!!! The media is already having a field day over this, "pregnancy pact". Look at all the news coverage they are getting.

I'm blaming the paparrazi and celebrity magazines for glamourizing pregnant actress esp those who are clearly underage. 15 million dollars for (insert actress name here) first baby pics. Who cares!!! I can't believe how many people actually buy these magazines. Teenagers think that having babies means a life of happiness and cutesy-cutesy-coo. I could easily get a teenager who will baby sit our one and a half year old twins cause they are so cute. Yeah, that's just for four hours. They don't see that once they go home and have their paycheque in hand, the parents are doing all the work like waking up at odd hours, feeding them and the financial burden that goes with taking care of the little ones. They just see a nice little baby playing with the dog and seeking their attention, awww...I feel loved....I want one too. Sure!!! :rage:

-end rant-

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Dawnnamira
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Posted: Sun 22 Jun , 2008 2:11 am
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They forgot to mention that come of these kids are looking to Jamie Lynn Spears and her pregnancy as an example.

The kids forget that she has millions, and they don't even have their high school diploma. I realize I'm still young in the grand scheme of things, but even before high school I was mature enough to realize that waiting for kids is a great idea. And that a having a baby doesn't mean I'll feel loved.

Also: The parents blaming Juno for it? Ridiculous. Juno actually tried to show that it was HARD to be a young pregnant woman. And Knocked Up was about older adults, for crying out loud.


That last quote in the article intrigues me. "No one's offered them a better option"?

How about this: Don't get pregnant. Go to college. Get a good job, and make enough to support yourself and then have a child, if that's what you still want. Seems like a much better option to me, personally.

I also don't think they realize how the child might look at them in the future. That is an issue...I know from experience...

:neutral:

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Ara-anna
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Posted: Sun 22 Jun , 2008 3:22 pm
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My question is most of these girls are 15 or so. where are their parents?
It was like some big game for them, they would tell the school nurse they didn't want birth control and would celebrate being pregnant. They would keep going back to the school nurse to take pregnancy tests until they were knocked up. One of the fathers is a homeless guy.

I wonder what these same girls will be saying 10, 15 or 20 years from now, when they see their classmates who went onto college and end up with stable lives. What are they going to say to their babies then, when they can't support them, when they can't actually provide nicer things in life.

I would still like to know where these kids parents are at. Had this happened in my daughters school, we'd be having a serious discussion and I would make it clear that this type of behavior is unacceptable in no uncertain terms and that I as the parent was the one in charge until she was 18. Thankfully she will be 18 in two weeks and understands the consequences of this type of decision.

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Lily Rose
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Posted: Sun 22 Jun , 2008 6:07 pm
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Things like this "pregnancy pact" really make me sad. I am the last person in the world to judge those girls because I have been there myself. I was 7 months pregnant when I walked down the aisle. They really don't have a clue to what they are getting themselves into.

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Wilma
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Posted: Sun 22 Jun , 2008 10:32 pm
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No I don't think you are in the same situation Lily. You have been through having a child young but not that young. Also you got married. You didn't go for homeless guy to keep up with friends. Also you seem more responsible. I have known some other single teen mothers and some were not as stupid as these girls. I would think as someone who has been through a teen mother situation I would think you re the most qualified to comment on this since you know exactly what these girls are heading for.

Ultimately to me it's about keeping up with friends. Keeping up with friends and not being "left out" I know at my school one of the reasons some girls got pregnant on purpose was because they saw the attention their friends were getting for having a baby and well... wanted that same kind of attention and were a bit jealous that their friend was being fawned over and they weren't.

Also another reason for some kids in my area to get pregnant is so they could get more welfare money, and make it easier to get money to move out of their parents house. Apparently having babies "makes" money. :Q :scratch:

The complete and utter stupidness of these kids just stuns me, but I know it's not unique. Also if they don't feel their parents love them and don't think much about their parents, why the hell would they think their baby would feel the same way about them?

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MariaHobbit
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Posted: Mon 23 Jun , 2008 2:44 pm
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I found that allowing my daughters to baby sit for a week for relatives inspired them to be quite responsible about birth control once they started needing it.

Being responsible for two toddlers day in/ day out while the mom is concentrating on the new baby is quite educational ...or traumatic... however you want to look at it.

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Dawnnamira
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 5:05 am
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Wilma: Welfare definitely does make money. Especially the more children you have.

Some girls think it'll just be easier to have kids with anyone, than to try to get a college degree and try to find a job.

And in some areas, it is...but really, I hate that the US government makes it so easy to continue having kids and keep getting welfare.

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Wilma
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 6:30 am
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But the thing is the reason a person gets more welfare, is because a a kid costs money. Does that whole point escape them? :help: I have always been miffed by that reasoning.

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Lord_Morningstar
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 9:13 am
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Wilma wrote:
But the thing is the reason a person gets more welfare, is because a a kid costs money. Does that whole point escape them? :help: I have always been miffed by that reasoning.
The problem is that a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds lack decent long-term judgement. They see a ready source of money without the 20-odd-year commitment. Plenty have much better sense, but some do not.

That isn't to say that all of these pregnant teenagers get pregnant to get the welfare payments (although, in this country at least, there's evidence that some do), but that it can shift the balance a little.

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Crucifer
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 10:04 am
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Quote:
without the 20-odd-year commitment.
:LMAO: What about the 20-year commitment of actually raising the child!?

But yeah, I agree with Wilma. The whole point of the welfare payment is to help pay for the child, and if that money goes to the parents whims, then surely the child is being neglected...

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Lord_Morningstar
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 10:10 am
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Crucifer wrote:
Quote:
without the 20-odd-year commitment.
:LMAO: What about the 20-year commitment of actually raising the child!?
That's what I was referring to :scratch:

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Impenitent
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 11:29 am
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I think the girls/young women who make that conscious choice — have a child and live on welfare as a deliberate lifestyle choice – tend to already live in economically and/or emotionally deprived conditions. Yes, most have no idea of the emotional and psychological commitment until it's too late, but there are some who actually think it's a good deal. They don't know better and don't aspire to better. That's all there is for them.

I consider it such a waste and a tragedy, one which is perpetuated from generation to generation.

I speak only of this country - Australia- as I really don't have enough understanding of the welfare arrangements available elsewhere.

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Crucifer
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Posted: Tue 24 Jun , 2008 11:34 am
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Ah right. I thought you meant the 20 odd year commitment of education plus getting a decent job etc. etc. etc. A life, in other words, worth living.

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laureanna
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Posted: Sat 28 Jun , 2008 10:39 pm
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Crucifer wrote:
Ah right. I thought you meant the 20 odd year commitment of education plus getting a decent job etc. etc. etc. A life, in other words, worth living.
And I thought you meant the 20+ year commitment of staying attached to the father.

I guess it all depends on how you read it.

It galls me that children want to have a baby so that they can have some one who "loves them unconditionally". A baby is 100% self centered. A child-mother is not getting unconditional love, and probably has little idea how to give it, either.

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Impenitent
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Posted: Sun 29 Jun , 2008 3:23 am
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Those are also the thoughts I had in reading that, Laurie. A child requires unconditional love but there's not much of that coming back at you. For that, get a puppy.

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Nienor SharkAttack
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