Time Magazine broke the, now familiar, story of one predominantly white high school in the Northeast experiencing increased pregnancies:
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.
Ok, why is everyone so shocked? I think it may have something to do with the disgusting association with out-of-wedlock births and black girls. White girls don't get pregnant out-of-wedlock, right? That's reserved for historic stereotype of blacks and their "savage" and irresponsible sexuality. The fact that this is news is pathetic and reveals an obvious stereotype. This would never be news in a black or Latino high school. Oh wait, of course not, blacks and Latinos have lower moralities. It's expected, I guess. You may have heard something like this from those on the left and the right over the years, "Whew, we need to get contraceptives into the urban schools, right. Ya know, how those minorities can be! Maybe we should bus the minority kids to the suburbs where they can be around kids with better values." Oops America, you just got punk'd!
Yeah, I knew plenty of pregnant white girls in high school. They were disproportionately lower-class, which might be what confuses people.
it seems that the story is around the "pact" more than anything else? I'm doubting many people are shocked some girls got preggo (we've all seen Juno, after all). but the "pact" takes it to another level of "newsworthiness"
ANT, agreed. But I will tell you my reaction, my moms and 2 of my friends' reactions when we heard this. It was the fact that they made a pact to do it. I agree w/u about the steroytype but if this were just another school that had a higher than normal preg rate it might get press but not this kind of press. People, the media, and me and everyone else I know are shocked that A) They (allegedly) made a pact. B) The one got a homeless guy to impregnate her C) High fives were given, baby showers planned, and dissapointment on the faces of those that didnt get pregnant. D) Its always sad when girls think that having kids will solve their lonliness/they will have someone that loves them/someone will never leave them etc etc.
So in ur last paragraph when u say "why is everyone shocked?", A-D is why. Plus how many girls was it again? I think a heck of a lot. Now if this was about a small enclave of predominately black/latino workers and one heard about a spike in pregnancy and the reason was b/c of a pact, and 1 girl got a homeless guy to sleep w/her, and there were high fives etc etc... The media may go the route you describe up here, but it would still be shocking. I have never heard of this type of thing anywhere or in any community.
I think this is news. Maybe not good news, but its shocking.
Bottom line its the motive and intent behind the girls becoming pregnant that is news rather than THAT they became pregnant.
NO?
Plus if they wanted friends I have a good friend who is currently writing a book called "7 steps to having new friends and being important" that they all should read, teen edition of course
Yes, the pact is the story here. Nothing to do with race.
Oh...and the homeless guy.
I don't agree, Anthony, that the shock is because of race. I thought the shock was because the girls made a pact to get pregnant. Teen pregnancies among Whites and Blacks have been falling over many years, if I'm not mistaken, and that may too also have something to do with it - this was not only a purposeful decision (usually we think of teen pregnancies as "accidents"). These girls sought to get pregnant around the same time so that they could raise the children together, and that strikes many people as rightfully unusual. It also means there was likely social pressures to get pregnant, which again is really lamentable.
I personally didn't care about the race. Maybe that makes me weird.
My take is that we've closed off most of the normal outlets for kids to be masculine and feminine, and as a result, there isn't much way for these ladies to tell the world "I'm a woman!" than to be greatly immodest or lewd, or bear a child.
Not the whole story, to be sure, but I'd have to guess that it's a big part for such problems in most all communities.
To what extent has over-empowerment of women, especially of mothers, contributed to this phenomenon? I worked with youth for 8 years. Often the girls who got pregnant and were happy about it were in it for the power, the opportunity to be independent and in charge. The availability of welfare benefits in no way diminished this opportunism. Provide an incentive - people will respond.
Nathan
Let's not forget that the phenomenon of teen births has been falling over time, not rising.
I didn't know a single non-white girl in high school who got pregnant. We had quite a few pregnancies and, while I live in the heart of Wisconsin, where the landscape is pretty monochromatic, our black and hispanic school population was pretty high for the area.
I think ANY high school girl getting pregnant is shocking.
And it turns out there may not have been a pact after all.
actually, Scott, I just heard data about the last few years where the teen birth rate has risen the first time in 14 years. The most recent government states on teen birth rates are already outdated based on 2005 data.
Dude. Anthony. Have you really become this? Maybe I'm not being sensitive enough to the issues here, but if 17 girls of any color in any school make a pact to get pregers then go out to any guy around to pull it off. Seems like that is the story, not the culture of those involved. Just sayin man.
I'm generally shocked by teen girls who get pregnant on purpose. Regardless of ethnicity or background. Of course, with all the contraceptives available, I'm a little shocked by teen girls who get pregnant by accident, too. This story shocks me largely because here are 17 girls willing to risk all kinds of disease, etc (a homeless guy? really?) in order to have a baby. They have no clue what they're in for. It bothers me that these girls, and I'm sure quite a number of others, seem to think that having a baby is the equivalent of having a cute pet. And they act accordingly. I'm rather afraid of the wake-up call they're going to get.... I sure hope this was a wake-up call to parents....
Anthony - that report was published in 2007, but the data was only up to 2005. I'm having trouble finding anything more recent. Can you post it if you have time?
I think I found the data you are referring to. Thanks for the correction. This is an interesting reversal, but at the same time, it'll need more than one year to help us understand if this is a reverse in trend or just a statistical aberration.
The school had an average of 4 - 5 per year previously according to at least one report I read.
Any school in which the pregnancy rate quadruples in one year AND there is a pact would make it into the news.
But I am with you Anthony on the idea that the society "expects more" along racial ground here. . . .
I remember sitting under a certain pastor at the time of the Columbine shootings -you know, white kids shooting white kids. He challenged the congregation with this question, "What are we going to do now that it's OUR children?" My husband and I exchanged "what the ????" expressions. It was the beginning of the end of our time in that church.
There is a definite history of drawing the line between our kids and their kids. Black on black crime is just expected, right? And anyone who has caught five minutes of a Maury Povich episode already knows that EVERY African-American girl hopes to be a single mom by the time she's 13. duh. (read with dripping sarcasm.)
While I agree that the entire story is laden with shock value, dismissing the racial context would be naive. The worry of residents that the "problem goes much deeper" is an indicator to me. Much deeper than what? Than the national averages reflecting what people assume to be typical behavior of teens out side of the "mostly white, mostly blue-collar city." And who are those teens? Oh yeah, the mostly black, mostly low-income. It is what it is folks.
So, it's okay when black and hispanic girls get pregnant, and not white?
It's the same either way for me, if they can take good care of the child, then it is fine, if they can't, they should get a Abortion or put it is adoptive care.