20 June 2008

I've heard of suicide pacts but this is just crazy...

Seventeen girls, none of them older than 16, apparently made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together.

It all went down at a high school in Gloucester about 30 miles north of Boston.

The school's principal told Time magazine in a story published Wednesday that the girls confessed to making the pact after the school began investigating a rise in pregnant girls roaming the halls.

The principal went on to say girls 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."

The principal said some of the girls reacted to the news they were pregnant with high fives noting "one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy."

In May the school nurse resigned in protest at the refusal of the local hospital that controls their funds to allow them to distribute contraceptives to pupils without parental consent.

Some have pointed to films portraying teenage pregnancy in a humorous and empathetic light such as Juno and Knocked Up.

Theres also that new show on NBC The Baby Borrowers which describes itself as an "unique social experiment that takes five teenage couples on a rollercoaster ride of adult responsibility, allowing them to experience parenting firsthand."

NBC's Access Hollywood says they think the 17 Gloucester girls were emulating Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney's sister, who at 16-years-old last December said she was 12 weeks pregnant and keeping the baby.

Coincidentally, I think Jamie Lynn actually gave birth yesterday as a matter of fact.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm so disgusted with the romanticism that teens have with pregnancy these days. Hopefully Baby borrowers will help dismantle a bit of that and help them put things in perspective - think about the baby, not just your future hip accessory!

Grant said...

The show looks interesting. Nice to see some positive messages on television. However, I have to wonder if the babies will be traumatized. Would you volunteer the kid for the show?

Grant said...

Sorry, volunteer "your" kid...