Massachusetts High School Faces Pregnancy Boom

[dread]

A Massachusetts high school is facing a pregnancy boom with 17 girls entering summer vacation expecting babies in what some have called a pregnancy pact.

Officials at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Mass., are investigating whether half of the teens made a pact to get pregnant during the school year, Time.com reported.

Officials said that beginning last fall a large group of girls started asking the school clinic for pregnancy tests, the site said.

"Some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," principal Joseph Sullivan told Time.com.

The pregnancy rate at the 1,200-student school is four times higher than the previous year, and officials were shocked to learn that men in their 20s had fathered some of the babies, Time.com said.

"We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," Sullivan told Time.com.

The Gloucester baby boom is forcing this city of 30,000 to grapple with the question of providing easier access to birth control, something this largely Catholic enclave is slow to embrace, the site said.



FOXNews.com - Massachusetts High School Faces Pregnancy Boom - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News



If they all DID make a pact to become pregnant then how the hell is contraception going to be the solution?

 

[matty]

I just heard about this today, too--crazy, huh?--Just when you think you've heard it all.

An' that was my thought, how's birth control touch this one? Good luck.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Birth Control and access to it has zero to do with this if the stated "pact" existed. How does one in one breath say " they all agreed to get pregnant and were upset when they did not" and then say " We need more birth control to control THIS problem"

Last I checked birth control is voluntary and the individual has to actually CHOSE to use it, what ever it may be. If they had already determined they were going to get pregnant any way possible, then the argument for birth control access based on THIS incident is ignorant and illogical.

 

[editec]

I used to live in Gloucester, Mass.

and officials were shocked to learn that men in their 20s had fathered some of the babies, Time.com said.

Shocked? they were shocked to learn that high school girls and men in their early 20's have sex?

What universe have they been living in, anyway?

 

[nomdeplume]

If they all DID make a pact to become pregnant then how the hell is contraception going to be the solution?

Don't let facts or logic get in the way of leftist propaganda and talking points.

 

[doeton]

i bet obama fathered them all.

 

[midcan5]

I have noticed this among Catholics, seems their religion is stronger than their biological impulses and they do the biological with any connection to the brain. We have friends where almost all the girls through 3 generations had to get married. All have nice lives though.

 

[dread]

Tell THAT one to all the girls at the all female Catholic High School I attended. Everyone from my graduating class at one point had either had an abortion or a pregnancy scare. Believe me when I tell you biological urges outweighed ANY religious theme.

 

[Gunny]

I have noticed this among Catholics, seems their religion is stronger than their biological impulses and they do the biological with any connection to the brain. We have friends where almost all the girls through 3 generations had to get married. All have nice lives though.

Just how dumb is it you would have us believe you are? It's OBVIOUS this has nothing to do with someone's religious beliefs. Does the article say: Catholic schoolgirls get pregnant to prove they're Catholic?

Hint: This is where you shake your head from side to side and say, "Why, no, it doesn't."

I have noticed this among uber-libs -- seems their political belief is stronger than their intellectual impulse to ensure their accusations have ANYTHING to do with the topic.

 

[Glori.B]

"The Gloucester baby boom is forcing this city of 30,000 to grapple with the question of providing easier access to birth control, something this largely Catholic enclave is slow to embrace, the site said."


fwiw, gloucester high school is a public high school, not a catholic school.
no where does it say whether or not these girls are actually catholic...

the author just added his own commentary "the largely catholic enclave".

 

[matty]

Yes, it is totally irrelevent.

I think we oughta come up with a Scared Straight-sorta program for girls, remember those?

We could take them to these half-way houses for young girls with babies, thru photos, internet, personal tours--these places exist, we have one in a neighboring town I want to take my kids to when they get older; show 'em these girls up close.

I went to high school with some of the girls who had babies back home waiting for them at the half-way house when they got off the bus. The ones I knew were stricken by the reality of what they had done. They were horrified, tired and beside themselves...

 

[matty]

Hyeah--gimme a break, I laughed on that one, too.

When I was growing up, many years ago, a friend of mine, at 12, was already having sex with a 22 year old.

Girls I know in a neighboring town, who are seniors in high school were already having sex together a year earlier and openly showing it off.--Not in my day in school you wouldn't, even if you were--and I don't remember anyone, Anyone being openly gay then.--In 15-20 years, things've really changed exponentially...

 

[Gunny]

"The Gloucester baby boom is forcing this city of 30,000 to grapple with the question of providing easier access to birth control, something this largely Catholic enclave is slow to embrace, the site said."


fwiw, gloucester high school is a public high school, not a catholic school.
no where does it say whether or not these girls are actually catholic...

the author just added his own commentary "the largely catholic enclave".

And? Can you also provide a verifiable, unbiased source that shows high school girls getting pregnant is a tenet of Catholicism? I'm not Catholic, but I'd be willing to bet Sunday School DOESN'T teach it.

In fact, if it's like the rest of most Christian churches, I'd be willing to bet they teach abstinence prior to marriage. Now if you want to accuse the Catholic church for not being in touch with how things are where sex is concerned, I'm with you on that.

However, that mindset is not monopolized by nor exclusive to Catholics. It belongs to anyone who doesn't want to deal with the fact that "Daddy's or Mommy's little angels" would NEVER do that.

 

[Gunny]

Yes, it is totally irrelevent.

I think we oughta come up with a Scared Straight-sorta program for girls, remember those?

We could take them to these half-way houses for young girls with babies, thru photos, internet, personal tours--these places exist, we have one in a neighboring town I want to take my kids to when they get older; show 'em these girls up close.

I went to high school with some of the girls who had babies back home waiting for them at the half-way house when they got off the bus. The ones I knew were stricken by the reality of what they had done. They were horrified, tired and beside themselves...

Just let them go into the delivery room and sit through a few deliveries. That'd cure ME.

 

[Gunny]

Hyeah--gimme a break, I laughed on that one, too.

When I was growing up, many years ago, a friend of mine, at 12, was already having sex with a 22 year old.

Girls I know in a neighboring town, who are seniors in high school were already having sex together a year earlier and openly showing it off.--Not in my day in school you wouldn't, even if you were--and I don't remember anyone, Anyone being openly gay then.--In 15-20 years, things've really changed exponentially...

Wow, you're old.

30-something years ago when I was in school if you were screwing you were trash, period. And NO ONE was gay. Anyone even suspected of being gay was ostricized by ALL. Just how it was.

 

[editec]

Gloucester is hardly a "largely catholic enclave", folks.

I don't know where Fox is getting its information, but Gloucester is not more a Catholic enclave than most towns on the East Coast.

 

[Shogun]

Gosh! Why didn't someone just tell them to be abstinant! SURELY they would have listened! Hell, give em a cheap ring that says love waits and we'd never have seen this!

 

[Gunny]

Gosh! Why didn't someone just tell them to be abstinant! SURELY they would have listened! Hell, give em a cheap ring that says love waits and we'd never have seen this!

No chastity belt just to make sure?

 

[Gunny]

Gosh! Why didn't someone just tell them to be abstinant! SURELY they would have listened! Hell, give em a cheap ring that says love waits and we'd never have seen this!

On a serious note ... which is actually the responsible behavior? Abstinence? Or just doing whatever the Hell you feel like regardless the consequences?

I'm not arguing on the side of the abstinence only crowd either, so don't start. I'm arguing on behalf of the "Whatever happened to teaching children responisibility and holding them accountable for their actions?" crowd.

Responsibility and acountability have gone the way of the T-Rex.

 

[Shogun]

On a serious note ... which is actually the responsible behavior? Abstinence? Or just doing whatever the Hell you feel like regardless the consequences?

I'm not arguing on the side of the abstinence only crowd either, so don't start. I'm arguing on behalf of the "Whatever happened to teaching children responisibility and holding them accountable for their actions?" crowd.

Responsibility and acountability have gone the way of the T-Rex.

that may be true.. but I couldnt resist making a comment about abstinance only programs.