Truthdig: A Teachable Moment for Teen Pregnancy

[marmar]

A Teachable Moment for Teen Pregnancy

Posted on Jun 25, 2008
By Ellen Goodman



Well now, isn’t that a relief. The infamous “pregnancy pact” at Gloucester High School turns out to be an urban legend. The media mobs that descended on the fishing town may now pack up their cameras and their moral outrage.

It’s all over, folks. Except for the 17 Gloucester girls in the late stages of pregnancy or early stages of motherhood. And except, of course, for the 140,000 other American girls between 15 and 17 who’ll be having their own babies this year.

Let us review the feeding frenzy that seemed to please so many palates. The natives of the Massachusetts town already knew there had been a bump in the number of baby bumps. High school pregnancies had quadrupled in one year. But this didn’t get much outside notice until the high school principal told a Time magazine reporter that nearly half the girls “made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together.”

Pregnancy Pact! “Sisterhood of the Maternity Pants!” “Jailbait Girls in Tot Pact!” Quick, ride your favorite hobbyhorse over to the nearest cable station, network or blog.

The tale of the pregnancy pact led all the usual suspects to cast all the usual blame. It was because the state rejected abstinence-only funds. No, it was because the school couldn’t dispense condoms. It was because the celebrity culture bred Jamie Lynn Spears wannabes. No, it was because the town was in the economic dumps. It was because the school had day care. No, it was because of an “absolute moral collapse.”

Just when the dudgeon rose high over the outrage levee, along came the beleaguered mayor of her struggling city to tell a packed news conference that there was no evidence of a “blood oath” and that the high school principal had gotten a bit “foggy in his memory.” Next, some of the pregnant girls spoke up and the pact fell apart at the seams. Maybe some got pregnant intentionally, maybe some bonded before or after the pregnancy test, but there was no mass plunge into motherhood. Phew. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080626_a_teachable_moment_for_teen_pregnancy/

[BrklynLib at work]

1. Gee, I figured they were all impregnated by aliens who had visited the town.

[hobbit709]

2. More manufactured outrage to steer the public from the REAL problems.