Guess that abstinence training is working
"lilhornie" <lilhornie@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:d439ec56-64b6-4d74-8600-be53f6c6a58b@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
the girls decided their lives could use more spark, or
something, so they made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies
together.
Now, with all the expectant moms returning to school this fall, the
high school's day care center is forced to expand.
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"Gloucester High School's day-care center overflowing for September"
By Patrick Anderson
Staff writer
Gloucester Daily Times
June 19, 2008 10:11 pm
—
None of the Gloucester High School students who got pregnant or had
children during the school year have dropped out, and Principal Joseph
Sullivan credits the in-school day-care program and health clinic with
keeping them in school.
But this year's spike in teen pregnancies at the school — 18, as
compared to three or four in an average year — will pose a huge
challenge for the day-care center in September. Only three young
mothers were enrolled in the program for the academic year that just
ended. For 2008-2009, eight have applied for the seven available slots
in the free program, and there's already a waiting list.
Across the country, studies have linked teen pregnancy to high dropout
rates and since 1996 Gloucester High School officials have utilized
child-care and parent services provided by local nonprofit Pathways
for Children to keep student-mothers in school.
But for the upcoming school year, "It is a concern that we may not be
able to provide services for everyone who needs it," Lisa Sorrento,
program coordinator at Pathways, said yesterday. "At this point, we
don't know if all the mothers will stay on the list."
Sorrento said she did not know what any mothers will do if they cannot
get a spot in the day-care program, called the Young Families
Initiative.
As discussions among school, city and medical officials about
responses to the spike in teen pregnancies, now placed at 18 (an
increase from previous re****ts) by a member of the health clinic
staff, some have raised questions about whether having day care in the
school might be encouraging students to have babies and contributing
to the problem.
The issue burst into the national spotlight yesterday, when Time
magazine posted a story on its Web site about the Gloucester
pregnancies. The story appears in the print edition that will be on
newsstands today, and refers to some of the girls as having formed a
"pact" to get pregnant and raise the children together.
Gloucester Daily Times stories from March and last month had also
noted that a number of the girls had apparently chosen to become
pregnant, and that some who were tested at the school-based clinic
were disappointed when their tests were negative. The Time magazine
coverage led to the Gloucester High School issue receiving exposure on
national network newscasts and cable news talk shows last night.
Schools Superintendent Christopher Farmer, a sup****ter of the day-care
program, said yesterday that when city leaders and the School
Committee begin debating a comprehensive policy regarding teen
pregnancy — which is expected to include a recommendation on whether
to provide confidential contraception services — he expects providing
day care will be one of the questions on the table.
"Some people have said that because the facility is there, it
encourages pregnancy," Farmer said. "I think that is hard to believe.
Clearly if we can keep them in school, it gives them a better chance
in the future."
Principal Sullivan suggested that some guidance counselors from other
school districts in the region had recommended to students who are or
want to become pregnant, to transfer to Gloucester through the state's
School Choice program so they could take advantage of the day-care
facilities.
Farmer said he didn't think that was likely and that the overwhelming
majority of the 29 students transferring to Gloucester High School
through School Choice this past year were doing it for the school's
academic and athletic programs.
Manchester Es*** Regional High School Assistant Principal Paul Murphy
has said he does not know of any students who have become pregnant
this year. Rock****t Principal Charles Symonds said earlier in the
month that he did not know how many students at his school were
pregnant, but thought it was not a large number.
The identities of the men responsible for impregnating the 18 girls at
the school have remained largely unknown, but officials have said they
think a majority are not students. As re****ted by many national media
outlets this week, Sullivan said one of the fathers was a 24-year-old
homeless man.
To take advantage of the free day care, Gloucester High School
students must be enrolled full-time, spend at least eight hours a
month in parent sup****t cl*****, and help out taking care of the kids
at the center.
The day-care center is located in a converted classroom where around
half of the space is dedicated to child care and the other half is
stocked with chairs and desks. The Young Families Initiative runs a
single-period, five-day-a-week parenting class at the day-care
center.
Susan Todd, CEO of Pathways, said yesterday that the primary goal of
the Young Families Initiative was to have the girls who become
pregnant finish high school. In the 2006-07 school year, all four
girls enrolled in the program not only graduated, but went on to
attend college, Todd said.
Todd said in addition to keeping the mothers in school, Young Families
tries to keep babies inside the day-care room. Rumors and media
re****ts that the halls of the high school are filled with baby
strollers, Todd said, are not accurate.
"The primary objective is to make sure that when girls get pregnant
they graduate high school," Todd said. "The other is to change the
cir***stances that led to the pregnancy. It is providing a critical
sup****t for a very young parent. We are the safety net."
Todd said all research into the impact of day-care services in high
schools indicated that the presence of child-care services does not
cause higher teen pregnancy rates.
"On no level can I believe that a child care center at a high school
plays into a girls impulsiveness to have a baby," Todd said. "Once
this happens they are happy we are there and the data sup****ts this."
The School Committee is expected to vote on a comprehensive policy for
limiting teen pregnancy sometime before the beginning of the next
school year in September.
A series of meetings intended to educate the committee on the subject,
ordered by Mayor Carolyn Kirk and being led by Director of Public
Health Jack Vondras has been planned for the summer but not yet
scheduled.
[Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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