June 19, 2008
Teens' Pregnancy Pact Shocks Mass. Town
Authorities Say High School Girls Planned To Have Babies As Part Of Secret Pact
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Play CBS Video Video Teen Girls' Pregnancy Pact Officials in the economically depressed village of Gloucester, Mass. believe a group of girls, all under the age of 16, made a secret pact to get pregnant at the same time. Michelle Miller reports.
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Video Teen Mom Talks Pregnancy Amanda Ireland, a Gloucester, Mass. teen mother urges her peers against pregnancy; and psychologist Lisa Boesky tells Julie Chen about the social problems associated with teen pregnancy.
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Gloucester High School in Massachusetts. (CBS)
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News Tools Teen Trends: Risks Measured Here's an illustration of how teens feel about their online experience vs. some facts about crime.
"I think it's awful," one woman says. "They're kids having kids."
Seventeen girls at Gloucester High School not only got pregnant, but according to some, it was no accident.
"Pregnancy was the desired outcome," school superintendent Christopher Farmer says.
"So they did it on purpose?" Miller asks.
"That's what it sounds like, yes," Farmer says.
School officials discovered the pregnancy pact after some girls seemed disappointed that their pregnancy tests from the school nurse came back negative.
"They will have a baby as part of their life to give them status," Farmer says. "motherhood gives them status."
Status in Gloucester is hard to come by. The once thriving fishing community has seen jobs drift overseas. Economic depression has left many teens trying to fill the void.
"It sort of gives you the impression of being an adult, an independent. It may give you an opportunity for unconditional love and attention from the baby and also that you give to the baby," Dr. Elisabeth Guthrie, a pediatric psychiatrist, says.
According to the superintendent, all the girls were 16 or younger. Most of the fathers weren't in high school and at least one of them was a 24-year-old man.
Amanda Ireland, mother of 3-year-old Haley, just graduated from Gloucester High. She says she's tried to warn her peers about the tough road ahead.
"Don't, don't try to get pregnant," she says. "People say, 'I know what it's like because I have siblings.' But you really don't. No one knows until they actually go through it. And it's a lot of work."
School officials have their work cut for them. They are now considering a plan to provide birth control services in the high school next fall.
Their biggest challenge is how to change the mindset in some of the girls who come here.
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See all 370 CommentsPosted by txgrouch2004
A bj in the oval office.
Teenage girls...what can you do. No easy answers/solutions.
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Why? Do you think it''s ALWAYS been like this???
No, this is a problem that has never happened before. It used to be, the GIRLS said "No" to s e x.
What has changed in this country since 1950?
Real love is something they can''t comprehend. They can''t give the unconditional love that these teenage girls want.
So many girls live in a fantasy world of unrealistic expectations & crazy dreams. Convince themselves that boys love them. All the boy wants is a roll in the hay. She''ll be lucky if he remembers her name afterwards when he''s bragging about it to his buddies.
S e x is a means to an end for these girls. The end being pregnancy. Of course that''s the last thing the boy wants to be involved in.
Raising kids is a lot of work, money, heartache & disappointment. Not all fun & games. Costs a lot of money even for the basics. We''re not even talking about fancy private schools.
Teenage girls...what can you do. No easy answers/solutions.
They discovered ICE on MARS, but there was little to no mention of this story.
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Try Google and Yahoo! news. They have a format that makes it easier to find the big stories.
Wake up media! they are reflecting what you place value on.
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Sometime between 1946 and today, our country became an open sewer.
During the 1960''s the Supreme Court declared religions expression to be a form of obscene behavior, because we were no longer permitted to do it in public places. So the 10 Commandments and prayer were banned from public schools.
The sewage has been getting deeper and deeper. Janet Jackson bared a breast on no-delay live TV (the reason for eliminating the delay was NEVER explained). The Hilton girl on TV decided to have an unwed teenage pregnancy, and SHE IS STILL ON TV.
The inevitable and PREDICTED result is now being shoved in our faces today.
The real problem is, the people like us who CARE about it are only a small handful. There''s nothing left to do but leave the evil city, and don''t look back or we''ll turn into a pillar of salt.
Maybe they should invent remote controlled birth control. Give it to the dad.
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We used to have those. They were called "chaperones."
And if the chaperone didn''t stop the boy, the girl would. Girls used to know this word called "No."
Those things went out of style for some reason when the Baby Boomers started dating...
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Women (of all ages) are responsible for contraception. Afterall, it is the woman who will be stuck with the outcome.
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If this is the new trend, then it is another way to step onto the slippery slope that will bring us to being a welfare nation. Most of these girls have no idea what this is about. I hope they all use natural childbirth and that it is so painful that they reconsider not only ever getting pregnant again but also ever having *** again.
Pregnancy in your teens limits everything you might ever achieve unless you give the child up for adoption.
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