Mayor: No Evidence Of Teen Pregnancy Pact

Gloucester, Mass. Mayor Says Principal's Claim Of Baby Pact Not Backed Up By Parents, Counselors, Teachers

(CBS/AP)  The city's mayor said Monday there is no evidence a group of young girls made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together, seeking to dispel an explosive theory put forth by the high school principal.

"Any planned blood-oath bond to become pregnant - there is absolutely no evidence of," Mayor Carolyn Kirk said Monday after a closed-door meeting with city, school and health leaders.

Conspicuously absent from that meeting was Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan, who has not responded to repeated requests for comment after he was quoted last week in a Time magazine story saying the girls planned to get pregnant together.

The mayor, who also sits on the school committee, said she was not comfortable having Sullivan at the meeting.

Kirk cited privacy concerns in refusing to answer many questions about the 17 girls who became pregnant this school year - more than quadruple the number who generally become pregnant as the school.

Kirk said she and Superintendent Christopher Farmer have been in touch with Sullivan, and that he was "foggy in his memory" about how he came to believe there was a pact.

"When pressed, his memory failed," Kirk said.

Authorities have talked to school and health officials who work most closely with the children and, Kirk said, "The people that worked with the children on a daily basis have said there has been no mention whatsoever of a pact."

But Time posted a story on its Web site Monday that included new quotes from its earlier interview with Sullivan in which the principal said a lack of access to birth control did not play a part in the surge of pregnancies.

"That bump was because of seven or eight sophomore girls. They made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together," Time quoted Sullivan as saying.

Calls to Sullivan's office and home have not been returned. So far, Sullivan is the only school or city official who has used the term "pact."

Time also reported Monday that Pathways for Children chief executive Sue Todd, whose organization runs the high school's onsite daycare center, told the magazine on June 13 that its social worker had heard of the girls' plan to get pregnant as early as last fall. Todd has not returned calls from The Associated Press.

"We're facing a new area in teen pregnancy," CBS Early Show psychologist Linda Boesky, author of "When to Worry: How to Tell If Your Teen Needs Help-And What to Do About It," said on Friday.

"What we've always known (is) teens who are surprised and shocked (at getting pregnant). Now, instead of unplanned teen pregnancies, what we're seeing in this town is actually planned teen pregnancies," Boesky told co-anchor Julie Chen.

Boesky suggested part of the influence on teen girls in America comes from the pervasive celebrity culture. "If you look at all the celebrity magazines, celebrity TV shows, you can't turn a page without seeing more and more celebrities getting pregnant," she said.

The mayor said the spike in pregnancies is in keeping with similar spikes in other cities.

Farmer said there was a "distinct possibility" that the girls who found themselves in similar, challenging situations later decided to "come together for mutual support."

He said the Time magazine piece did not distinguish between "a pact to become pregnant or a pact because we are pregnant."

Farmer also said it was clear some of the girls were not trying very hard not to become pregnant. The principal had said some girls gave high-fives and planned baby showers while others were sullen if their pregnancy tests at the high school clinic came back negative.

Farmer defended Sullivan saying, "I don't believe anyone has acted in particularly bad faith here."

Gloucester resident Annette Dion, a 45-year-old private music teacher, said school and city officials should have done more to find out whether the girls truly made a pact to become pregnant. She said denying such a pact existed is "pretty naive."

"I don't think we heard the truth today," Dion said, adding that pop culture has glamorized teen pregnancy and that movies and celebrity pregnancies do not give girls an accurate picture of parenthood.

"My personal feeling, my impression, is they probably talked and discussed and thought it would be cool to get pregnant together," she said.

Brendan Henry, a 17-year-old going into his senior year at Gloucester, said the attention surrounding the alleged pact has taken the focus off bigger issues facing young people, including school underfunding. Still, he did not doubt that a pact could have existed.

"It definitely sounds like something that would happen at Gloucester High School," he said. "It doesn't sound too far fetched at all."

[dobbershome]

No evidence but a bunch of knocked up skankbangers.

[oneworldusa]

No evidence but 17 girls all under age 16 and nearly all sophomores who took pregnancy tests at the shool nurses office....

[grammawhamma]

I believe those kids did make a pact. What did they expect the girls to do...get a lawyer to draw it up and have legal signed contracts!?

[brianbwb-2009]

"If you look at all the celebrity magazines, celebrity TV shows, you can''t turn a page without seeing more and more celebrities getting pregnant,"

Seeing as how getting pregnant is not only part of the human condition, but also one of the strongest natural instincts, I find it difficult to understand why some people think it strange. I also find that the "celebrities" getting pregnant are usually legal adults, so what is the problem?

Only recently has it been a notion that getting pregnant at 16 is somehow deviant, the ability to get pregnant starts at roughly twelve, and for thousands of generations, people have done so.

It seems to me to be idiotic to expect nature to conform to a person''s mindset, rather than conforming a person''s mindset to accept nature. Intelligent discussion about the pitfalls of early motherhood should replace fear mongering, as it only becomes a mark of the normal generational rebellion, when teens challenge BS.

[whatinthewld]

"School counselors, teachers and families of students the principal said made a pact to get pregnant and have babies together have no information to back the claim, the mayor of Gloucester said Sunday. "

Either this is a run-on sentense and the news editor needs to find a new job or the mayor is Mexico

[whatinthewld]

Making a pact to stay pure and not sleep around, making a pact to remain virgins until their wedding night,.......that kind of a pact would never make the headlines but you have young people around the nation who are making those kinds of pacts. But a pact to get pregnant? Was this a group thing like going to the bathroom together? Something is fishy, and cBS isn''t telling the whole story. The first paragraph gives that away, because that paragraph doesnt'' even make sense.

[hypnotoad72]

Okay, so they''re not a cult - just a bunch of naive, *** fools. What else is new in our "society"?

[hypnotoad72]

Replace ''***'' with ''skankbanging''

Kudos to dobbershome for coining that word... :)

[antoniof123]

Another sock jock trying to make the news. Okay it is more than normal. But a pack please that is really pushing.

These girls are morons and should be fixed like the dogs they are.

I am getting sick and tired of people looking for ways to create havoc. Beat the parents not the children in this case.

[dragonmouse-2009]

It sounds like something was OBVIOUSLY planned.

Bunch of idiots. My vote is if it is proven that it was planned...deny them any form of government aid. No WIC, no Food Stamps, No Medicaide, no FREE daycare...NOTHING. Stupidity should NOT be rewarded.

I am sorry for the babies that are going to be born into that but if their mothers figured they could AFFORD them then they do NOT need any BENEFITS coming out of MY tax dollars to take care of them. If they cannot handle it then they can give them up.

[faith_in_w]

Ha ha liberals! Your ploy to make getting unmarried teenagers pregnant in an effort to make fatherhood more worthless than you already have done has failed! Its a victory for humanity! Praise Jesus!

[payasyougo]

And the village speaks...

[jjarden]

American Society is Doomed anyway...this is just another example.

[edgardebbins]

Well, maybe they need to make an adoption pact now. Give em all up right at delivery.

[talkingham]

There must have been a pact. The "news" media have reported it and have gotten tons of mileage out of this story. If people BELIEVE there was a pact then there was. Kinda like our foreign policy and the price of oil. There must be an oil shortage because the media keeps telling us there is.

[wondrouscat]

Isn''t it something that it is still true that the responsibility for pregnancy is always the womans. The blame here is solely on the girls (they are called every name in the book.) Okay, but we must acknowledge the power we then invest them with. The males are just automatons that can''t control themselves. Women rule. Women are society''s moral compass. Women are the deciders.

[texanforlogi]

"Mayor: No Evidence of Teen Pregnancy Pact"

Yeah, right. Just like Phillip Morris saying there is no evidence that smoking causes cancer.

[wondrouscat]

Since everyone wants to only blame the girls, and call them names etc., then we must acknowldege the power we are investing in them. That is, the power to decide, to control the situation. What you''re saying is that the boys are just automatons who can''t control themselves. Women rule. Women are the moral compass for society. Those girls made bad decisions (perhaps) but they are the deciders. The more you yell at them the more power you are ceding to them.

[faith_in_w]

WondrousCat, no it isnt. They are just wrong thats all. Someday a light will light up in your head and you will say "Oh, thats why". Hopefully not too late dear.

[jscottelwood-2009]

How about an abortion pact? or a frontal-lobotomy pact?
Or a "Bob Barker" pact..."Have your kids spayed and neutered".

[govwatch-2009]

Four times the pregnancy rate! If it looks like a dog and barks like a dog, chances are it''s a dog. But, according to the major it could be a horse. "plausibly deny ability" and spin the by words of politicians.

[rf35]

"If you look at all the celebrity magazines, celebrity TV shows, you can''t turn a page without seeing more and more celebrities getting pregnant,"

Well then, let''s sterilize celebrities! Problem solved!

[dgquast]

Where are all the liberals proclaiming "Its Bushes fault"? "He must be the one that seduced all these dimwitted girls

[toolmangler-2009]

If Contraceptives are the way to go and you want to give them to all girls that have entered puberty, why is it that abortion is higher now than it was right after Kramer vs Kramer? The ''Pill'' has been available to women for a long time now and yet Babies are being killed at a higher rate than before. Couple that with the abandoned babies (not orphaned) and it becomes clear that the more freedom people are given from responsibility for their own actions the more they abuse it,

[acolton1]

These Stupid Girls who got knocked up I hope they are able to pay and take care of thier children because its NOT their Parents responsiblity or the Tax Payers Responsibility to get Pampers and Formula for their children.

Stupid High School Girls, Kids having Kids, I hope all these supid girls end up in a trailer park with a 1977 Yellow Chevy Camero, all White Trash and end up flippin burgers at McDonalds or Burger King or What a Burger.

What kind of parents do thise Girls have ? Apparently their Parents are White Trash with no morals or Parental Guidance.

[acolton1]

Xpat2

And just because you wanted somebody to say it, its the Bushies Fault and its some kind of hidden Liberal Agenda.

I just had to say that because you wanted somebody to say its a liberal agenda and all the fault of the Bushies.

[texanforlogi]

Stupid High School Girls, Kids having Kids, I hope all these supid girls end up in a trailer park with a 1977 Yellow Chevy Camero, all White Trash . . .
Posted by acolton1 at 01:28 PM : Jun 23, 2008
___________________________________


NO!! Don''t wish them a classic Chevy Camero! That is just too fine a car to waste!

[mudrose-2009]

Why most of them didn''t even give a ***** who the father was. Isn''t that nice? Anything for a joke. Well, since abortion took root in this country child abuse has become an epidemic. Lookie, lookie what we have here. They couldn''t get themsleves a puppie. Probably would drown them. What do you think they''re gonna do with the kids? Massachusetts a bastion of moral distinction.

[impeach_w]

FOR ALL THOSE WHO CAN''T WAIT FOR W & Co. TO LEAVE.

IF YOU WANT THEM IMPEACHED-GET THIS STORY TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND PUBLIC.


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THE %u201CSECRET%u201D AIR FORCE OF THE CIA ARE MOSTLY CILILIAN PLANES PURCHCHED WITH DRUG PROFITS WHOSE OWNERSHIP CANNOT BE TRACED AND ARE HIDDEN FROM ANY BUDGET.
Look it up yourself Please. This has some good info: http://www.madcowprod.com/index.html

[fairmusic]

No evidence huh? I''d say 17 pregnant girls is pretty hard evidence!

[komoncents]

In a society in which sexual conotation runs rampant in television shows and commercials, where clothes designed for female children accentuate 13 yr old bustlines and cleavage, where children learn from an early age of the corruptness of our leaders, where ads are allowed that are designed to decieve, where products are a mere shadow of the craftmanship of yesteryear, not to mention produced by child-labor and marketed by Wal-Mart that the american consumer buys with little regard for its origin, all condoned by a government bought and paid for by conscienceless corporations, and finally, religious leaders and day-care centers themselves prey on our children, its small wonder there are any morals at all.

[killtheliars]

is that illegal or something? Just tell the 17 girls you are not getting any help from the govt'', no welfare no foodstamps, then either the girls will have to get jobs working 70-80 hours a week or they and their kids will starve. That would send a message don''t you think.

[mmstar20]

"In a society in which sexual conotation runs rampant in television shows and commercials, where clothes designed for female children accentuate 13 yr old bustlines and cleavage, where children learn from an early age of the corruptness of our leaders, where ads are allowed that are designed to decieve, where products are a mere shadow of the craftmanship of yesteryear, not to mention produced by child-labor and marketed by Wal-Mart that the american consumer buys with little regard for its origin, all condoned by a government bought and paid for by conscienceless corporations, and finally, religious leaders and day-care centers themselves prey on our children, its small wonder there are any morals at all."

Ever hear of people called "parents?" They''re responsible for steering their kids in the right direction from the get-go. Monitor what their watching on TV, music their listening to, people they talk to, things they read, etc. Enough with putting kids in the hands of our government.

[bobnjersey]

["Any planned blood-oath bond to become pregnant - there is absolutely no evidence of," Mayor Carolyn Kirk said Monday after a closed-door meeting with city, school and health leaders. ]

you have a pregnancy rate that''s four times normal ... two resignations ... and a principal w/ a fuzzy memory ... but there''s no reason to think anything unusual is up.

[beader59]

So this was just a coincidence? Give me a break! If this turns out to be true, the parents better take a hard long look at their parenting skills and the therapists in that town better get their couches ready because those girls are sick.

[credibility2]

Males are just as much to blame for promiscuity as are females, along with the parents, Hollywood and the entertainment industry; the schools aren''t there to train kids on birth control and *** education and have the least amount of culpability in this tragic commentary on the continuing decline of society and its morality. And, for this mayor to come out and try to deflect attention from this problem with her town and one of its schools is laughable. Sounds to me like she can''t handle all of the rightful negative publicity. Ultimately the taxpayers will have to pick up some of the tab in raising these kids, since the girl-moms won''t be able to adequately do so, and the males that got them pregnant won''t care at all.

[credibility2]

Since when is the word s-e-x considered profane, but not the word s-e-x-u-a-l, as used in an earlier post? That word wasn''t asterisked out. I''m sure if you were even quoted Mother Theresa or the Pope and either one used this word in a post, your program would also asterisk it out.

[jimbo505]

their crazy up in boston

[denn034]

"In a society in which sexual conotation runs rampant in television shows and commercials, where clothes designed for female children accentuate 13 yr old bustlines and cleavage, where children learn from an early age of the corruptness of our leaders, where ads are allowed that are designed to decieve, where products are a mere shadow of the craftmanship of yesteryear, not to mention produced by child-labor and marketed by Wal-Mart that the american consumer buys with little regard for its origin, all condoned by a government bought and paid for by conscienceless corporations, and finally, religious leaders and day-care centers themselves prey on our children, its small wonder there are any morals at all."
Posted by komoncents

Amen. And liberals, most teachers and principals are liberals, want us to think they''ve got morals. Yeah, right!

[denn034]

"Ever hear of people called "parents?" They''''re responsible for steering their kids in the right direction from the get-go. Monitor what their watching on TV, music their listening to, people they talk to, things they read, etc. Enough with putting kids in the hands of our government."
Posted by mmstar20

And that negates the utter lack of morals in liberal principals and teachers, uh, how?

[denn034]

This should be treated as yelling fire in a crowded room, namely, prosecute that principal!

[loneeagle57]

No evidence? ha! Look at the town you have 17 count them 17 pregnant MINORS. I''ll bet that these local elected officials couldn''t see the forest because the trees are in the way. Schmucks. I am also willing to bet that these girls were interviewed by said officials and were told no. Come on how stupid are these people

[mmstar20]

"And that negates the utter lack of morals in liberal principals and teachers, uh, how?"

You want teachers to teach morals or school subjects?

[payasyougo]

These children having babies are the product of the "It takes a village" mentality - where these kid''s parents aren''t parenting because someone told them that it was OK to let society raise their kids.

If this happens to your kid, it was from years of your parental influence. Or lack of it...

Unless all of them turn out to become JK Rawlings (a single mom who ultimately made it on her own), society will pay in the upkeep and then multifold in the subsequent generations as the cycle repeats with their offspring.

[swwils]

No evidence! What does it take a broken beer bottle to smash that mayor in the face before he wakes up and smells reality.It is all over the internet,that is proof enough that theses girls needs are very important right now.They need a psych team from M.I.T to ascend upon that community.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "Mayor: No Evidence Of Teen Pregnancy Pact"

Well then, *** em''!

[jowand]

They need to send in the child protective services and state police just like they did in El Dorado Texas. Take all the kids and put them in foster homes, arrest the mayor and city leaders for child abuse.

[puzzler125]

The mayor does not use good grammar of which I am aware of. It''s a bit scary at times.

[govwatch-2009]

Four times the pregnancy rate! If it looks like a dog and barks like a dog, chances are it''''s a dog. But, according to the major it could be a horse. "plausibly deny ability" and spin the by words of politicians.

[smurfcrusher]

What a cop-out! I already heard on the news how a father of one of the teens explained the pact that his daughter heard.

Just because the kids don''t trumpet or sign sworn statements of their shameful pact is no excuse for this mayor to stick his head in the sand.

Or maybe he thinks it''s normal behavior for sophomores to give high-fives when the pregnancy tests are positive, and to look disappointed if they are negative?

His denial is ridiculous, not credible, shameful, and does nothing to prevent similar pacts in the future.

Why should he extend energy and effort to solve a problem he could more easily deny? Fool.