Principal Insists Pregnancy Pact Was Real

Joseph Sullivan Stands By Earlier Statements That Girls Intentionally Got Pregnant

(AP)  The principal of a Massachusetts high school who said a group of students intentionally got pregnant stood by his comments Thursday, saying his information "was and is accurate."

In his first public statement since the controversy erupted earlier this month, Gloucester High School principal Joseph Sullivan said he does not specifically remember using the word "pact" but does not dispute it.

He said a reporter from Time magazine asked him whether access to birth control through the school's health center would have prevented the spike in pregnancies - 17 last year, compared with the typical four.

"I told her no, because my sources had informed me that a significant number of the pregnancies, especially among the younger students, were the result of deliberate and intentional behavior," Sullivan said.

The principal said his only direct source of information about the intentional pregnancies was the former nurse practitioner at the health center. He said he also heard "verbal staff reports and student/staff chatter."

"I believe everything I told (Time) was and is accurate," he said.

In May, the two top officials at the school's health center resigned in a dispute over distribution of contraceptives. Dr. Brian Orr, medical director, and chief nurse practitioner Kim Daly supported confidentially giving contraceptives to students, but the hospital that funds the school clinic objected.

Daly did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.

Sullivan said he had been asked by school officials in the fishing community 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Boston not to speak publicly. But he said he issued the three-page statement Thursday "to put to rest the notion that I am 'foggy in my memory' or that when pressed, 'my memory failed."'

He was referring to comments by Mayor Carolyn Kirk, who has said that there is no evidence of such a pact and that Sullivan could not remember the source of his information. Sullivan said he has had no direct conversation with the mayor since the first Time story June 11.

Kirk declined Thursday to address Sullivan's statement, but she defended her own response to the controversy.

"Teenagers in Gloucester are being hunted down by the national and even international media," she said. "And if I had to do it again, I would still stand up and protect the privacy of the families and defend the city against the sensationalized and unsubstantiated reports."

The school superintendent, Christopher Farmer, did not immediately respond to an e-mail or a phone message left at his office.

Sullivan's statement was first reported in the online version of his hometown newspaper, the Gloucester Daily Times, and the principal's attorney confirmed its accuracy to The Associated Press.

Sullivan called on the "affected children" to be left alone "to deal with the consequences of their actions."

"Intense media attention needs to come to a stop, as it distorts the reality of the situation by focusing attention on the sources of information about the problem of 'children having children' instead of seeking solutions to the problem itself," he said.

[barbaram99]

Gaye, Dear. have ye been to America? Yer nation must be prettier. I am from Maine now in Seattle. I have shared my life in foster care in America, I was raised with the saying* Children should be seen and not heard* by fully sighted adults growing up and so I was too scared to talk out of fear. America..Ye can''t can''t so much as adm. a paw to the bottom. They holler Child abuse. So they run wild ,why cos they can and yer can''t do a thing about it. We have gang writing every where. The most in lock up, the nation is falling apart.

[acolton1]

All these little HUSSIES who got knocked up are pathetic. It shows that their Parents have taught them NOTHING and its KIDS HAVING KIDS. I hope these girls end up Flippin Burgers at Burger King, McDonalds or Wendys or What-a-Burger or Sonic.

Its called White Trash all the way and their parents are going to raise their Grand Kids while these Hussies grow up. TOTALLY PATHETIC.

[kattyclayz]

They want to stop stupid girls from wanting babies and having ***, take em in a room with their parents and beat their bottoms until they can''t sit down. Same with these guys that want to do the same. It''s quite apparent that the "time-out" generation are just disrespectful ingrates. Or how about these parents find someone who wants to have a break from their baby for about a week or two and make their daughter take care of the child day and night and see how much they want to be a mother then.

[paganmama]

Sullivan called on the "affected children" to be left alone "to deal with the consequences of their actions."

I called being hounded by the media and having the world find out that they don''t have as much sense as a bunch of rocks the perfect consequences of their actions.

[gaye5]

shameonbush, I totally agree with you...
Why are the men who are the fathers of these babies to these girls not being jailed for carnal knowledge, and I don''t care if these children encouraged these men or not, they are still children and it is still carnal knowledge, or has America done away with yet another moral law just as it seems you have with allowing polygamy...

[gaye5]

The artical said..."Teenagers in Gloucester are being hunted down by the national and even international media,"

Well that is one way of making them into heros for others to follow.. any lass who wants attention especially the low intellectual girls will follow this now...

[sandykent32]

My sister posted the pictures from the school year book at www.theoandavirus.com

[tootall10142]

DONT BUY CIGNA INS.

[smurfcrusher]

hmm, maybe it doesn''t. Ok, try feline.

[smurfcrusher]

hahahaha, Dragon wagon. It''s the evils of censorship at work.

*** works. Meow!

[shameonbush]

Even if these teenagers made a pact with each other, the "pact" is only a small portion of why these teenagers are GIVING BIRTH. In my opinion, one of the reasons for teenagers having more babies is not that there is less pregnancy but that there is less abortions. Most teenagers today are pro-life. They are pro-life because they know that they were a choice and it''s scary to imagine. Also, let''s consider the fact that most of the children today come from homes where both parents work. The economy makes it a neccesary for both parents to work however, did anyone bother to consider how this would effect our children? These teens need family closeness and love, they need this more than Playstations or Wiis. Get rid of cable for a while and get off your cells and your computers, it''s time to pay attention to your children.

[cyberus-2009]

Someone said it best in the other article blog.

Just because these girls didn''t type up a pact, discuss it with parents and counselors, then have it notarized at city hall doesn''t mean it didn''t happen

[govwatch-2009]

Here we go again, politicians pointing fingers without a clue how they are going to solve it. Blind and stupid we are to elect these people and then to pay them breath and generate more CO2. Where is Al Gore when we need him?

[mechanikat]

not the end of the world

[smurfcrusher]

Strike my last comment. The mayor asked they don''t speak to the media, then she cooked up the fuzzy-memory story.

How unfortunate for her that ploy failed. She''s going to have to face reality now, which takes much more effort than issuing a denial.

Quite the public servant... instead of digging for the truth and opening up dialogue, she tried to silence the people who were likely to have valuable insight into the pact.

[smurfcrusher]

Did his memory get "un-fuzzed" ?? Or is he just afraid of lawsuits?

I agree there was clearly a pact.

[filmguy107]

Undoubtedly this principal is correct. The mayor''s contention that there was no pact is just an example of wishful "head-in-the-sand" thinking. It''s really sad when people that are in positions of authority (such as the uninformed mayor) make such statements based only on the desire to say that nothing is wrong. Since that is her (the mayor''s) position, how can she address the underlying issues of which the pregnancies are a symptom? Clearly she can''t...and won''t!