SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Teens at an MA high school make pregnancy pact

Posted: Jun 20 2008 08:29 am

This is the dumbest thing I've read in quite awhile:

Kathleen Kingsbury wrote:

As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies—more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno and Knocked Up for glamorizing young unwed mothers. But principal Joseph Sullivan knows at least part of the reason there's been such a spike in teen pregnancies in this Massachusetts fishing town. School officials started looking into the matter as early as October after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, "some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Sullivan says. All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. "We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," the principal says, shaking his head.

The question of what to do next has divided this fiercely Catholic enclave. Even with national data showing a 3% rise in teen pregnancies in 2006—the first increase in 15 years—Gloucester isn't sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control. In any case, many residents worry that the problem goes much deeper. The past decade has been difficult for this mostly white, mostly blue-collar city (pop. 30,000). In Gloucester, perched on scenic Cape Ann, the economy has always depended on a strong fishing industry. But in recent years, such jobs have all but disappeared overseas, and with them much of the community's wherewithal. "Families are broken," says school superintendent Christopher Farmer. "Many of our young people are growing up directionless."

The girls who made the pregnancy pact—some of whom, according to Sullivan, reacted to the news that they were expecting with high fives and plans for baby showers—declined to be interviewed. So did their parents. But Amanda Ireland, who graduated from Gloucester High on June 8, thinks she knows why these girls wanted to get pregnant. Ireland, 18, gave birth her freshman year and says some of her now pregnant schoolmates regularly approached her in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby. "They're so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally," Ireland says. "I try to explain it's hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m."

The high school has done perhaps too good a job of embracing young mothers. Sex-ed classes end freshman year at Gloucester, where teen parents are encouraged to take their children to a free on-site day-care center. Strollers mingle seamlessly in school hallways among cheerleaders and junior ROTC. "We're proud to help the mothers stay in school," says Sue Todd, CEO of Pathways for Children, which runs the day-care center.

But by May, after nurse practitioner Kim Daly had administered some 150 pregnancy tests at Gloucester High's student clinic, she and the clinic's medical director, Dr. Brian Orr, a local pediatrician, began to advocate prescribing contraceptives regardless of parental consent, a practice at about 15 public high schools in Massachusetts. Currently Gloucester teens must travel about 20 miles (30 km) to reach the nearest women's health clinic; younger girls have to get a ride or take the train and walk. But the notion of a school handing out birth control pills has met with hostility. Says Mayor Carolyn Kirk: "Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children." The pair resigned in protest on May 30.

Gloucester's elected school committee plans to vote later this summer on whether to provide contraceptives. But that won't do much to solve the issue of teens wanting to get pregnant. Says rising junior Kacia Lowe, who is a classmate of the pactmakers': "No one's offered them a better option." And better options may be a tall order in a city so uncertain of its future.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html?cnn=yes

Joined: Jul 16 2006 Location: 22 Acacia Avenue Posts: 324

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Added & Upated:
http://history.sydlexia.com/index.php?title=Fucking_State_of:_Massachusetts#Idiots

Posted: Jun 20 2008 09:47 am

One of the father's is a 24 year old homeless guy? WHAT!?

Posted: Jun 20 2008 11:07 am

Laminated Sky wrote:

One of the father's is a 24 year old homeless guy? WHAT!?

I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but laugh at that, holy fuck.

Those children don't need guidance, they need a bullet in the head, how can you be so fucking stupid? especialy the ones fucking the homeless guy.

The parents seem equally stupid not letting the shcool clinic give out CONTRAceptives, their kids will fuck either way, at least this way they don't get pregnant or diseased as easily.

Who makes a pregnancy pact at 16? fucking seriously. and I thought girls at my school were fucked up with their dramas, this is ridiculous and what a terrible story to tell your kid.

Junior: "mom why don't I have a daddy?"
Mom" well son, me and my friends made a pact in highschool to get pregnant and raise our babies together, so we did, and a couple of us were impregnanted by the same homeless man, want to meet your half-brother/sisters?"

Posted: Jun 20 2008 11:22 am

Avian wrote:

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

That would be awesome because it would totally not be hypocritical of our country to be a democracy and do this., I mean intelligence is the only redeeming value in human beings anyway. right?

Posted: Jun 20 2008 11:27 am

like GP has said time and time again, 'fucking state of massachusetts'

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

username wrote:

like GP has said time and time again, 'fucking state of massachusetts'

In the words of The Offspring's not so good new album

Track #9 - Stuff is Messed Up - "Shit is Fucked Up"

I think they wrote it after visiting Mass.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 12:13 pm

Wow, kids are fucked up these days. I thought people in my school were crazy as hell when they snorted lines behind their textbooks in class, but we never had a pregnancy pact. I don't even think there was a single girl who got pregnant while I was in high school and we certainly didn't have a school clinic, we had a fat ugly nurse who would give you a band-aid for pretty much any injury.

Joined: Jul 16 2006 Location: 22 Acacia Avenue Posts: 324

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

That would be awesome because it would totally not be hypocritical of our country to be a democracy and do this., I mean intelligence is the only redeeming value in human beings anyway. right?

Stupid people reproducing is perhaps the most serious crisis our country (as well as the rest of the world) is facing. My proposal was meant to be a joke, although if it were put into action it would probably solve a lot of problems.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 12:38 pm

Avian wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

That would be awesome because it would totally not be hypocritical of our country to be a democracy and do this., I mean intelligence is the only redeeming value in human beings anyway. right?

Stupid people reproducing is perhaps the most serious crisis our country (as well as the rest of the world) is facing. My proposal was meant to be a joke, although if it were put into action it would probably solve a lot of problems.

He makes a lot of sense to me, speaking as a smart person.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 12:50 pm

Syd, did you give Kris a warning beating after reading this? My 16-year-old sister's getting one.

I had like 5 pregnant girls in my grad class. One of them popped out a kid the morning after prom. It's like 'whoo, we got our whole lives ahead of us, ah, no...now my life is over'

Posted: Jun 20 2008 12:52 pm

Avian wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

That would be awesome because it would totally not be hypocritical of our country to be a democracy and do this., I mean intelligence is the only redeeming value in human beings anyway. right?

Stupid people reproducing is perhaps the most serious crisis our country (as well as the rest of the world) is facing. My proposal was meant to be a joke, although if it were put into action it would probably solve a lot of problems.

I know you were joking. However, I doubt it would solve a thing. It would awesome trying to get all the so called "intellegent" people to work low skill, high labor jobs at the low rates that keep down costs of goods. It would also be cool that artists and musicians who aren't "book smart" wont get the chance to be born. All sorts of compassionate people, who maybe aren't the brightest, but dedicate their lives to chairity work... gone. Great athletes, that provide entertainment. Not to mention how fascist the idea is, and how placing such a high value on "IQ" type intelligence undermines all the other wonderful qualities of the human race.
Yes, we need to place a high value on education, but judging whether or not somebody gets their god given right to childbirth? I'm glad you were joking.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 12:58 pm

IQ doesn't mean all that much anymore, the igher an IQ you have means you understand the things of this generation, the technologies and all that shit( some experts have said this lately) and it's all about how you relate to your culture, the example given was that Abe Lincoln was a very smart man, but if he took an IQ test in our era he'd get a score that someone was mentally retarted would get.

My Youtube Channel · Posted: Jun 20 2008 12:58 pm

Oh god... are we heading towards idiocracy?

Joined: Jul 16 2006 Location: 22 Acacia Avenue Posts: 324

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

That would be awesome because it would totally not be hypocritical of our country to be a democracy and do this., I mean intelligence is the only redeeming value in human beings anyway. right?

Stupid people reproducing is perhaps the most serious crisis our country (as well as the rest of the world) is facing. My proposal was meant to be a joke, although if it were put into action it would probably solve a lot of problems.

I know you were joking. However, I doubt it would solve a thing. It would awesome trying to get all the so called "intellegent" people to work low skill, high labor jobs at the low rates that keep down costs of goods. It would also be cool that artists and musicians who aren't "book smart" wont get the chance to be born. All sorts of compassionate people, who maybe aren't the brightest, but dedicate their lives to chairity work... gone. Great athletes, that provide entertainment. Not to mention how fascist the idea is, and how placing such a high value on "IQ" type intelligence undermines all the other wonderful qualities of the human race.
Yes, we need to place a high value on education, but judging whether or not somebody gets their god given right to childbirth? I'm glad you were joking.

As I said, the post was made in jest. But the theme still rings true.....there are far too many unprepared people having children, and it's causing a huge drain on society. Of course there's no way to regulate sex and procreation without it being facist, but it's still unbelievable how many people fall into this situation when it's SO EASY to avoid.

I guarantee that these girls in question will end up in 1 of 2 ways:

#1: Living off their parents indefinitely

#2: Living off the government indefinitely

And in all likihood their children will head down a similar path, as they (obviously) will not have strong parental role models.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:02 pm

IQ has nothing to do with being smart it has to do with your ability to figure things out without prier knowledge to them it basically means are you able to understand certain situations; adapt, and solve.

But if people were to take some sort of test on their intelligents, an IQ test could tell you who'd be able to raise a kid, and IQ isn't hereditary.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:03 pm

are IQ tests still biased?

and you guys are selling these girls short. who is to say they are stupid? granted, the choice they made was stupid, but in the end it might work out for the best. maybe they are total fucktards, but once they realize what life is all about, they wll bear down and make a great life for themselves.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:08 pm

Avian wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

Avian wrote:

Where were these girls when I was in highschool?

On a serious note, the government really needs to look into mandatory sterlization for people with low IQ's. Maybe just "fix" everyone at birth, and you're only allowed to have the reversal procedure by the age of 25, and IF you pass an intelligence test.

That would be awesome because it would totally not be hypocritical of our country to be a democracy and do this., I mean intelligence is the only redeeming value in human beings anyway. right?

Stupid people reproducing is perhaps the most serious crisis our country (as well as the rest of the world) is facing. My proposal was meant to be a joke, although if it were put into action it would probably solve a lot of problems.

I know you were joking. However, I doubt it would solve a thing. It would awesome trying to get all the so called "intellegent" people to work low skill, high labor jobs at the low rates that keep down costs of goods. It would also be cool that artists and musicians who aren't "book smart" wont get the chance to be born. All sorts of compassionate people, who maybe aren't the brightest, but dedicate their lives to chairity work... gone. Great athletes, that provide entertainment. Not to mention how fascist the idea is, and how placing such a high value on "IQ" type intelligence undermines all the other wonderful qualities of the human race.
Yes, we need to place a high value on education, but judging whether or not somebody gets their god given right to childbirth? I'm glad you were joking.

As I said, the post was made in jest. But the theme still rings true.....there are far too many unprepared people having children, and it's causing a huge drain on society. Of course there's no way to regulate sex and procreation without it being facist, but it's still unbelievable how many people fall into this situation when it's SO EASY to avoid.

I guarantee that these girls in question will end up in 1 of 2 ways:

#1: Living off their parents indefinitely

#2: Living off the government indefinitely

And in all likihood their children will head down a similar path, as they (obviously) will not have strong parental role models.

I see what your saying. I guess my point would be nothing can change that. I have a couple friends who are highly intellegent, yet one of them sells dope, collects food stamps and has baby on the way. One of the smartest guys I know, but there really isn't anything that can predict whether a person is going to make bad life decisions.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:09 pm

Burt Reynolds wrote:

I see what your saying. I guess my point would be nothing can change that. I have a couple friends who are highly intellegent, yet one of them sells dope, collects food stamps and has baby on the way. One of the smartest guys I know, but there really isn't anything that can predict whether a person is going to make bad life decisions.

and we all dont have the same standards for what a good or bad life entails. so you cant place your own values upon someone you dont know.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:19 pm

Burt Reynolds wrote:

I have a couple friends who are highly intellegent, yet one of them sells dope, collects food stamps and has baby on the way. One of the smartest guys I know, but there really isn't anything that can predict whether a person is going to make bad life decisions.

All the intellegent people I know sell drugs, because they know it's quick, easy, and a profitable way to make money.

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:31 pm

username wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

I see what your saying. I guess my point would be nothing can change that. I have a couple friends who are highly intellegent, yet one of them sells dope, collects food stamps and has baby on the way. One of the smartest guys I know, but there really isn't anything that can predict whether a person is going to make bad life decisions.

and we all dont have the same standards for what a good or bad life entails. so you cant place your own values upon someone you dont know.

exactly. Your better at making your point with less words. Very Happy

Posted: Jun 20 2008 01:51 pm

Burt Reynolds wrote:

username wrote:

Burt Reynolds wrote:

I see what your saying. I guess my point would be nothing can change that. I have a couple friends who are highly intellegent, yet one of them sells dope, collects food stamps and has baby on the way. One of the smartest guys I know, but there really isn't anything that can predict whether a person is going to make bad life decisions.

and we all dont have the same standards for what a good or bad life entails. so you cant place your own values upon someone you dont know.

exactly. Your better at making your point with less words. Very Happy

lol thanks.

working at call centers has made me efficient in terms of word usage

Posted: Jun 20 2008 02:03 pm

That is the dumbest thing I've read all day. Some people just shouldn't reproduce, and this is a clear answer. Reality's gonna slap these girls in the face like a cold, hard tuna and they'll realize how fucked they are. I don't really see any of these girls becoming good parents. Poor babies, though. Its not like they had any choice about their stupid ass parents...

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

enshinkarateman wrote:

Poor babies, though. Its not like they had any choice about their stupid ass parents...

Well.. these babies are a new type of deprived.

They are perfect candidates for Brad and Angelina to want to adopt.