MA - Teen Pregnancy Pact

Here's one heck of a story for us to comment on. What are these girls thinking?




http://wbztv.com/local/gloucester.high.school.2.751873.html

That is completely sick. What is wrong with this world???????? Teenagers should not be having babies. All I can do is shake my head...

AH! I was just about to post this. Crazy, isn't it? I thought WS would have fun with this one.

Here's a Time.com link: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html

The school should buy some of those "dolls" that need to be fed, changed held ect. like this http://www.solutions-site.org/kids/stories/KScat3_sol72.htm

I tell you what girls that do this just dont realize how dang hard it really is. I got prengnant when I was 16 and had my son at 17 and let me tell you it was very hard. They dont realize that they have to give up all those kid things to be a mother. The sad thing is some of them will realize its too hard and wont be worth a crap as a parent. I think I am going to start talking to my children early and get my girls on birth control when they start their period so that maybe I can prevent this. And I agree with Moe those babies sure do help you understand how hard having an infant is.

That is just something else! These girls just don't realize how much work babies are.

I dont get this either, At that age the last thing I wanted in my life was a baby.

Amanda- My mom did that to make sure. I didnt have sex till years later but my sister did within a short time so it was a good thing to keep her from an unwanted pregnancy. I would buy condoms too and just give them some to help protect against diseases and hiv in the hopes they would use them in conjunction with it. Most people I tell this to cant imagine doing that but I dont want my daughter having a baby before she is ready or having to deal with a disease that may take her life.

What a sad story. I can see how it can happen tho, these kids have no real concept of what having a baby really needs. Education has to start at a young age, a friend of mines daughter had 1 of those pretend babies for about a week and she was so happy to get rid of it!!

VB

Moe said:

The school should buy some of those "dolls" that need to be fed, changed held ect. like this http://www.solutions-site.org/kids/stories/KScat3_sol72.htm

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Or go visit my best friend who has a two-week-old baby. She also has an infected c-section incision, a bladder infection, the baby sleeps during the day but not at night, she screams constantly, she's gassy, my bf is completely exhausted from lack of sleep and is getting depressed.... yeah, babies are fun.

My son heard some girls at their high school say real babies are easier than the dolls. He was floored...still can't believe it. He has seen how hard things have been with my youngest. In fact, my oldest may never have children!:crazy:

Shamrock said:

Or go visit my best friend who has a two-week-old baby. She also has an infected c-section incision, a bladder infection, the baby sleeps during the day but not at night, she screams constantly, she's gassy, my bf is completely exhausted from lack of sleep and is getting depressed.... yeah, babies are fun.

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That sounds like my experience, Shamrock. Please let your BF know that it gets better.

The girls who made this pact have, I believe, an immature desire to be loved and needed unconditionally. It is very sad. There is a hole in their lives and they think a baby will fill it.

Our local middle and high school mandatory health classes include a module on infant and toddler care. One part of the program requires each student to take a fake baby home for at least a weekend. The baby weighs as much as a three to six month old and is programmed to cry randomly every 10-25 minutes during the day and every 30-45 minutes during the night. The student has a set of plastic keys which must be worn attached to the students wrist. The wrist band has one of those roll-y things that allows you to pull out the keys when they're needed. The keys are marked "formula, diaper change, comfort, illness, boredom, severe pain". The student has to insert a key in the baby's back to make the crying stop and must keep trying until he or she hits the right key. The baby has a tamper alarm and if it goes off (because someone tried to take out the batteries or gets rough with the baby) the student flunks the exercise. They have to take home a stroller, a diaper bag full of fake supplies, and a baby harness. The baby must stay with the student the entire weekend and at least one of the equipment pieces (diaper bag, stroller, harness) must be with the student for at least 45 minutes of every waking hour. The parent initials a flow sheet that verifies that info. The student must also write an essay about the experience and the parent fills out a survey. Any one who doesn't seem fazed by the exercise is required to do an additional weekend. A friend of mine is a high school guidance counseler in our district and she told me that in the six years that they've done the program, no boy has ever had to do the second weekend and only a tiny handful of girls have had to do so.

My son was close to traumatized by his stint with the baby. He speaks frankly about not ever wanting to be a father! I hope he will change his mind at the appropriate time, of course, but I think the program really works.

AmandaBrown23 said:

I tell you what girls that do this just dont realize how dang hard it really is. I got prengnant when I was 16 and had my son at 17 and let me tell you it was very hard. They dont realize that they have to give up all those kid things to be a mother. The sad thing is some of them will realize its too hard and wont be worth a crap as a parent. I think I am going to start talking to my children early and get my girls on birth control when they start their period so that maybe I can prevent this. And I agree with Moe those babies sure do help you understand how hard having an infant is.

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I had my friends daughter and daughter's newborn living with us for about 8 months. I have 3 young daughters...let's just say they learned via Savannah how hard it is to try and go to school, have a life and take care of a baby when the baby daddy doesn't step up. I think that was the best form of BC that I could have ever given my girls. Seriosuly though, they know that Savannah had the opportunity to be on BC and was stupid by not taking me up on the offer to get her on the pill, and the result of that poor choice. My girls know that they can come to me with anything and everything and we will tackle it together, BC is no differrent.

I love my kids, and I am so happy as a mom, but I don't think I could have managed it at the ages these kids are talking about. At least, I couldn't have been the mom I was able to be later.

I had my oldest when I was 25, after 3 years of trying, and 6 cycles of infertility treatments, and there were STILL days that I wondered what the heck I'd been thinking! Babies are HARD. They're wonderful, but you can't go into motherhood expecting to get something from the baby. You are a 24/7 physical slave to them for what seems like forever (time is funny when you're not sleeping), and then you never, ever fully relax again.

What is so wrong with kids these days that they're trying stuff like this to find fulfillment?

O.M.G
that's all I have right now.

These girls deliberately set out to become pregnant which to me screams of insecurity.
Someone needs to be looking into their home lives.
I promise these girls are not from well parented stable homes.

They want babies to feel grown up and secure (not that that is what happens) but in the mind of such young immature girls they think that.

Seventeen girls make a pact to get pregnant?
Not a pact to go to the prom or to graduate but to have babies.
Hopefully Gloucester has a well staffed Social Services dept because it's going to need it.
I'm guessing that the township of Gloucester will have to pay for the pregnancies. :waitasec:

Amraann said:

These girls deliberately set out to become pregnant which to me screams of insecurity.
Someone needs to be looking into their home lives.
I promise these girls are not from well parented stable homes.

They want babies to feel grown up and secure (not that that is what happens) but in the mind of such young immature girls they think that.

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Amraann said:

These girls deliberately set out to become pregnant which to me screams of insecurity.
Someone needs to be looking into their home lives.
I promise these girls are not from well parented stable homes.

They want babies to feel grown up and secure (not that that is what happens) but in the mind of such young immature girls they think that.

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I agree, feeling grown up and secure is NOT what happens! I love my child more than anything in the world, but it's tough being a mom! And I have a husband who is a wonderful father. I was also 25 when I had my child. I definately did not feel secure! If anything, I went through feeling like I wasn't a good enough mother, I would screw up my kid, and like a failure. And I didn't even have PPD! It's the hardest job I've ever had in my life.

I have often wished high school (and maybe younger!) students were able to spend 1 or 2 weeks at home with a mom and her newborn. He or she would have to mimic or help with everything the parent does (stay up/rock/feed/change/not sleep/not shower lol ). THEN they would understand this is not some romantic notion.

It makes me so sad that these girls feel this way though.