I recently read on Time.com that several female students under the age of 16 in Gloucester, MA made a pact to become pregnant together. Seventeen girls have been reported pregnant in the school (four times the number from last year). School officials seem to have no solution to this issue. The fathers of these babies are mostly in the their twenties-one is even homeless.
The school has declined handing out birth control without parental consent, making it that much tougher for a girl to make an informed choice about sex.
It's up for grabs as to what would make teens with promising futures choose a path so fraught with strife...unless their futures aren't so promising. Gloucester is a small fishing community, an industry that is struggling to survive. It's tough to say how much this is impacting the decision making of these girls. Maybe they can't see a better option for themselves than motherhood.
Motherhood; with the promise of unconditional love and all-encompassing attention. Practically all of "young Hollywood" is pregnant. Movies tend glamorize the struggle of young single mom ('Juno' & 'Knocked Up'). But are these girls seeing the other side of the job? Late night feedings, croup, and STILL getting at least a B average in Algebra?
Somewhere, the missing pieces inside these girls are not being recognized. Inside them must be a loss so great, a void that they feel can only be filled by the fantasy of nurturing an infant. We must recognize that these teens are telling us something HUGE with their actions towards beomcing parents-and right now, Gloucester is not listening.
I hope this is a wake up call that moves us towards change-a change that involves listening to what our teens can't say in words and must instead express in actions. Let's hope all of our communities can learn from Gloucester's teens, and we can begin to offer them other choices to feel loved and accomplished than babies of their own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment