17 Girls Pregnant from Gloucester High School

Gloucester, Massachusetts - In the same week that Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a healthy baby daughter in Mississippi, Time Magazine brought attention to another teen pregnancy situation in the seaside town of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Seventeen girls from Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Pregnancy Pact

The principal of Gloucester High School, Joseph Sullivan told Time Magazine that the school official discovered that "more than half" of the pregnant teen girls had "made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together." (Time Magazine)

Of the 17 pregnant girls at Gloucester High School, the are all 16 or younger.

The Gloucester High School Day Care Center

The Gloucester High School has an on-site day care center. The on-site day care center is a double-edged sword for teaching teens about teen pregnancy. While the on-site day care center makes it easier for the teen girls to stay in school and complete their education, it may also encourage the teens to become pregnant.

Having an on-site day care center in the Gloucester High School may make it too easy for the teen girls to decide to become pregnant, or be careless. The on-site daycare center also sets up unrealistic expectations for the teen girls after graduation. Very few employers have on-site day care. Even fewer employers are amenable to the demanding schedules of young mothers or single parents with active toddlers and preschoolers.

Last year only four students were enrolled to use the Gloucester High School day care center, according to the Gloucester Times.

Reactive vs. Preventive

While the Gloucester High School Day Care Center won't be going anywhere soon. the school committee is planning to vote on a more preventive approach to teen pregnancy. Later this summer they will be voting on the idea of providing contraceptives in the schools.

For teens who are trying to become pregnant, the schools may need to go even further and offer more education about teen pregnancy and the real consequences of taking on adult responsibilities at such a young age.

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Gloucester, Massachusetts is a town of working class families which thrives on dwindling fishing and tourism. Catholicism has a strong base in the town of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The town of Gloucester, Massachusetts is populated with seafood restaurants, maritime history, historic houses and quaint beaches.

The Jamie Lynn Spears Connection

Did the recent pregnancy of teen queen Jamie Lynn Spears feed into the teen girls' desire to become pregnant? Jamie Lynn Spears, who gave birth to a baby girl on June 20, 2008, is a popular TV star with teen girls and tween girls, who have grown up alongside Jamie Lynn Spears.

Teen Pregnancy in Pop Culture

Is teen pregnancy a result of normal teen behavior, or is it being glamorized by pop culture. Media analysts are quick to attribute teen pregnancy to popular movies like Juno, when the movie does not encourage teen pregnancy, it simply brings the reality to light.

One TV network is hoping to reverse the teen pregnancy trend by taking a popular home economics assignment to the small screen. In The Baby Borrowers on NBC, teens who think they are ready to be parents are given the chance to borrow babies and see what life with a baby is like.

The teens will also take care of toddler, preschoolers, and older children, on different days.

Sources

Gloucester Time, http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_171221140.html
NBC, http://www.nbc.com
"Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High School," Time Magazine