Pregnant Texas Teen Mackenzie Mcollom Benched by Volleyball Coach: Files Discriminations Complaints

Arlington Heights High School, in Fort Worth, Texas is making national news. Senior volleyball starting setter Mackenzie McCollum has been benched from the team. Why? Because Mackenzie is pregnant. Despite doctor permission to play, McCollum's coach volleyball coach Jack Warren has effectually made Mackenzie sit out the season. Originally Coach Warren has ordered McCollum off from the volleyball team after learning that she pregnant, which is reasonable, given the nature of the sport of volleyball. Coach Warren said that until McCollum provided a doctor's release she could not play. Again reasonable.

In the interim while McCollum was off from practice, the coach informed the entire team, behind her back if you will, that Mackenzie was pregnant. And when McCollum was able to provide a doctor's excuse, saying that Mackenzie was in good health and should be able to play out the season in her condition, Coach Warren still greatly reduced Mackenzie's time on court. Limiting Mackenzie's playing time may have been a reasonable decision on Coach Warren's part. As a coach, Warren knows the rigors of volleyball, the potential harm to the fetus and the every present threat of lawsuit that teachers, schools and coaches face for errors of judgment. To override the doctor's permission slip was a judgment call at best and somewhat unfair at worst.

What was unreasonable, unfair and a breach of privacy, was, of course, when Coach Warren took it upon himself to inform the team members without McCollum's consent or knowledge. Teen pregnancy is challenging enough for a young woman to accept and adjust to; pregnancy at any age is for that matter, married or not; having your pregnancy broadcast to your entire team is humiliating and cruel. Hormonally, pregnancy is a very vulnerable time for all women. I'm not sure if I agree with some of McCollum's supporters who say that Coach Jack Warren should be suspended from teaching. I do think he faces moral culpability. There was no reason for Warren to divulge what he knew. As a teacher, I've known private details about students and families. I've always believed that it was duty to preserve privacy with students. The mental and emotional strain on Mackenzie McCollum may be much worse for her and her unborn baby than allowing her to play a sport for which she was qualified and which she enjoyed.

I'll just end with a quote Mackenzie McCollum made on Good Morning, America. This really sums up just how young women respond to unplanned pregnancy and how we as a school can reach out to them and help them. "I felt like this (volleyball) was the one thing that I could count on ... that everything would be OK and everything would work out and then that, too, was taken away, so it made me feel like I was kind of left with nothing to really count on."

It is going to be okay, Mackenzie, because you are going to be okay. Stay strong and know that others believe in you.