Baby pact teenagers in race to become mothers
Saturday June 21 2008
A "pregnancy pact", possibly inspired by Hollywood films such as 'Juno' and 'Knocked Up', is being blamed for a sharp rise in the number of expectant teenagers at a school in the US fishing town of Gloucester.
Seventeen schoolgirls are pregnant going into the summer holidays at the 1,200-pupil Gloucester High School in Massachusetts, 30 miles north of Boston.
"Nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together," Joseph Sullivan, the headmaster, told 'Time' magazine.
One of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless man; some of the other fathers are also in their mid-20s. All of the pregnant girls are under 17 and some are younger than 16, the age of consent in Massachusetts, prompting the mayor to ask about possible criminal charges for under-age sex.
"At the very least these men should be held responsible for financial support, if not put in jail for statutory rape as the mayor has suggested," Greg Verga, the chairman of the Gloucester School Committee, said.
School officials became suspicious when girls began seeking pregnancy tests at the school clinic and seemed more upset when they were not pregnant than when they were. Some girls reacted with high-fives and started planning baby showers when they learned they were expecting.
Contraceptives
After administering about 150 pregnancy tests, the medical director and the nurse at the school clinic recommended prescribing contraceptives to pupils regardless of parental consent. The idea went down badly with families in the predominantly Catholic town, and the two clinic staff resigned in protest.
Mr Sullivan said he suspected that the girls were influenced by Hollywood. News of the "pregnancy pact" broke on the same day that 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, the former star of the teenage show 'Zoey 101' and the younger sister of the pop star Britney Spears, gave birth to a baby girl.
"The common threat is the lack of self-esteem and purpose in life, and a lack of a sense of direction," said Christopher Farmer, Gloucester High School's superintendent.
Alivia Fidler, who got pregnant unexpectedly at the age of 16 while at the school last year, called the pregnancy pact ridiculous.
She told the 'Boston Herald': "They're not going to be friends very long. You have to take care of your baby." (© The Times, London)
- James Bone in New York
