90 Pregnant Teens, ONE High School!

[FlyingTrue]

At one high school in Memphis, 90 of its students are pregnant. That's 11 percent of the entire student body!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...ser_high_.html

[Blackwing]

Well done sex ed teachers.

[emma01]

Lol thats actually slightly funny! A lot of kids going to be off school for a bit this year :P

[Brandon]

I think this constitutes a "get pregnant! All the cool kids are doing it!"

[Pelios]

I love how they blame "Teen Mom"
When are people going to stop blaming TV and start taking responsibility for their children?

[Doodle.]

LOL @ them blaming Teen Mom. I wish a lot of parents would start PARENTING.

Ugh

[fresco]

Wow. Uh...impressive to say the least.

[Kitty.]

Hahaha wow. That must be the new trend.

[.Brittany.]

Wow, I thought my school was bad xD

[thebigmole]

I think it's perfectly acceptable that they are placing some of the blame on that god awful TV show. I mean yes people need to parent their kids, but they can't just cut them off from society to do so. We can't ignore the fact that society does play a role in kids lives, and that horrible excuse for a TV show did drive many girls to purposely get pregnant so they could be on it. You can only parent your child so much before you just have to put them in a bubble. And bubbles don't work either. We put all the blame on the parents, but it can't go there. We have to face facts that parents aren't the only influence on children anymore. And the fact that anyone thought that a TV show glorifing teen pregnancies was a smart idea, it makes you worry about what's going to come next.

[dr2005]

Aside from the irrationality of blaming TV for the problem (always reminds me of the old question "If it told you to jump off a cliff would you do it?"), there is perhaps a valid point being made about the increasingly sexualised society we live in. Indeed, I recall reading something where they were practically bragging about the fact that we lived in a more sexualised society (and no, it wasn't Playboy ) in terms of the topic of sexual liberation. As life so often demonstrates, however, no action is without consequence and if you have a more sexualised society there is room for this to happen. (Note there is a difference between "sexualised society" and "talking about sex" - the Netherlands has a strong reputation for the latter but also has a strong ethos on family which prevents the former being so strong) Food for thought perhaps.

Other than that and unfortunate statistics for that school, teenage pregnancy is not new and it does surprise me that people seem so shocked when it happens considering the nature of the world we live in. And yes, that show really is awful...

[emma01]

Blaming a TV programme is a real joke, you know that! You can't blame 90 teens getting pregnant all because they watched one TV programme! I watch these programmes, and if anything they more put me OFF getting pregnant. It all depends on the person, sure the TV programme may make them want pregnancy more, but if they really didn't want to get pregnant, they wouldn't. They obviously did want kids, and thats just how they are.

[thebigmole]

Originally Posted by emma01

Blaming a TV programme is a real joke, you know that! You can't blame 90 teens getting pregnant all because they watched one TV programme! I watch these programmes, and if anything they more put me OFF getting pregnant. It all depends on the person, sure the TV programme may make them want pregnancy more, but if they really didn't want to get pregnant, they wouldn't. They obviously did want kids, and thats just how they are.

Well yes obviously a lot of these girls got pregnant on purpose. But why can't we blame a TV show for putting that idea in their heads. They see these girls getting their own freaking TV show! That's all it's about, I get pregnant young I get to be on TV isn't that cool. That's their mentality. And they could have the best parents ever, that taught them all about precaution, and how not to get pregnant young, and stuff like that. But when you turn on the TV and see shows dedicated to these girls, go check out of the grocery store and see them on the covers of magazines, that's all they want. They don't think about anything else but that they'll get famous if they get pregnant.

[Tara.]

That's disturbing.

Makes me sad about what kind of world we're living in now.

[Jocelyn.]

Frayser High School is a title one school, where 95 percent of students are eligible for free lunches and more than 100 students drop out between 11th and 12th grade, according to Public School Review.com.

I think this is the most devastating part of this story. These children will probably grow up in the same neighborhoods and face the same struggles as their teen parents (or parent really, because we know how many of those dads will stick around...).

Not to mention add more mouths to feed via taxpayers pockets (welfare, foods stamps...).

[Guile]

Originally Posted by ball&chain

Not to mention add more mouths to feed via taxpayers pockets (welfare, foods stamps...).

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This is why I hate paying my taxes......

[MegaMadness]

Yep the sex ed teachers did a great job there But seriously the parents can't blame anyone or anything but their own son/daughter.

[thebigmole]

Originally Posted by MegaMadness

Yep the sex ed teachers did a great job there But seriously the parents can't blame anyone or anything but their own son/daughter.

I'm sorry but that's such BS. I mean what did 90 teenage girls just wake up one day and decide to get pregnant, or have unprotected sex? Did they just randomly, and completely on their own, decide today's a good day to get knocked up? You want to know who's to blame for this, everyone. The kids for being stupid, the parents for either not watching their kids enough or just not caring, the schools for not teaching about protection, the media for glamorizing teen pregnancies, and most of all everyone else for believing that the answer to why this happened is as simple as blaming one group. 90 girls are pregnant, they might all be in the same place, but I guarantee that every one of them is pregnant for a different reason, and that blame can be placed on every group.

[forfrosne]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the state of modern society today.

But don't worry about them! They'll be living off taxpayers, so they should be safe from harm!

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

Well yes obviously a lot of these girls got pregnant on purpose. But why can't we blame a TV show for putting that idea in their heads. They see these girls getting their own freaking TV show! That's all it's about, I get pregnant young I get to be on TV isn't that cool. That's their mentality. And they could have the best parents ever, that taught them all about precaution, and how not to get pregnant young, and stuff like that. But when you turn on the TV and see shows dedicated to these girls, go check out of the grocery store and see them on the covers of magazines, that's all they want. They don't think about anything else but that they'll get famous if they get pregnant.

I highly doubt that girls watch that show and think that.

Do people go and get fat so they can be on tv? Do people turn into drug addicts so they can be on tv? Do people turn into pedophiles so they can be on tv? I really don't think so.

[Jocelyn.]

Originally Posted by Matthew

But don't worry about them! They'll be living off taxpayers, so they should be safe from harm!

What is actually worse than that is the fact that these children, as stated in my PP, will most likely grow to lead the same lives as their parents. It will be a vicious circle of poverty, lack of education, teens becoming parents, and my guess that also will include a mix of some mental/physical abuse, gang violence and drug abuse.

Also, as already stated, the amount of families on welfare and food stamps will continue to rise. Although, these families will still continue to struggle on very little income with little hope of ever doing better for themselves.

So I wouldn't quite say "don't worry about them" and "safe from harm."

Of course I know that all teen pregnancies don't occur in poverty ridden areas, and that all teen parents won't be confined to ending up on government assistance as well as ending up in other scenarios I've stated. However, the statistics don't lie... especially for the teens at the type of school mentioned in the OP.

[forfrosne]

Stories like this make me sick if I'm honest.

These girls should NOT receive ANY money from the government. Leave them to fend for themselves I say.

I'd also like to see them forcibly sterilized.

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

That school is going to have a massive drop-out rate followed by an even larger entrance-rate.

I agree with some of what has been said throughout the thread, the students are to blame because they had sex, presumably with someone around their age and consenting. I cant help though but also direct some blame at the school for not doing a good enough sex ed program. I've been at schools were a few girls were pregnant but the majority weren't, not the other way around. I also then wonder where the parents fit into all this because they should support and help their children, including with pregnancies. It's true they cant be with their kids at school for every minute they're there but somewhere along the lines, I wonder how the parents contributed to some sex ed also. Hopefully the parents will assist in the pregnancies. If it were my child, I'd point them in the direction of the abortion clinic.

Media could play a role in this but whether a particular TV show, whatever the hell Teen Mom is as I've never seen it, I know there are other shows dealing with teen pregnancies as well as movies containing that stuff. I don't know how popular they are but blaming one particular show seems silly because the teens likely watch multiple shows, some of which may also deal with teen pregnancy, teen sex, adult sex, adult pregnancies, hardships, etc... . Plus, there's magazines and websites as well, many of which are dedicated to pregnancies and sex.

And of course the result of all these new mouths to begin feeding is more taxes for people in that area to pay. The only good thing is I'm not in the USA so I won't be paying the taxes for these kids and their future kids. I'm sure Canada has its own mess of this stuff though so I'll be paying for that instead.

Perhaps they could get discounts for abortions if all or most go to the same abortion clinics? Doubt it though.

[thebigmole]

Originally Posted by Myss

I highly doubt that girls watch that show and think that.

Do people go and get fat so they can be on tv? Do people turn into drug addicts so they can be on tv? Do people turn into pedophiles so they can be on tv? I really don't think so.

Your analogies don't fit. Obesity, drug addiction, and pedophilia aren't things that are caused by accidents. They aren't things that are easy. Heck being a pedophile isn't even a choice. Drug addiction, that comes from bad choices, but several bad choices over a long period of time. And obesity comes from bad choices and most likely emotional problems over a long period of time. Teen pregnancy is one bad decision and then bam your pregnant. So I very much believe that there are girls out there that see that show and think that having a baby won't be all that bad, or hard, and hey they might get to be on TV and in magazines because of it.

[thebigmole]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Stories like this make me sick if I'm honest.

These girls should NOT receive ANY money from the government. Leave them to fend for themselves I say.

I'd also like to see them forcibly sterilized.

You are assuming an awful lot. You are assuming that all 90 of these girls purposely went out and got pregnant. You are completely ignoring the possibility of failed contraception, or even rape. I HIGHLY doubt 90 girls all decided that they wanted to get pregnant.

[Jesus Christ.]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

You are assuming an awful lot. You are assuming that all 90 of these girls purposely went out and got pregnant. You are completely ignoring the possibility of failed contraception, or even rape. I HIGHLY doubt 90 girls all decided that they wanted to get pregnant.

Yes, I'm sure that's it, I'm sure that the contraception failed for each of these girls, assuming they all used at least a condom properly it's statistically highly unlikely, you know, like ten times the fail rate condoms actual have... In the end, for the most part, it is the teenagers fault, they went to have sex knowing the consequences.


And just to add the the thread, wow, I thought my school was bad O.o

[forfrosne]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

You are assuming an awful lot. You are assuming that all 90 of these girls purposely went out and got pregnant. You are completely ignoring the possibility of failed contraception, or even rape. I HIGHLY doubt 90 girls all decided that they wanted to get pregnant.

If 90 of these girls got pregnant, I'd find it more likely that it was purposeful than that it was by accident. I don't think I'm being unreasonable. 90 girls is a ridiculously high number, even in modern times.

[thebigmole]

So I'm trying to figure out why my last post was taken the way it was. I've come to the conclusion that the people on this thread LOVE generalizations. I was in NO way saying that ALL 90 girls got pregnant on accident. I'm positive some of them got pregnant on purpose. I don't understand why on this thread it just has to be one answer to everything. All 90 girls must have gotten pregnant on purpose, and only they are to blame, or only their parents are to blame, or only the school system is to blame. 90 freaking girls did NOT all get pregnant for the exact same reasons!

[forfrosne]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

So I'm trying to figure out why my last post was taken the way it was. I've come to the conclusion that the people on this thread LOVE generalizations. I was in NO way saying that ALL 90 girls got pregnant on accident. I'm positive some of them got pregnant on purpose. I don't understand why on this thread it just has to be one answer to everything. All 90 girls must have gotten pregnant on purpose, and only they are to blame, or only their parents are to blame, or only the school system is to blame. 90 freaking girls did NOT all get pregnant for the exact same reasons!

Calm down. You're probably right, not all 90 of them did it for the same reasons. I'd say about 80 did it on purpose, JMO. The higher the number, the more likely something connects them

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

Your analogies don't fit. Obesity, drug addiction, and pedophilia aren't things that are caused by accidents. They aren't things that are easy. Heck being a pedophile isn't even a choice. Drug addiction, that comes from bad choices, but several bad choices over a long period of time. And obesity comes from bad choices and most likely emotional problems over a long period of time. Teen pregnancy is one bad decision and then bam your pregnant. So I very much believe that there are girls out there that see that show and think that having a baby won't be all that bad, or hard, and hey they might get to be on TV and in magazines because of it.

I don't know what kind of teenagers you know, but they sound to me like idiots if that's how they think.

And last time I checked, I'm pretty sure people only have to do meth and heroin a very small number of times to become addicted, therefore making it not a long period of time involving bad choices. Not to mention, teen pregnancy is not necessarily "one bad decision". People can have unprotected sex a multitude of times before becoming pregnant, which in those cases it would be a repeated bad decision derived from bad education, or bad parenting, or mental instability. I highly doubt that a mentally stable teen girl would get pregnant on purpose, and I especially don't think that 90 mentally stable girls in one school would make that decision.

[forfrosne]

Originally Posted by Myss

I don't know what kind of teenagers you know, but they sound to me like idiots if that's how they think.

I agree with you. I just felt like pointing out that you'd be surprised how many stupid teenagers there are. Far fewer than there are intelligent ones IMO.

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

So I'm trying to figure out why my last post was taken the way it was. I've come to the conclusion that the people on this thread LOVE generalizations. I was in NO way saying that ALL 90 girls got pregnant on accident. I'm positive some of them got pregnant on purpose. I don't understand why on this thread it just has to be one answer to everything. All 90 girls must have gotten pregnant on purpose, and only they are to blame, or only their parents are to blame, or only the school system is to blame. 90 freaking girls did NOT all get pregnant for the exact same reasons!

I'm trying to figure out how you went from blaming Teen Mom to this...

[thebigmole]

Originally Posted by Myss

I'm trying to figure out how you went from blaming Teen Mom to this...

I only ever said that Teen Mom was partly to blame. I think writing off that it could be a factor is ridiculous.

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

I only ever said that Teen Mom was partly to blame. I think writing off that it could be a factor is ridiculous.

I'm just curious as to how you KNOW that the show drove some girls to get pregnant intentionally.

[forfrosne]

Originally Posted by Myss

I'm just curious as to how you KNOW that the show drove some girls to get pregnant intentionally.

To be fair, she never did. She just said that she believes it's likely.

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

I think it's perfectly acceptable that they are placing some of the blame on that god awful TV show. I mean yes people need to parent their kids, but they can't just cut them off from society to do so. We can't ignore the fact that society does play a role in kids lives, and that horrible excuse for a TV show did drive many girls to purposely get pregnant so they could be on it. You can only parent your child so much before you just have to put them in a bubble. And bubbles don't work either. We put all the blame on the parents, but it can't go there. We have to face facts that parents aren't the only influence on children anymore. And the fact that anyone thought that a TV show glorifing teen pregnancies was a smart idea, it makes you worry about what's going to come next.

That is clearly stated as if it's a fact. If that's not what was meant, then it was poorly worded.

[forfrosne]

Originally Posted by Myss

That is clearly stated as if it's a fact. If that's not what was meant, then it was poorly worded.

No, forgive me, you're correct, it does clearly say that. Must have missed it while skimming it.

[LostTeen011]

Well I mean hey that's what happens when you live in a society where a lot of people think teenage sex is acceptable as long as they use contraceptives. Uh huh there's nothing wrong with it at all I mean they are helping us repopulate the world. (SARCASM)

[Jesus Christ.]

Originally Posted by LostTeen011

Well I mean hey that's what happens when you live in a society where a lot of people think teenage sex is acceptable as long as they use contraceptives. Uh huh there's nothing wrong with it at all I mean they are helping us repopulate the world. (SARCASM)

Or we could all wait until we could wait until our sperm and eggs are damaged so we can help make the generation, with people with severe problems. Like most things, the sex sells are best when fresh, so from a biological point of view being a teenager is one of the best times to reproduce.

[Heretic]

The worst part is many (if not most) of these girls are pregnant partially because of poor parenting. And guess what? Teenagers generally don't make good parents, either. Here comes the vicious cycle!

Blaming shows like "Teen Mom" does nothing for the parents of these girls except show how inept they are at parenting, by having them place blame for this anywhere except on themselves.