I agree. My biggest problem as a parent is finding daycare and I am 32 not 17. I would imagine they don't even pay for the school daycare because it it there so they "can finish their education". It is too easy for them, and then I bet the parents watch the baby at home too. Parents say they won't, but when they daughter comes home with a baby, they accommodate them. I work in OB, I see proud grandma to a 13, 14, 15 year old mom all the time.

To everyone who is saying the school nurse was "giving drugs behind the parent's back".....Almost teenage girl can go into planned parenthood and get birth control pills prescribed without parental consent- some states have starting age limits, but I was 15 when I went and got mine. They can get an abortion at 16 without parental consent in most states. They can get condoms at ANY age without parental consent.
These school officials were trying to help these girls because obviously, the parents weren't. Perhaps you think it is going behind the parents back to report a child who comes to school bruised and beaten from home? Parents DON'T ALWAYS know what is best for the child. That is why there are HALF A MILLION kids in foster care. What will happen to the babies of these teen girls who eventually realize parenthood ISN'T unconditional love? Kids are beaten, sexually abused, killed by their parents. I think preventing teen pregnancy and helping people WAIT until they are physically, emotionally, financially ready is something that really needs to be done now.

What happened to the parenting classes in high school where the students had to take "a baby" home and take care of it? It wasn't a real baby, but acted like one. They would have to feed it, clean it, change diapers, wake up with it in the middle of the night and take it everywhere with them (just like a real baby). When that came out, I thought what a great idea to give these kids the feel for parenthood and the freedoms they give up when they choose to have a baby. Why do schools not do that anymore? It appeared to be working.

I remember when I was in 10th grade, (1976), one of the most popular girls in the school got pregnant with twins and no one knew how to deal with that. We were shocked that she even showed up in school every day, but she did and was there until she could no longer make it. Some kids wouldn't make eye contact with her, others were still her friends, but mostly she was alone and even the other popular kids ignored her.

Back then it was not something revered but labeled an "accident", and they were still sending girls to convents or boarding schools until they had their babies, then the girls were forced by their parents to place the baby up for adoption. The girls were "bad girls"..disgracing their families.

Nowadays, teen pregnancies are so common, no one hardly bats an eye. Look at Jamie Lynn Spears..what a role model she turned out to be. It's hard to know who to place blame on. I am a single mother of a 15 year old son, I work full time to support him and he has never met his father. If a girl's parent came to me and told me my son had gotten her daughter pregnant, I would be shocked. It would make me extremely sad and we would have to come up with a solvable solution for sure. Unfortunately though, I cannot be here all day to monitor his behavior, so I simply have to hope the values and morals I taught him will guide him in his decisions and that he makes the right choices on his own. I am here to support and teach, but ultimately the choices these kids make are their own. It's sad when people blame parents for their children's behavior, when the parents are not to blame a good majority of the time.

I agree that tennagers should focus on education than starting a family. HOWEVER, I had my first child at 17 years old. My son was born when I was 19. I finished highschool, been married to my husband and children's father for 7 years, working fulltime, and attending college full time. We have a nice home and nice vehicles that we obtained on our own. No government paid for them. We pay cash for our groceries. My parents help 0%, however my grandmother is very involved in our childrens lives. We supply all for them. They are very well groomed, nicely dressed, clean cut, sports involved, children who are very intellegent due to the time we take to work with them all the time. They wear name-brand shoes that fit. They get taken to the salon for hair cuts. Hey, my daughter even gets manicures and pedicures while she's there, and she is only 6! We expose our children to anything the world has to offer for their own good. We are active in our church. We are 100% a normal family. Maybe even more so, because we spend more time together than the adverage "career-driven" family. Everyday is FAMILY DAY! And we do this because we want to prove to people that not every young parent is an irresponsible child who doesn't care. If you want to be, you can be just as good, if not better a parent than a 30 year old, who just found time in their lives for children. Get the facts before you fall into the trap of societies tunnel vision!

nothing was easy for us! but we made it, and have two great blessing in our lives!

SHAME SHAME SHAME OH GOD WHAT SHAME

So, some of you think that the school makes things to easy for young mothers. You think that on site daycare and accomodating teachers are the reason why these girls wanted to have babies?

Please. That is ridiculous.

Would you prefer that they were stigmatized, cast off from their peers? Would you prefer that they had to have their children cared for somewhere else, causing higher expenses in gas, and less time with their child? Would you prefer that everyone in their lives shunned them, judged them, and looked down upon them? Would you prefer that these 'sluts' were away from their friends, away from their support network, isolated and excluded, so that no one else gets any ideas?

Or maybe, just maybe, their parents should have been a bit more involved in their children's lives.

Supposedly, the environment in this town has been strained. jobs are growing scarce, families are under duress, and children are being neglected. These girls turned to one another for support, family, and a sense of belonging.

Judging them and making them feel worthless for their choices or mistakes is not going to help.

Kayla
Kayla2224@live.com
http://www.KaylaSavina.blogspot.com

My sons schools did not condone pregnancy by providing daycare. One actually encourage the girls to drop out of school and get a GED. The other did not push the girls to drop out but did not support them either. I am not from that state, however, I think in high school daycare is an exception not the norm. I don't think they should be outcast or condoned. The state will pick up for daycare if the girls are unwed and want to continue their education. I think it began as the girl state they wanted unconditional love. This conversation should have began at home not at school for those girls.

I am guessing that you have no reason for your reasoning; As a teen mother I did not see it as "glamorous or easy" by any means. But was subject to an extremely hard decision to make on my own....was driven by my mother to an abortion clinic to "force" an abortion...but I found the courage to refuse. Than was sent to a "special" school for pregnant teens (which was inclusive to a elementry school). Then through all of the discouragement went on to get my GED and graduate with Honors from college. But all with no support from the community or family... though I did not expect it because I "choose" not to abort. It was not easy... but soooo worth all the sacrifices. I have wonderful 21 yo that I could not imagine life without.

Teens with children raises all kinds of challenges. Have you seen this new NBC show called Baby Borrowers? They have couples loan their children to a teen couple that wants to see what its like to raise a child... you think those Massachusetts girls should watch?

Kristin, "no reason to my reasoning"? I run one of seven centers in a non-profit, state funded child care center. I provide child care (with tax payer money) to 64 children. More than half of these children come from teenage parents who thought it would be easy to have a baby. We tax payers provide free child care, free parenting classes, free aid to finish their education. The other children in the center...they come from illegal families. Less than 1% of the entire enrollment for the agency (we serve totally over 1000 children a day) goes to families who don't fit either of those profiles.
If my husband and I were to need child care, we make just $100 more a month than we should to be able to qualify for free child care.
I love my job because I am helping children grow and give the foundations to become contributing members in society and help them to make better decisions in life. As director, I am able to help these parents become better people and not rely on public funding to make something of themselves; to use us as a stepping stone and not look at us as something they deserve just because they screwed up.
I'm not sorry that I help people out; but I'm also not sorry that I made the right decisions in life and didn't get myself knocked up in highschool, got my self an education, and chose to not rely on public funds to get me to where I am today.
So, my reasoning? It comes from 260 days a year going to work and looking at what my tax payer money is paying for. Too many people get too much of my money because if you have a baby you get more money from welfare...

There is no reason for 12,13,14,15,16,and 17 year olds to even be thinking about getting pregnant. Some of these pregnancies do happen as an accident but there is a growing trend of girls getting pregnant on purpose and for the wrong reasons. It used to be that if a teenage girl got pregnant she either kept it,put it up for adoption or had an abortion. And if she decided to keep it then she took responsiblity for it and raised it. These girls today have it way too easy. Back when my mom got pregnant with my oldest brother at age 16 she didn't have anyone to help her raise and take care of him. Her mother passed away shortly after he was born and my brother's father wasn't in his life much. No child support,wic or any other government programs were available. She worked to support all three of her boys on her own without anyone's help.

I work at Wal Mart and I see it all the time. Young mothers coming in with 2 or 3 very small children. The mother's are dressed like $2 hookers,talkin on their cell phones and ignoring their kids. And it's a shame at the way some of these girls treat their children. They really can't handle the stress.

But I don't have to go to work just to see it all I have to do is walk outside my door or go to my parents and I can see irrisponsible kids with kids.

The lady on the corner from us lives in a home her brother bought. He pays the lot rent and all the bills because she doesn't work,her grandson and his girlfriend don't work and they have a one year old daughter. They are known for stealing stuff out of people's trash to sell and even he sells drugs.

My nephew and his girlfriend are another example. When there daughter was born she didn't want to take care of her. She didn't want to feed her or change her. Her mother ended up raising her till last christmas untill they decided they wanted her. Alot of people make excuses for her saying she couldn't handle a small baby. I say it's BS. You get pregnant and decide to keep it you take everything that goes along with it. They moved in to my moms old house and are living there free. My nephews girlfriend doesn't take care of the place at all. She doesn't clean or anything. They have two horses that my dad and my brother take care of. They had a small dog they they didn't want to take care of and finally gave to someone who will. They act like they have money and they don't. My nephew drives a brand new diesel truck and she's went from a Scion to a Benz,to a hummer to a diesel truck and now the benz again. And they bought a boat. And everytime I see them they don't have their litte girl.

Yes there are some teenagers who are good parents and are mature enough to take care of the responsiblity of raising a child. But most aren't. We are living in the ME Generation where alot of people are selfish and only care about their wants and needs. And alot of these kids think everything is a big joke. Many have these kids but still act like immature kids. They get tattoos of their kids,post pics on sites like myspace and brag about being a babymama or babydaddy yet when it comes down to it they throw the kid at their parents to raise. Weekends they still go out to party,drag race and all that stuff that they should have given up after their baby was born. Instead of the child being their #1 priority they keep themselves as #1. Too many of these girls try to act like Britany Spears.

I so agree! They need to see the struggle of what will happen. I don't get why they think this is a good thing. I think it's great that you ahve a kid and want ot be a mother, but at this time it's a really bad decision! You need to focus on education and a career.

I think it's a wonderful idea for a school to help teen mothers. There is no reason that a girl who makes a mistake shouldn't be able to graduate High School AND raise a baby. It's a lot better than her being shunned at her school making her want to have an abortion. Children are a wonderful amazing blessing that should never be put to shame. Going to college doesn't make you successful, I'd rather die knowing that I had children on earth who loved me rather than a bachelors degree that I can't take with me. But for someone to be able to have the best of both worlds, (just as I do because I am a single teen mother who graduated High School) a good job and a beautiful baby, that's what life's all about, not being able to buy the newest Audi or shop at Chanel. While I agree that the school should focus more on birth control, maybe we should take a look at the defining reason why these girls wanted to get pregnant? Don't blame the school for making it to easy, they're just trying to adjust to make it more convenient for these girls to be able to get there diploma.

Everyone is making such a fuss over the two people who are trying to hand out contraceptives, which don't get me wrong would not be a solution but I dont see it as a problem either. People keep saying that they have no rite to hand out prescriptions to minors...what do you think Planned Parenthood does?!? You don't need to have your parents with you to go there, and half the time you don't even have to pay because it is a sliding scale based on your income. So instead of going to a clinic they would go to school...big deal. As far as who is to blame it is the parents...why do their children even think that getting pregnant is a good idea? How come no one is monitoring them?