90 Pregnancies at Memphis high school

[SMTTT]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,3245210.story

"About 90 students at a Memphis High School are either pregnant, or have been recently.

The startling news was confirmed by a high ranking city official and comes as the community plans to roll out a new initiative to help combat the problem.

However, one Frayser High School graduate says teen pregnancy is not a new problem for the school.

"When we would come back from summer break, there would be a thousand people pregnant. We were like, what's going on?" joked Williamson, who graduated from Frayser in 2004.

"There were a whole lot of bellies. You had to watch out so you didn't bump into them. Being 2011, I thought a lot of them would have thought this is not the right way to go, having babies during school time," she added.

Memphis' teen pregnancy rate stands at between 15 and 20 percent, almost twice the national average."
________________________________________

I really hope this isn't one of those "get pregnant because its cool" issues that they made a Lifetime movie about. I'm sure the school doesn't offer Sex Ed..I remember in high school they wouldn't allow it because the parents thought it would give off the message of it being 'ok' to have sex. Looks like they're getting that else where...

[Alumiyum]

This is a strong example of why sex ed (and good, accurate, open sex ed) is so important. I get so tired of hearing that a sex ed class is condoning sex...some of these kids will have sex no matter what. Staying in denial about that ends up in teenage pregnancies and the spread of STDs. I'm willing to bet a lot of these teens would be more careful if they were armed with the right knowledge. Not all of them, but a lot of them.

It boggles my mind how many people I know in college who still think it's impossible to get pregnant during X time of the month (it seems they all have different ideas of which week in relation to their period is correct), that condoms always prevent pregnancy, that one or the other sex can't get a certain STD, that herpes/chlamydia/gonorrhea/HIV can't be transmitted if there are no symptoms, or that the morning after pill is an acceptable form of routine birth control.

[Drolefille]

We're not pulling the 'pregnancy pact' card this time, right? Because we all know that's bullshit, right?

Ok, just checking.

[ASUADPi]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

We're not pulling the 'pregnancy pact' card this time, right? Because we all know that's bullshit, right?

Ok, just checking.

No.

Quite honestly I think it boils down to stupidity on all parties involved (schools with no sex education, parents and the teenagers themselves).

[Matsimela]

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

No.

Quite honestly I think it boils down to stupidity on all parties involved (schools with no sex education, parents and the teenagers themselves).

I agree. Yes access to the education would be helpful. But come on, I never had a single sex ed class ever (even our health classes didnt talk about sex) nor did i really get the talk from my parents until way after i was sexually active and i managed to comprehend that STDs and pregnancy were real life consequences to sex- not to mention making it out of high school baby-free.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by AGDee

They also only compare Memphis' teen pregnancy rate to that of the national average. How about comparing it to other cities with similar socioeconomic demographics? I'm willing to be that Detroit is way up there too, but Bloomfield Hills is very low (not because they don't get pregnant, but because it is taken care of).

Dee gets it.

Where's Kevin to throw his two cents in?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by tld221

Dee gets it.

Where's Kevin to throw his two cents in?

hate u so much

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

It boggles my mind how many people I know in college who still think it's impossible to get pregnant during X time of the month (it seems they all have different ideas of which week in relation to their period is correct), that condoms always prevent pregnancy, that one or the other sex can't get a certain STD, that herpes/chlamydia/gonorrhea/HIV can't be transmitted if there are no symptoms, or that the morning after pill is an acceptable form of routine birth control.

At least no one said that they don't need condoms because the worst that'll happen is you'll get HIV which will turn into herpes and then you'll be okay.

<----still banging head after meeting naive teenager with over 20 partners

But I hear you. There were lots of girls in college who didn't know how to properly use a condom even though they were active. I learned how and have never had to do so. Go figure. :shrug:

This whole thing is just....sad. 180 kids didn't just not show up for sex ed. 180 kids weren't intimidated at the store or didn't have access to free condoms. 90 girls weren't raised without a father figure and now are looking for love in the wrong places. There are a plethora of reasons why this happened listed in this thread and, as weird as it sounds, it frustrates me that no one reason is the culprit because there are too any factors to make this "easily fixable." With numbers like these, I wish it was--that's a lot of kids who don't really get to be kids anymore and probably a lot of grandparents who aren't prepared either.

/rant

[AGDee]

They also only compare Memphis' teen pregnancy rate to that of the national average. How about comparing it to other cities with similar socioeconomic demographics? I'm willing to be that Detroit is way up there too, but Bloomfield Hills is very low (not because they don't get pregnant, but because it is taken care of).

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by AGDee

They also only compare Memphis' teen pregnancy rate to that of the national average. How about comparing it to other cities with similar socioeconomic demographics? I'm willing to be that Detroit is way up there too, but Bloomfield Hills is very low (not because they don't get pregnant, but because it is taken care of).

Excellent observation. Well said, AGDee.

[Honeykiss1974]

Not to sound like Oprah, but I think it is a lack of being loved and self-worth that causes many teen girls to see getting pregnant in high school as something ok to do. So here is this young woman (probably lacking a father figure) that is not getting a sense that she is loved or valuable from her family, will go to find it else where. So when Bobby says that "he loves her" and all the good stuff that goes along with it (i.e. we'll be together forever, I'm clean, etc.) and tell her that is she loved him back she wouldn't make him wear a condom, many girls will let him not wear one. There are also girls that want a baby because it again, they are not having the need to feel wanted or special met in more healthy ways. And to them, a baby will do that.

Seriously, if NOTHING else, kids know that condoms prevent pregnancy (I'm just speaking of the basic, age old rule of pregnancy prevention). They sell them everywhere, even at Wal-greens next to the gum, usually costing 3 for $3.99 (less than the price of a McDonald's Extra Value meal). Depending upon your school, you can even get them free there (I went to high school in the early 90's and our school nurse gave them out).

Not saying this is ALL cases, but I do believe a majority of them doesn't stem from lack of education, but lack of self worth and value.

What's said about all this (the article) is that now you have 90 innocent babies brought into the world to parents that are not equipped to raise them - and maybe even grandparents in this case!

[Drolefille]

I agree Honeykiss, although particularly in bad neighborhoods condoms are locked behind glass and you have to ask a clerk. That is not easy to do as a teen whether or not the clerk is actually judgmental. Same with actually buying them.

That doesn't even get into the "using them right" portion of STD prevention.

[FHwku]

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news...er-high-school

apparently, some of the girls were recruited to go the school. they had dropped out and the last principal convinced them to return to school, and to her school.

[RaggedyAnn]

I still remember one of my health/sex ed classes in high school like it was yesterday. The teacher (gym teacher and wrestling coach) had us put down our heads, turned off the lights and had us listen to "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights". He then turned on the lights and had us discuss the song. He, at some point, also went over all the different methods of birth control and their benefits and disadvantages in another class- including abstinence.

[PhoenixAzul]

Man, I consider myself really lucky. I went through Pittsburgh Public Schools, and we had sex ed from 6th grade until 12th. Most of the time it was taught by a rep from Planned Parenthood, so we literally had every method of prevention taught to us, along with efficacy rates. And we were tested on it. And we had graphic illustrations of stds (oh yay). And the "Miracle of Life" video at least twice a year (once in bio, once in health) every year in high school. That has been literally SEARED into my brain.

If you didn't understand how babies got made, or how to prevent them, by the time you got out of high school, you had other issues to address. There was no way to escape these classes, literally no way.

And yet, I had more than one classmate with multiple children by graduation (and raised a huge stink about not being able to carry her babies to the stage for graduation (which she ended up not doing because she didn't pass...gym)).

Long story short: even the best sex ed programs have failures. Teenagers are still going to get pregnant, that's the truth, but man, give them all the information you can and keep giving it to them until they get it. Hell, the experience of having a Baby-Think-It-Over for a weekend made me never, ever, ever want to have a kid.