One in Eight Girls Pregnant at Chicago High School

[James]

It is a Chicago public school full of energy and spirit. It has about 800 girls, and 115 of them have something in common…

All those young ladies are moms or moms-to-be at Paul Robeson High School. It’s not a school for young mothers, it’s a neighborhood school. And all of the pregnancies have happened, despite prevention talk.

If you want to know why, the people closest to the situation say there’s no simple explanation.

Chicago Public Schools says it does not track the overall number of teen moms in the district. But Robeson Principal Gerald Morrow knows the count at his school in Englewood: 115 young ladies who are expecting.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Robeson.High.School.2.1251642.html

[240 is Back]

I hope the Olympic committee was alerted of this by drudge.

[Brixtonbulldog]

If it's 99% black that pregnancy stat is actually low..

[shootfighter1]

Thats really bad.  One thing we know is dumping money into prevention doesn't work.
Until this culture realizes education is a joint effort between the family and teachers, we'll continue down a negative path that in the end, affects everyone.
There used to be some shame when an unwed teenage girl got pregnant and the father left without becoming a dad...now it's just accepted in many areas.  Baby daddy, baby momma.  Shows how f'ed up the culture has become.

[GigantorX]

Thats really bad.  One thing we know is dumping money into prevention doesn't work.
Until this culture realizes education is a joint effort between the family and teachers, we'll continue down a negative path that in the end, affects everyone.
There used to be some shame when an unwed teenage mother got pregnant and the father left without becoming a dad...now it's just accepted in many areas.  Baby daddy, baby momma.  Shows how f'ed up the culture has become.

I know some friends who work in the CPS. And it is absolutely terrible, violent and worthless. It is just a holding cell for half the day for the majority of them. They can't even have high school sports at certain days/times because of the violence that it causes, and not just fist fights and such...Im talking drive-bys and other weapon based shit. The parents, if there are any, don't give a shit and won't give a shit. They need the welfare check to buy there booze/pot and their LINK cards to buy potato chips and Snickers bars for their "kids". I used to work in a school around Ford Heights and when I would call the "parents" about their childs behavior....they would be drunk already or whatever and it would be Noon.

[Hedgehog]

And some people want to ban abortion?

WTF?

[GigantorX]

And some people want to ban abortion?

WTF?

My fiance used to work for the March of Dimes in Chicago. Michelle Obama was once a "honorary" head of the board there. Anyways, they would do outreach and education and such around those parts....not good. One of the BIGGEST problems in the black community is teen pregnancies. It truly all starts with that.

[shootfighter1]

GigantorX, thats horrible.  Sounds like you got to experience the chaos and dysfxn firsthand.  If we don't fix the cultural family problems, there's no solution in site and with all the $ and efforts to fix these problems, they seem to have only gotten worse and more culturally acceptible.

[Hedgehog]

My fiance used to work for the March of Dimes in Chicago. Michelle Obama was once a "honorary" head of the board there. Anyways, they would do outreach and education and such around those parts....not good. One of the BIGGEST problems in the black community is teen pregnancies. It truly all starts with that.

A problem with the "black community", if I may generalize, and talk about the "typical" lower class inner city family type, is that they are quite socially CONSERVATIVE.

Ie, they're almost fundamental in some of their beliefs.

Just look on how the gay issue is treated by the black community.

It's almost like you're in Teheran with some of those people on some of those issues.

So I don't expect it to be an environment where young kids easily can get educated on how to protect themselves.

Compare that to a country like Denmark, where sex is something not very dramatic.

Teen pregnancies and abortions aren't that big of a deal over there.

So perhaps "the black community" has to liberate itself and start living in the 21st century on all issues.

I could be wrong though. Perhaps some of our blacks could weigh in on the issue.

BTW, the whole idea of a "black community" is beyond retarded IMO.

[shootfighter1]

It's beyond just the black community because we see the same patterns of familial dysfunction and teenage pregnancy in low income white, hispanic, and mixed areas.  Granted, I think familial dysfunction is more a pattern in black low income groups (families) than others.  Part of a learned dysfunctional behavior...that can be unlearned with enough push from the community.

[Hedgehog]

It's beyond just the black community because we see the same patterns of familial dysfunction and teenage pregnancy in low income white, hispanic, and mixed areas.  Granted, I think familial dysfunction is more a pattern in black low income groups (families) than others.  Part of a learned dysfunctional behavior...that can be unlearned with enough push from the community.

True.

Fundamentalist version of religions, be it Christianity, Islam, Sikh, or natural religions, seems to have easier to catch on in lower educated groups of society.

[SAMSON123]

It's beyond just the black community because we see the same patterns of familial dysfunction and teenage pregnancy in low income white, hispanic, and mixed areas.  Granted, I think familial dysfunction is more a pattern in black low income groups (families) than others.  Part of a learned dysfunctional behavior...that can be unlearned with enough push from the community.

While I agree with a beginning of your statement that this is epidemic amongst all communities, it certainly is NOT a greater problem in the African American community as per Planned Parenthood. Their stats clearly show Pre-teen, Teen sex and pregnancy amongst white females exceeds all other races by leaps and bounds. The news however does not BROADCAST their "SINS" as they do in what happens in all other communities. For whites however abortions conceal the illegitimate pregnancies, whereas the Afican Americans carry their pregnancies to term. Nonetheless societal: TV, movies, Music, Ads, Magazines, etc obssesion with sex especially amongst young teens has to stop. Most of these pregnancies and dangerous behavior is due to LACK OF PARENTAL DISCIPLINE AND INVOLVEMENT... Learning...GOOD OR BAD starts and ends in the home.

AMERICA IS TOO DEMORALIZED, TOO WICKED, TOO UNEDUCATED TO SAVE...

[GigantorX]

While I agree with a beginning of your statement that this is epidemic amongst all communities, it certainly is NOT a greater problem in the African American community as per Planned Parenthood. Their stats clearly show Pre-teen, Teen sex and pregnancy amongst white females exceeds all other races by leaps and bounds. The news however does not BROADCAST their "SINS" as they do in what happens in all other communities. For whites however abortions conceal the illegitimate pregnancies, whereas the Afican Americans carry their pregnancies to term. Nonetheless societal: TV, movies, Music, Ads, Magazines, etc obssesion with sex especially amongst young teens has to stop. Most of these pregnancies and dangerous behavior is due to LACK OF PARENTAL DISCIPLINE AND INVOLVEMENT... Learning...GOOD OR BAD starts and ends in the home.

AMERICA IS TOO DEMORALIZED, TOO WICKED, TOO UNEDUCATED TO SAVE...

You had me going there for a bit.....and then back to the cliche a minute Sampson.

Of course, the Blacks have more than triple the rate of teenage pregnancies compared to white teenage girls. Of course I do agree that our societies shunning and hush hush mentality about sex etc while at the same time pushing sex onto our children is really fucked up.

There is a much deeper root cause to them carrying their babies to term or even getting pregnant in the first place. It has to do with the utterly broken family structure. More than likely, these girls were born when their mothers were teens and were summariliy forgotten about, neglected and abused(mental and physical...toss up to which is worse) and dumped on there aunties, or gramma's....or left to fend for themselves. Through this they grow up and want a baby to have something to love them back and as an object to get attention for, attention they never had. Until the flair wears off, the babies are forgotten about and then 14 years down the road that baby who is now a teenage goes and gets knocked up for the same reasons her mother did.

And as for Hedges comments, they are very true as well. The school I worked in was 99% black and the views these 5-8th graders would espouse were shocking. Homosexuality was a big taboo...just 2 weeks ago I heard from a teacher there that a suspected homosexual student (mind you these are 5-8th graders) was beating to a pulp by two gang members during during school and the kid had to be taken away in an ambulance, neck brace and all. Black community (again, generalizing) is pretty conservative when it comes to things such as this.

At least, that's my two cents....

[shootfighter1]

We're mainly on the same page with the causes...it's pretty clear.  Breakdown of the nuclear family and societal acceptance.
Samson, the rate of pregnancy among black females is significantly higher than other races in the U.S.  You may have something about the abortions though.

[GigantorX]

We're mainly on the same page with the causes...it's pretty clear.  Breakdown of the nuclear family and societal acceptance.
Samson, the rate of pregnancy among black females is significantly higher than other races in the U.S.  You may have something about the abortions though.

I believe it was 58/1000 teens for Whites and 135/1000 for black non-hispanic teens, couple that with the smaller piece of the population that black teen girls constitute and it is much worse than the stats show us.

[SAMSON123]

I wonder if any of these animals are responsible.   

Pretty stupid thing to say 3. The same situation played out in Gloucester Mass with white girls all DELIBERATELY becoming pregnant  by a homeless 24 year old white man for reasons these young girls could not exactly explain. Sadly the media tried in vain to blame everyone and everything on the rash of pregnancies otehr than the girls, but in the end these white girls did the same as these Black girls which was to NOT USE GOOD/COMMON SENSE.



   

Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2008
Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High
By Kathleen Kingsbury

As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies — more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno and Knocked Up for glamorizing young unwed mothers. But principal Joseph Sullivan knows at least part of the reason there's been such a spike in teen pregnancies in this Massachusetts fishing town. School officials started looking into the matter as early as October, after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, "some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Sullivan says. All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. "We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," the principal says, shaking his head.

The question of what to do next has divided this fiercely Catholic enclave. Even with national data showing a 3% rise in teen pregnancies in 2006 — the first increase in 15 years — Gloucester isn't sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control. In any case, many residents worry that the problem goes much deeper. The past decade has been difficult for this mostly white, mostly blue-collar city (pop. 30,000). In Gloucester, perched on scenic Cape Ann, the economy has always depended on a strong fishing industry. But in recent years, such jobs have all but disappeared overseas, and with them much of the community's wherewithal. "Families are broken," says school superintendent Christopher Farmer. "Many of our young people are growing up directionless."

The girls who made the pregnancy pact — some of whom, according to Sullivan, reacted to the news that they were expecting with high fives and plans for baby showers — declined to be interviewed. So did their parents. But Amanda Ireland, who graduated from Gloucester High on June 8, thinks she knows why these girls wanted to get pregnant. Ireland, 18, gave birth her freshman year and says some of her now pregnant schoolmates regularly approached her in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby. "They're so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally," Ireland says. "I try to explain it's hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m."

The high school has done perhaps too good a job of embracing young mothers. Sex-ed classes end freshman year at Gloucester, where teen parents are encouraged to take their children to a free on-site day-care center. Strollers mingle seamlessly in school hallways among cheerleaders and junior ROTC. "We're proud to help the mothers stay in school," says Sue Todd, CEO of Pathways for Children, which runs the day-care center.

But by May, after nurse practitioner Kim Daly had administered some 150 pregnancy tests at Gloucester High's student clinic, she and the clinic's medical director, Dr. Brian Orr, a local pediatrician, began to advocate prescribing contraceptives regardless of parental consent, a practice at about 15 public high schools in Massachusetts. Currently Gloucester teens must travel about 20 miles (30 km) to reach the nearest women's health clinic; younger girls have to get a ride or take the train and walk. But the notion of a school handing out birth control pills has met with hostility. Says Mayor Carolyn Kirk: "Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children." The pair resigned in protest on May 30.

Gloucester's elected school committee plans to vote later this summer on whether to provide contraceptives. But that won't do much to solve the issue of teens wanting to get pregnant. Says rising junior Kacia Lowe, who is a classmate of the pactmakers': "No one's offered them a better option." And better options may be a tall order in a city so uncertain of its future. — With reporting by Kimberley McLeod/New York
   
Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

   

[Soul Crusher]

Pretty stupid thing to say 3. The same situation played out in Gloucester Mass with white girls all DELIBERATELY becoming pregnant  by a homeless 24 year old white man for reasons these young girls could not exactly explain. Sadly the media tried in vain to blame everyone and everything on the rash of pregnancies otehr than the girls, but in the end these white girls did the same as these Black girls which was to NOT USE GOOD/COMMON SENSE.



   

   

Samson I remember that story.  Blaming it on any race is stupid.  We have an overall societal breakdown that manifests itself differently amongst differant groups. 

[Brixtonbulldog]

Pretty stupid thing to say 3. The same situation played out in Gloucester Mass with white girls all DELIBERATELY becoming pregnant  by a homeless 24 year old white man for reasons these young girls could not exactly explain. Sadly the media tried in vain to blame everyone and everything on the rash of pregnancies otehr than the girls, but in the end these white girls did the same as these Black girls which was to NOT USE GOOD/COMMON SENSE.




The same problem in any white/asian/latino community is almost completely overshadowed by the rampant teen pregnancy rates in the black. 

Every time black culture has some deplorable aspect raging someone tries to relate it to smaller, isolated trends in every other community.  The problem IS the "black culture" mentality.  Until blacks take responsibility for endorsing the disrespect of women, violence, entitlement, criminal behavior, and a multitude of other social breakdowns nothing will change..  I won't hold my breath.
   

   

[240 is Back]

Then the story got worse. "We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," the principal says, shaking his head.

Geez, how stupid can girls be?

[gordiano]

Then the story got worse. "We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," the principal says, shaking his head.

Geez, how stupid can girls be?

Sadly....we didn't too many stupid girls at my HS......

[Parker]

It's beyond just the black community because we see the same patterns of familial dysfunction and teenage pregnancy in low income white, hispanic, and mixed areas.  Granted, I think familial dysfunction is more a pattern in black low income groups (families) than others.  Part of a learned dysfunctional behavior...that can be unlearned with enough push from the community.

That's because the black community is, and will always be the "canary in the mine" for America. What goes wrong in that community, you will soon see it in others. A barometer so to speak.

And many times the "other" communities have the same problems they just know how to hide it better. For instance, there was a certain chicken company whose head had tons of DUIs---but he kept driving. Also, where I grew up, if we didn't see some of the white kids for long periods, and they come back, they said that they were on "vacation", but if you knew them, you'd know it was for rehab.

As the "Honorable"  Elijah Muhammad (i know, i know) once said, "you can tell alot about a nation by it's women", and that rings true, many of these problems in not just our community, but in America is because "women" do not make the proper choices in the men to have their kids. If more women pciked or demanded that their men had jobs, treated them right, took care of their kids, had higher expectations for education and overall had higher standards, many of these problems would not exist or would be lowered.

[Brixtonbulldog]

..because "women" do not make the proper choices in the men to have their kids. If more women pciked or demanded that their men had jobs, treated them right, took care of their kids, had higher expectations for education and overall had higher standards, many of these problems would not exist or would be lowered.

Agree completely.  Women tolerate/encourage bad behavior in men because so many slut themselves out, seek "bad boy" types (who float between jail and drug use), and ultimately live to instant gratification. 

Women in this country are mostly trash, at least in areas like mine. 

[Parker]

Agree completely.  Women tolerate/encourage bad behavior in men because so many slut themselves out, seek "bad boy" types (who float between jail and drug use), and ultimately live to instant gratification. 

Women in this country are mostly trash, at least in areas like mine. 

See it all the time, and the aftermath. Women don't realize that they can have a higher standards for their men and still get the ones who are exciting and good in bed. It's up to them. They are the ones who put the "Seal of Approval" on a man's behavior. Starting from childhood. Many of these loser men look for someone to take care of them, just like their mothers did, they are in essence, man childs, and yes, bad boys, with emphasis on "boy".

[BM OUT]

I find this not believable.Obama has organised these communities in Chicago.This is obviously a vicious attempt by the right to dicredit the great work Obama has done.I bet there is zero crime,zero teen pregnancy,and flowers growing on the street because of the mesiahs great work.

[bears]

And some people want to ban abortion?

WTF?

this is definitely NOT the time nor the place to stop killing babies.