UrbanBaby

06.19.08, 09:14 AM General Topics
16 replies

really interesting and disturbing article from Time website: http://tinyurl.com/5rxszu. 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... [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
General Topics 06.19.08, 09:14 AM Flag

Dear UrbanBaby community,

Thank you so much for being a valued member of the UrbanBaby community. We wanted to inform you that we are shutting down the site on July 6th. We are grateful for your participation and support that has helped make UrbanBaby such an important resource to parents for many years.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at urbanbaby-support@cbsinteractive.com.

Thanks so much,

UrbanBaby Support

I read this. girls choosing to get pregnant. and Gloucester is really a dead end place. I think it is sooo irresponsible of parents to fight the school on birth control. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:19 AM Flag

I agree, but birth control is not going to help the girls who want to be pregnant. They can't force it on them. Such a sad state of affairs that they seem to have no hope whatsoever. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:22 AM Flag

true. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:23 AM Flag

abortion rates go up under republican presidents. why? education goes down and abstinence only is taught instead. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:25 AM Flag

but if you read the article, that isn't the issue [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:27 AM Flag

I can't imagine thinking a baby would make things better. I was a mother's helper the summer I was 14--world's best birth control. After a summer of helping with newborn twins and a 2yo I swore I'd never have kids at all. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:29 AM Flag

So what can you personally do to help/change/contribute to the situation? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:30 AM Flag

Personally? teach my dds to be responisble. I'm not sure how I can change the mindset of a girl in another state, or the family culture she grew up in. what are your ideas? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:32 AM Flag

I didn't read the article, but for the issues that concern me I do help in what ever way I am capable. I agree, raising our children with compassion and awareness is the best activity. But if you can't see how to change the situation for other girls, I don't see the benefit in worrying about it. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:42 AM Flag

what does that mean? What exactly should I be doing? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:44 AM Flag

the thing that kills me about this article is the quote about how wouldn't it be wonderful to have a baby because of the unconditional love. How many kids love their parents unconditionally in 10-20 years? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:32 AM Flag

ITA. with little to no understanding of the endless, thankless work that goes into caring for a newborn. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:34 AM Flag

and girls who say that are rarely giving that kind of love back....it is conditioned upon having babysitting, being able to go out,etc, etc [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 09:46 AM Flag

This is an interesting post in conjunction with the race post earlier. I tried to point out that economics is more of an indicator for teen pregnancy etc. than race (shouldn't be necessary to do that, but....). Gloucester's a very white town, so I'm assuming most if not all these girls are white.... [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 11:01 AM Flag

true...and their reasons for wanting babies so young are very similar to the reasons given by black teens [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 11:03 AM Flag

Yes [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.19.08, 11:05 AM Flag