How Embarrassing....

Last week, I met up with my best friend of 15 years to catch up with each other. I found out something about my old high school, Gloucester High School that I was absolutely horrified! My BF exclaimed, "Oh! You are not going to be believe this! I was watching Today show the other week, and there was this huge story about Gloucester High School, and I nearly died when I found out what the story is about, 17 GHS girls got pregnant, up from the average of 3 to 4 pregnancies a year!" That is about 400% higher than the average.... I was dumbstrucked by that, and I came home later on that day and found this article from the Gloucester Daily Times, my hometown local papers.

I was appalled by this line:
The closest clinic at which students can access birth control is in Beverly, assuming they do not want to go to their family doctor. While Daly and her associates will discuss birth control with students, they will not prescribe it, and condoms are not offered at the school.
Sullivan doesn't see that situation changing.
"The community won't tolerate access to birth control at the high school," Sullivan said. "The nurse will discuss it, but that's a family and a doctor issue."

I got so angry by this, because come on, this is the 21st century, and teens are curious about a lot of things, and that includes sexuality. If I ever have daughters, I would much rather that my daughters doesn't have any sexual activity until they are older (say 20's) but I am going to be realistic here, it is going to happen a lot sooner than that. I would want to know and put her on birth control or let her know that if she isn't comfortable telling me or asking me, she can go to a clinic to remain confidentiality.

So, after reading this article, I came across this blog site all about the pregnancies at GHS and this video below.

I used to be so proud to have attended GHS, since it was a great school and so many of classmates are doing so well after 10 years. Now, that is a different story. It is sad!


Description of Video: WWLP reports "GLOUCESTER, Mass. (WWLP) In the well known fishing city of Gloucester, north of Boston, school and health officials are concerned about an alarming jump in the number of teen pregnancies at Gloucester High School. 17 female students are pregnant this year, which is more than three times the typical rate of four per year. In Springfield, where pregnancies rates are the second highest in the state, Adjustment Counselor, Elizabeth Wood, said cultural issues are many times what lead to teen pregnancy in the city. Wood contends some teens might get pregnant on purpose to stay in a relationship or to feel unconditional love. She reminds parents to talk openly with their children about sex and pregnancy and let them know you are there for them no matter what. "