Science class at an undisclosed high school. Girl in the back has her hand up.
"Yes, Jane?"
"Uh, Ms. Goebel, can I use the hall pass?"
"Jane, it's 'may I use the hall pass'"
"Uh, ok. Ms. Goebel, may I use the hall pass? My water just broke."
Ok, I embellished the story a little bit. Her water didn't break. She did go into labor in science class and the free clinic did say they wouldn't admit until after her water broke. Yeah, we're not your grandpa's high school anymore. There was one pregnant student last year that I was aware of, she gave birth during the school year and still managed to graduate with her class. And she's already enrolled at SLCC.
7 comments:
Please tell me this was the alternative high school and not the regular one.
Yes, I'm pleased when a girl manages to stay in school while pregnant, but she shouldn't be where other, not pregnant girls will be influenced daily that teen pregnancy is cute or cool. she needs to be in an alternative high school.
Yup, she can go on -- heck, two really good teachers that I know (one of whom you know as well) both dropped out of high school because they were pregnant, and both have masters degrees now.
But the last thing we want is other girls oohing and ahhing over ultrasound photos and baby clothes, wanting to rush into the same situation themselves.
so... PLEASE tell me this was the alternative school....
Oh, by the way... I don't often correct your spelling (so as not to make you paranoid), but "isle" is an island, which makes your current title rather twisted and amusing. "Aisle" is the space between rows, as in a classroom or a store.
Sorry to say, it actually is at the regular high school. I don't have any hard statistical evidience, but from my observations the preganant girls are viewed more as a fact of life than something to envy. Even outside of the classroom, I haven't seen much more attention given them than a really big zit.
.
Oh, and I don't know what you're talking about my misspelling - looks right to me (cough - cough). Actually thanks, I knew that but somehow it got through anyhow.....
Well, I'm certainly hoping that pregnancy in High School isn't considered the "norm" everywhere...I've got a daughter that will be in High School in two years...and that scares ME.
On an somewhat unrelated note, you talked about visiting some booths and deciding who to vote for. We'll I've found the 2008 Presidential candidate for you! Right here in SLC. Enjoy!
http://www.dave08.com/
No, no, no - not the norm, but just a fact of life. Like the student with dwarfism - not the norm, but just a part of life.
Yes, but our current student-body president also has dwarfism. He's a great guy and will do well in life, but dwarfism is different than teen pregnancy: nobody seeing a Little Person and his immense popularity will be able to go out and make their lives harder just to be like him.
The last couple of times I've had pregnant girls in my classes, however, (granted, it's been awhile because now they're shipped off to the alternative school to prevent this very thing), other girls oooohed and ahhed and wanted to be the one buying cute little clothes and picking out names -- at 14. And, being stupid enough to ignore how much harder it would make their lives (like dwarfism), they wanted to have a baby too (which was possible, unlike dwarfism).
It's a lot easier to get kids to listen to my comments that no one should have a kid until they're through being one themselves (the self-centered part, not the playful part) -- so they ought to START thinking about it at roughly 25.
Teen preganancy is a handicap, and, although we want all handicapped people to succeed, there's no reason to encourage and glorify any handicap to encourage idiot kids to handicap themselves. We wouldn't encourage other kids to get themselves paralyzed to be as cool as Joel Brown, would we? I know it's not your choice who attends the high school, so I'm not blaming you, but a pregnant teen needs to be in an alternative program so as not to glorify her handicap and encourage other girls to follow suit. We do this with drug addicts and alcholic teens whenever possible, too -- and for the same reasons.
Sorry for the rant. I'll get down off my soapbox now.
I guess I'm just seeing it from a different perspective, and it may simply be a difference between Jr. High and High School. It may be because that although we're not an alternative high school, we are not a traditional high school either - every one of our students, for one reason or another, had to make the choice to attend our school. What that means exactly I'm not sure, but I do know it means that we do not have the same mix of students as a traditional high school. And my experience with these kids, and the two yound mothers I went to high school with, was not the same as your experiences.
Post a Comment