ugh this is so sad.

how about personal responsibility? How about getting the ones that are pregnant out of the schools? into alternative places of learning so they can graduate out of the eyes of other impressionable teens?

CaterpillarGirl, that would be unconstitutional.

That is sad! At first I thought this school had to be bigger than my high school which had 2000 girls, but no, there's less than half that number

Back when I was in high school, they'd send the pregnant girls to continuation high school, with the delinquents and the people with learning disabilities. You know, make it someone else's problem and give the people who need more direction and discipline less of an education. But there were maybe 2 or 3 girls at most, the entire time I was in high school.

The principal blamed, in part, financial troubles at home. How does that work? Poor people are more fertile?

"Maybe they should try that program in North Carolina that contributes $1 to a girl's college scholarship fund for every day she remains not-pregnant. "

Um, kids at Robeson are lucky to even graduate. The graduation rate at this school is about 50%- college is the last thing that kids in this neighborhood are thinking about, unfortunately. The school is fighting tooth and nail to just give these kids the basics and not have some fool pull the fire alarm every day. The problem here is more systemic within the community and isn't going to be addressed with Robeson "stepping up its prevention efforts."

How about actually teaching about birth control and not just teaching abstinence? Something is wrong here. In my high school we had one girl in the entire school that got knocked up and she was a new girl. This wasn't a problem at my school because the sex ed we received went into so much detail that we were all frightened to have sex without protection. We knew how babies were made, we watched a live birth in class, and we knew all about contraceptives. Hell, we even learned about masturbation!

It frightens me that babies have become the new must have accessory.

How is it unconstitutional, we aren't denying them education.

When I was in high school, the pregnant girls were aloud to stay on campus but couldn't be in the general student body, they had a separate building. They did this not to isolate and stigmatize them but to stop them from becoming the idols of other young girls, because when they were in the general student body? they were revered and copied. I have no problem with that. not to mention, its distracting to learning.

Wow this is scary. There were a couple girls in my HS that were pregnant, but this statistic is really troubling.

wow CG, pregnant girls were revered and copied at your school? they became idols to younger girls? At my high school, the two who I remembered (one was a senior when I was a soph, and one was a junior when I was a senior) were ridiculed. They became known as sluts and were basically a pariah at school. I don't think that just because someone falls outside the status quo is automatically a distraction, but just pulling pregnant girls out of school is nothing more than a band aid on the situation.

Yep, they were popular before hand, and even more afterwords.

Really big giant pregnant girls arent distracting?

@Jmartens: "he principal blamed, in part, financial troubles at home. How does that work? Poor people are more fertile?"

Well, you have less money for entertainment and your parents are more likely to be out of the house more working, leaving you unsupervised.

@TidalWave using a condom or getting free birth control has nothing to do with finances or having parents home in the afternoon/evening.

CaterpillarGirl, if someone challenged that in Court, I would be shocked if it wasn't found to violate the Equal Protection Clause. Just because schools already do something doesn't mean it's ok.

I never met a single pregnant girl while I was in high school. No one at our school had babies as teenagers.

Now that I am a teacher and also live in a different, southern state, I have encountered my share of pregnant girls. In fact, I teach some pregnant girls. We don't send our pregnant students to other schools or other buildings, though. The pregnant girls are automatically excused from gym and in lieu of a phys. ed class they get a "group counseling" kind of thing going on. Their electives are also changed to something like home ec, working at the daycare our high school provides (for students who have babies, but also for the public), things of that nature. I understand why you would transfer the pregnant students, but in some cases, there just aren't the resources to do it.

When it comes down to it, you can only hold a school accountable to a point. I understand there are some schools that only teach abstinence, and then kids who don't know about BC get pregnant. In reality, kids make their own choices, and even if they were educated on birth control there are kids who absolutely choose not to use any form of protection and even the girls who actively go looking to get pregnant.

I've heard of that too -- pregnant girls loving the attention and becoming more popular after getting pregnant. becomes a status symbol thing.

and yes, low area incomes tend to have more teen mothers. every day in baltimore city I see 14, 15 year old girls WITH a baby AND one on the way.

so horriby sad - for mom, for baby, for the community.

and before everyone jumps on me -- yes, it is possible for a teen mother to succeed, but it's unlikely: only 2% of teen moms graduate high school... fewer still go to college.

Pregnancy has become entirely too glamorized. Look at all the media attention pregnant celebrities receive, and well...it's no wonder. I'm not saying pregnancy should be stigmatized, but in addition to teaching birth control and sex-ed, teens need a reality check on pregnancy and parenthood. The Baby-Think-It-Over Doll (http://www.sexetc.org/story/teen_parenting/2175#) should be required in all high schools, not just poor ones, and teens should also be taught that it's O.K. not to have children, even after they've reached adulthood.

This is very disturbing and sad.

And it's so strange to me to hear people say "how about teach them about birth control not just abstinence" because every middle and High school our children have attended (total of 3 middle schools and 1 HS in 3 different states) all teach birth control in their sex education programs it's not just abstinence teaching. It's strange to think that there are schools that don't do this.

In this particular situation I wonder how many of the male students are the fathers of these babies? Or are all the fathers HS dropouts or older men?

This kind of thing just boggles my mind. (I know teens have sex, that's not what boggles my mind, it's the high numbers like this - especially in one specific school).

"And it's so strange to me to hear people say "how about teach them about birth control not just abstinence" because every middle and High school our children have attended (total of 3 middle schools and 1 HS in 3 different states) all teach birth control in their sex education programs it's not just abstinence teaching. It's strange to think that there are schools that don't do this. "

Well, there's teaching birth control, and then there's teaching birth control. In some schools, "teaching birth control" consists of telling kids what kinds of contraception there are, skimming *very* quickly over how each kind of birth control is used, and then heavily emphasizing that "no birth control is 100% perfect, only abstinence ensures no pregnancy". The kids get the distinct impression that birth control doesn't work anyway, and when they have sex, kids that had this kind of "only abstinence works" lecture are far less likely to have birth control around. So they have unprotected sex, and the girls are more likely to get pregnant.

Kids that are taught, on the other hand, that abstinence is best, but that it's a good idea to plan ahead in case you have sex (and that if you're going to have sex, it's better to use multiple forms of birth control) are no more likely to have sex - but the girls are far less likely to get pregnant.

I know in the schools we've attended it's more than just glossed over. Plus there is alot of emphasis placed on STD's not just pregnancy. On the other hand, we also talk to our children about this, we don't rely entirely on the schools to teach this to our children. We have very open conversations with our children about sex, birth control, STD's, pregnancy etc. I'm sure most parents just leave it up to the school, and many parents don't even know what the school is teaching at all. But it doesn't take much, I'm not super involved in the schools, I don't do the PTA thing, I'm not one of those Mom's who is up at the school all the time doing this or that. However, I do stay involved in what is being taught and discussed both in the classrooms and in the hallways. I think open communication is a key ingredient to raising children.

at my high school, sex ed wasn't even in the curriculum. In health we were taught how babies were made, but nothing about birth control. In middle school, we were told about STDs but that the only way you couldn't get them was to not have sex. In high school, we didn't have any sort of sex ed; it wasn't even taught in the mandatory health class...we just had an abstience seminar my senior year because the state made us. I'm pretty sure I never even saw a condom until I went to college. Not only was there a LOT of pregnant girls at my high school, but pregnant middle schoolers. I graduated in 2007 people. It's ridiculous.

i think the saddest thing is the CaterpillarGirl called them "big giant pregnant girls" and calling them distracting

lots of people are "distracting" in school...there are variations of distraction: class clowns, geeks, drama queens, people who look and dress differently than others in any way...even a poor overweight girl who may not be pregnant but may look it

this is no different...and your comments are totally offensive

I find it disturbing how in this video segment only the school and popular culture were blamed, with no mention of the parents of these pregnant teenagers. Parents are the most influential people in a young persons life, and they need to be held accountable for raising their children, too.

I'd just love to see a statistical analysis comparing the incidence of teenage pregnancy in home-schooled or privately schooled kids versus kids in the public school system. I bet the results would'nt be too surprising.

If anyone seriously thinks the public school system is competent to provide their children with a quality education, much less a set of solid 'life skills', they are delusional. The first thing that happens when you cram a large group of impressionable young minds together into a classroom is that they are immediately denied the one on one tutoring that is crucial to them developing a desire to learn and then they are abandoned to be swallowed up by the mob mentality that's present.

But what this is really about has less to do with where your child gets an education and more with where they get their moral compass. Let's not confuse academics with good parenting. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM CANNOT PREPARE YOUR CHILD FOR THE 'REAL' WORLD. IT IS ILL-EQUIPPED TO HELP KIDS DEVELOP THE NECESSARY SELF-WORTH, OBJECTIVITY AND COPING SKILLS THAT WILL ENABLE THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE FAR-EACHING IMPLICATIONS OF THE DECISIONS THEY MAKE. THAT RESPONSIBILITY RESTS SOLELY ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE PARENT. I put myself through nursing school and still found the time to home-school my two kids, who are both in college now and have no desire to procreate until AFTER they've both earned their education and are well established in the workforce as adults. And that part they didn't learn in a book. So don't tell me it can't be done.

What this story screams loudly to the world is that there are 115 teenagers at this school who obviously have no other role models in their lives except for their already knocked up classmates. It's truly sad, but also inexcusable. This country can no longer afford such moral bankruptcy. Often, value systems are learned long before a kid's first day at school. Which is why parents are truly indispensable and beyond valuation.

Chicago is a hot mess anyway. Although, it is just another state in America with a lot of shame. American families has gone to the dogs. There is no true responsibility shows anywhere.

Now these young girls are birthing more delinquents to run a muck in the streets committing violent crimes.

I meant...

"There is no true responsibility SHOWN anywhere"

Sallysal, I would argue that children are much less prepared for the real world when they're not allowed to leave the house and socialize with other children their age. I find your comments about the public school system to be offensive.

Me too, chole. If, Sallysal, you think the best thing for YOUR children is to homeschool them, then great. That's your right as a parent. I will send my children to school - gasp! public school - because I think it's important for them to meet and be friends with children from all walks of life. I know home school kids socialize... but it's often with OTHER home school kids, correct?

And, for the record, I went to public school - for elem., middle, high school, college, AND law school... and I managed not to procreate before marriage (I've actually been married for 4 years, am a lawyer, and own my home).

The public school system has its flaws but there is good.

chloe bella said-"Sallysal, I would argue that children are much less prepared for the real world when they're not allowed to leave the house and socialize with other children their age"

Correction. Despite the fact that my kids were home-schooled, growing up they were nonetheless permitted and encouraged to go out and socialize with kids their own age, join clubs and get involved in sports and other community organizations and activities, which they did. If your idea of 'socialization' for children extends no further than the public school system, then you obviously have no clue what it means to provide an EDUCATION for your kids as an alternative to what the state offers. Please, I didn't keep them in a closet! They weren't sheltered, and they were exposed to their share of typical adolescent influences growing up.

"I find your comments about the public school system to be offensive"

If you're referring my extreme prejudice toward the mentality some people have that says, "the state should shoulder the burden of responsibility when it comes to teaching my child how not to get pregnant, not to do drugs, commit violent acts, et cetera", THANK YOU! I'll gladly take that one on the chin. Be offended. But you missed my point altogether I think. If you want the public school system to babysit your kids for you, be my guest. I just hope you've labored to instill in them the necessary values that will carry them on to graduate and desire to go to college BEFORE the other kids in school get to them.

Granted, some schools are better than others. Palm Desert High School, just down the street from where my sister lives in southern California has one of the highest percentage of graduating seniors in the country (and a very low percentage of teen pregnancies). It was a personal choice for me, I feel I gave my kids a fighting chance by placing them in a controlled environment devoid of all the unnecessary 'distractions' typical to the public school system. I feel I made the right choice, and so do they.
But thanks for your comment! God bless you.

I was home-schooled through middle school after my parents believed public schools in the area had failed my sister and I. IT WAS THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! I still feel as though I lack some social skills today, although I participated in other extra-curricular activities. I was lucky enough to convince my parents to go back for high school and worked very hard to get to where I am today, in college. I will never do that to my kids because I missed out on a lot of growing experiences. Plus there is a stigmatism with homeschooling that makes people look at you like you are a religious hermit or something (definitely did not fall under that type of home schooling).

What I wanted to comment about before I read the previous comments was that to simply state that pregnant teens should be carted away and placed in separate facilities is unconstitutional. That is segregation! If the woman wants to go to school NO ONE should stop her but her own personal goals. People make mistakes, but getting pregnant isn't a crime and teens shouldn't be punished, but rather taught before this situation occurs. And yes, poverty and teen pregnancy have a strong positive correlation. We as a society need to initiate programs that can help prevent things like this from happening because it really is one of the first steps to being a welfare dependent mother. Parenting has gone to the wayside these days and in order to fix that we can't just put blame on everyone.

I agree, homeschooling is not for everyone. I did fine in the public school system and so far my children are doing well in it too. I do agree though, as I stated in my last post, open communication is key to parenting.

Oh my God! 115 pregnancies out of 800 girls? Are u kidding me? That's roughly what, 14 percent?! I've never heard of anything like this except maybe in some THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!! OK, I'm going to have to side with Sallysal on this. And I don't think you guys understand what she's getting at. She didn't say you couldn't get an education in a public school, she just said you couldn't get a 'quality' education, quality, as in, kids being instilled with proper values and enough self-esteen to NOT get themselves pregnant as a teenager!! Education is not just about writing and arithmetic, it's a combination of things. Think about it.

You guys are trashing Sallysal for being honest. Would this have happened in a private school setting where mommy and daddy are paying big bucks to make sure little Suzie gets into Harvard? Maybe. But more than likely little Suzie has higher aspirations than a welfare check and some huggies! And you can thank who for that? MOM AND DAD!!

Look closely enough and you'll discover that the real problem isn't the school system or wanting to be popular, it's mommy and daddy, or the lack thereof.

No financial troubles may also mean that the parent(s) have to work twice as hard to afford the basics. Parents work more so kids are left alone longer. Has nothing to do with poor people being more fertile. Also why is it the principal's fault??? Sounds like more than 1 person is to blame and I would start with the kid! I agree with the person who said personal responsiblity!!

i have to agree with CaterpillarGirl

It's amusing to read comments on a site primarily read by middle class white women try to dissect exactly what the problem is at this predominantly African American and poor inner city school.

Sallysal, your understanding of issues outside your sheltered little world is breathtaking, truly breathtaking.

I am offended by Sallysal's comment that public schools cannot provide a "quality education." Like she says, parenting has a lot to do with how kids will turn out and the choices they will make later in life, and many do put the responsibility of teaching their children about "the real world" on the shoulders of the state, but in most cases I think that public schooling provides a better overall education than homeschooling could, unless you know all about algebra 2, calculus, statistics and probability; grammar such as infinitives, participles, gerunds, noun, adverb, and adjective clauses as well as great literature, sciences such as physics, chemistry and forensics,Spanish, German, Latin, Chinese, French, and many different types of history, which are all things that are taught at my PUBLIC SCHOOL. Now, from what I inferred, your implication was that a public school couldn't possibly teach all these things, and not every student learns them, but the point is that public schools do offer a very high-quality education. The parents of most of the pregnant girls probably wouldn't put forth the effort to give them a great home-school education anyway. Some aspects of this problem may be blamed on the public school system, but the majority cannot be, so stop trashing it, please.

I think the problem is that all public schools are not equal. Like someone stated earlier, most of us come from (I assume and could be very wrong) white middle class families and have been lucky enough to attend decent public schools. This is something that needs to be fixed. I believe public schools provide a wonderful service to our country, but I think everyone can agree they could be greatly improved. It really depends where you live in the US and obviously there are huge discrepancies between a rich, suburban public school and an inner city school that could be fixed if we had federal standards set for education. I also believe this would help in reducing teen pregnancies as well as increasing our nation's intelligence overall.

@catepillar girl-oh please what do you think this is? the 1950's? removing pregant girls from classrooms won't shield other impressionable teens eyes from teen pregnancy and sexuality, they still have to face it in the media and in everyday society. the only purpose what you're suggesting would serve is to humiliate and castigate pregnant teens by segregating them and it would eventually probably lead to many of them dropping out of school, because history should tell us FORCED SEGREGATION IS INHERENTLY UNEQUAL. what these pregnant teens need is support and not being made to feel that their lives are over and all their opportunities are gone, if you force them into an "alternative" school that is exactly what would happen.

@sallysal- whatever your personal opinion on homeschooling may be not everybody has the opportunity to sit home all day to homeschool their kids, and some people aren't able to be there when their children get home do to work constraints. no one is expecting the school system to raise their children, they are expecting the school system to do what it was created for, to educate and inform children. part of that should be comprehensive sex education that includes a full explaination of birth control. and really quit being so smug about kids who are homeschooled, because every situation has it's problems like homeschooled kids who are sheltered and barely have any socialization skills to homeschooled kids with a spotty educational opportunites because their parents were only comfortable or knowledgeable in a few subjects.

no your completely right caterpillargirl in fact we should just ship them of to an island, because lord knows after that all teenagers will stop having sex and getting pregnant. Or..........we could start with prevention.

Wow. The amount of BS being spewed out by most of the people posting here is absolutely staggering!

sloane220@ Comprehensive sex education and a full explanation of birth control? I'm curious, what else do you feel the state should be charged with teaching our children? Do you really think that a public high school is a better place to teach kids about the birds and the bees and contraception than at home? And how soon should we start? High school? How about middle school? Kindergarten?
Trust me, whatever misconceptions you have regarding the role that educators in the public school system should play in disclosing the proper methods of birth control to children as well as what the physical and emotional consequences of having sex are, IT IS NOT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY. THAT'S WHAT PARENTS ARE FOR. Anybody who thinks that the government should be involved in their child's development as far as educating them in the area of sexuality, HAS NO BUSINESS HAVING CHILDREN.
Today the game is very different. Thanks to the Internet, book stores and the public library, parents have an almost inexhaustible (and often free) supply of educational materials to assist them in doing what should never be pawned off on somebody else, ESPECIALLY THE STATE! there aint no excuse for that!

zuke@ If you think that public schooling offers a better overall education than homeschooling does, you obviously know very little about the cirriculum. Nor do you have any knowledge of the extremely high standards which enable home-schooled kids to excel in just about every academic area imaginable and post consistently higher scores on college entrace examinations than their public educated friends do. Most home-schooling programs are anything but cheap, for a reason (it's basically the same curiculum used in private schools), and EVERY subject you named is available, WITHOUT ALL THE DISTRACTIONS!

And finally, whoever wrote about middle class white women trying to dissect what the problem is in predominately black and poor inner city schools, please! Yeah, let me tell you something, the reason why there's a high school full of teenage girls who are pregnant and/or raising kids has nothing to with what color they are or where they live. It has EVERYTHING to do WHO THEY PERCEIVE THEMSELVES TO BE WHEN THEY LOOK IN THE MIRROR. And who is responsible for that? That's right, MOM AND DAD. Poor, black, disenfranchised, whatever excuse you want to use, it's still a mommy and daddy problem, period.

I strongly agree with TrT

Where are the community black leaders as well as nationally known black entertainers on this teenage pregnancy topic? Robeson High School has a primarily a black student body. It is time for black leaders to get their voices and faces on TV and in newspapers and tell these girls how shameful these teenage pregnancies are to the black race. This teenage pregnancy thing cannot be blamed on racism or the ills of society. It is a personal responsibility.

Worst yet, the children of these teenage mothers are looking at a long road of hardship and pain and no stable male figures in their life. The final step is the children of these teenagers will most likely end up in jail and prison. Black America wake up. Slavery ended 400 years ago.

The last thing we need to do is remove the girls from the classroom. My mom got pregnant with my brother when she was 16. The minute she started showing the school told her she couldn't attend anymore because she was a bad influence on the other girls. The highest grade she completed was 9th grade and although she married the father (my dad), she has no job skills whatsoever to have ever had a job better than K-mart, Walmart, etc. The last thing these girls need is another barrier to prevent them from a better life.

The problem is in the community. Unfortunately (and realistically), if the parents are not doing their job in setting a healthy, safe household and instilling values and morals in their children, shouldn't the school try to at least do something to help these kids towards a brighter future than repeating the cycle their parents are living in?

TrT - not everyone can afford to send their kids to private schools, or have a parents stay home and home-school their kids. And who is to homeschool the child if the parents themselves are not educated enough to teach the children. By the time I hit middle school, my parents could no longer help me on homework. Yes - the parents are not doing a good job and are failing their children. So what, as a society, we should just let these children continue to fail and be doomed to perpetuate the problems of their community because - well as you say, it's the parents problem and not the state or schools problem.

The parents aren't teaching their kids about sex ed so somebody should. I bet you would find a lot of these households in this neighborhood are too poor to afford internet or buy books at the book store for the kids to educate themselves on sex ed. Why is sex ed so taboo in public school? My public school taught it in 5th grade, 7th grade and 8th grade. In 8th grade, we all watched the birthing video, learned how to put condoms on bananas, and about birth control. I can recall maybe 3 girls who got pregnant while I was in highschool and we had 2,000+ students. Kids are going to have sex regardless, the least the school can do is give them the knowledge about protection to try and prevent pregnancy.

jerkoneforme- you sure are a jerk and idiot too. it STARTED OVER 400 years ago. slavery in the united states ended officialy ended 1865, LESS THAN 200 YEARS AGO. and then there was 100 years of legalized segregation, hangings, burnings, castrations, educational opportunities, accomodations, and rapes. so get it f*cking right you f**king racist buffoon. don't EVER blame racism on black people. we didn't subject ourselves to it and we did NOTHING to deserve slavery or institutionialized racism 100 years ago or today. pregnant teens aren't shameful to any race, including the black race. they are PEOPLE, and they may have made a mistake but that doesn't mean they have to be ostracized and castigated particularly by public figures who don't even know them. are you saying that white community leaders and sports stars should have come out to make fun of those white teenage girls who made a pregnancy pact last year? i mean wtf? your false concern for the black community is showing. using a misfortune in the black imporverished community as a vehicle to spew your racist screed is disgusting.

trt- you can scream personal responsibility all you want but if parents don't have the money, time, or resources to provide homeschooling, then it's up to the community which provides education to give these children a comprehensive education, including sex ed. your personal opinions on what constitutes an appropriate parent is not going to stop people who don't think JUST LIKE YOU from having kids, SORRY. so you just homeschool your kids, while people who have to work all day and have lives and pay property taxes send their kids to school and expect the public school do what it's there for, to educate their children. and i do believe that small children should be introduced to the concept of sex education at an age appropriate level. and btw, society can have a negative effect on the self image of anyone, no matter what their family tells them. what do you think the message the media and society at large gives about black impoverished teens is. LOL, i'm sure you don't think it's a positive and affirming one. is it any suprise a lot of these teens have self esteem and self image problems, and a nihilistic attitude and don't think about tommorow. hell, i'm black and middle class, and grew up with VERY involved parents and i had issues with self esteem and self worth growing up in a very white world.

I agree with Hiding55. Religious freaks and their 1850's way of thinking need to be kept out of school. Most teenagers are having sex, some are unfortunate and get pregnant. It doesn't make them below the ones who don't get knocked up.

@ Sloane220, you said everything in your last two posts that I was going to say. Thank you for pointing out the racism and ignorance in that post. I was very angry after having read what jerkoneforme had written. Sadly her thoughts are probably pretty indicative of what most people think of this situation and ones like it.

Public schools have many faults for a variety of reasons but it is not their fault that these girls are pregnant. Homeschooling your children will not solve the problem either. It is very sad that this is happening in such large numbers but instead of pointing fingers I would like to see real ideas on how to fix this.

I think that the root of the problem IS self esteem and a desire to be loved. Not that they are purposly having babies in order to get love and attention but that the attention provided by the boys that get children on them is very compelling.

Also there has been very little discussion here of the boys/men that got these girls pregnant. I would like to know more about them. It is extremely unfair that they would escape the consequences of their actions.

I agree the boys need to be made responsible for their actions.

Personally I think girls should carry condoms in their handbags/purses but not everyone is going to do this for a variety of reasons. Ironically though this story appears on the same page as a feature about Doctors refusing to subscribe the pill on moral grounds; say no more!

Where does it say that they taught abstinence?