THE STORY of teenage girls in Gloucester making a secret pact to get pregnant has been irresistible fodder for TV talk shows and water cooler speculation. But it is a lot easier to blame the influence of celebrity teen mother Jamie Lynn Spears than it is to engage in a sober discussion about teaching responsible behavior in the public schools. Whether the students at Gloucester High made a pact or not, 17 young girls are pregnant too soon, likely condemning themselves to lifetimes of dependency and sharply narrowed horizons.
The pregnancy spike at Gloucester High is an aberration. Overall the number of teenage girls (ages 15 to 19) giving birth in this state is 21.3 per thousand, which is half the national rate, according to the state Department of Public Health. Gloucester's rate of teen births had been declining through 2006, the most recent year of DPH statistics.
But state and local policymakers failed the Gloucester students, by cutting off teen pregnancy prevention grants when revenues got tight on Beacon Hill, by offering spotty health education classes in the middle schools, and by not offering comprehensive reproductive healthcare in the high school clinic that the state does fund.
The clinic's partner, Northeast Health System of Beverly, also failed by not promoting access to birth control, including condoms, at the clinic, where the students' confidentiality could be assured. One hospital administrator was quoted worrying about liability should a teenager suffer ill health effects from taking birth control pills. But pregnancy is a greater health risk to a teenage girl than birth control medication.
Also, despite a recommendation from its own subcommittee, Governor Patrick's school readiness project does not include comprehensive health education, which includes sex education, even though pregnancy is a high risk factor for girls dropping out of school. What sex education there is in the Gloucester schools ends in ninth grade.
With the media circus whirling about them, Gloucester officials have struggled to regain their footing and are beginning to take some positive steps. The city will convene a meeting of nationally recognized experts in adolescent health over the summer, to help the Gloucester school committee adopt a clear, standardized policy for comprehensive health education this fall.
Also, Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts is offering free training for teachers and parents in a health curriculum that includes a focus on abstinence, comprehensive sex education where abstinence fails, wise decision-making, and parental involvement. These are the four elements - along with traditional education, college preparatory courses, and career training for today's job market - that have the power to combat an overwhelming cultural bias toward sexual activity at a young age.
Dr. Lauren Smith, medical director of the state DPH and a pediatrician, says that adolescents "tend to have a degree of magical thinking when it comes to the consequences of their life choices." The Gloucester girls may have romanticized what it means to be a mother at 16. That's no reason for the adults to engage in their own magical thinking: that teenagers won't have sex if no one talks about it.
