Teens had pact to get pregnant, report says
Debate renewed in Gloucester
Gloucester school officials have discovered at least part of the reason that their high school pregnancy rate has more than quadrupled over the past year, according to a Time magazine story that hits newsstands today.
"Nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together," the magazine's story said, after reporters talked with Joseph Sullivan, Gloucester High School principal.
Seventeen girls at the 1,200-student Gloucester High have gotten pregnant over the school year, more than four times the average number. The spike has shocked and baffled education and health officials there and reignited a fierce debate about contraception in schools. But many told the Globe last month that the most alarming facts were that a significant portion of the expecting girls were 16 and younger and that some seemed to be intentional.
"More students are coming in and asking about pregnancy testing," the city's public health director, Jack Vondras, told the Globe last month. "What's odd is that some of them are disappointed because they're not getting pregnant."
In addition, at least some of the men involved in the pregnancies are in their mid-20s, a fact that prompted Mayor Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester to ask about statutory rape charges at last month's School Committee meeting.
Kirk and other Gloucester officials could not be reached for comment last night, but Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, called the revelation, "distressing."
Adults in the city need to do a better job of showing teen girls a pathway to adulthood that includes something other than parenting, she said.
"When it comes to sex, a lot of communities struggle to be forthright," she said. "People in Gloucester need to look at using what feels like a crisis as an opportunity to improve services and support."
Tania deLuzuriaga can be reached at deluzuriaga@globe.com.
