June 20, 200818 yr Schoolgirls 'made pregnancy pact to have babies' ... now 17 of them are expecting By David Gardner Last updated at 3:02 PM on 20th June 2008 Comments (9) Add to My Stories School officials in America are investigating claims that a group of underage girls made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. The pledge came to light in Gloucester, Massachusetts, after several girl pupils kept returning to the school clinic for pregnancy tests and were distraught to find the results were negative. The students with positive tests celebrated with high fives and immediately started making plans for baby showers. Scroll down for more Michael Cera and Ellen Page, who played Juno MacGuff, starred in the 2007 film. Comedies like Juno are blamed for a spike in pregnancies in some U.S. schools About eight girls - all aged under 16 - are believed to have decided to try and conceive at the same time. And, according to Time magazine, the girls weren’t necessarily too choosy about the fathers. One was said to be a 34-year-old homeless man. Parents and teachers believe hit comedies like ‘Juno’ and ‘KnockedUp’ that glamourised young unwed mothers may have played a part in the sudden rise in pregnancies at the New England secondary school. In all, 17 girls are pregnant at the 1,200-student school, more than four times the number last year. Comedies like KnockedUp glamourised young unwed mothers, some critics say The scandal has divided the fiercely Catholic, mostly white, fishing town perched on scenic Cape Ann that has been hit by high unemployment in recent years. Angry parents resisted plans to hand out contraceptives at the school after the nurse on campus carried out more than 150 pregnancy tests. The nurse and the school's medical director are said to have resigned in protest following hostility from the community over proposals to prescribe contraceptives regardless of parental consent. Family groups have blasted ‘Juno’ in particular for its controversial storyline involving a schoolgirl’s handling of an unwanted pregnancy. The comedy won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay earlier this year and a Best Actress nomination for star Ellen Page. Gloucester High School headmaster Joseph Sullivan said officials started looking into the spike in pregnancies last October after an unusual number of girls filed into the clinic to see if they were expecting. ‘Some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were,’ he told Time. ‘We found out that one of the fathers is a 34-year-old homeless guy.’ The expectant mothers and their parents refused to give interviews. ‘Families are broken,’ said school superintendent Christopher Farmer. ‘Many of our young girls are growing up directionless.’ A classmate of the girls involved in the pregnancy pact added: ‘No-one’s offered them a better option.’
June 20, 200818 yr I live about 45 minutes from the town in question (Gloucester, Mass.), so this has been a big story on the local news. I think these girls are absolutely insane, but I don't think the movie "Juno" should be taking the blame for this.
June 20, 200818 yr Yeah, because it's always easier to blame a movie than talk about real issues. :dozey: Both in the press and in families and communities. If it's been influenced by the media at all, it probably has more to do with celebrity bump watch than any movie. Blame Angelina Jolie :freak: I wonder what that reporter would say if he'd ever seen "New Waterford Girl"... :laugh3::smug:
June 20, 200818 yr Author I live about 45 minutes from the town in question (Gloucester, Mass.), so this has been a big story on the local news. I think these girls are absolutely insane, but I don't think the movie "Juno" should be taking the blame for this. Juno? I reckon you could be right!!:rolleyes:
June 21, 200818 yr I've chosen not to see Juno because I thought it was glamorizing teen pregnancy, but most of my friends have seen it and they're not screwing everything that moves to get pregnant. :confused: These girls obviously have issues, or need to turn off the tube for a little bit. And we can't always blame the media, that's getting old. Blame the parents for not teaching them some morals and responsibilities! :angry: Sure, baby showers and baby clothes are fun, but X amount of hours in delivery and 18+ years of taking care of someone else won't be.
June 21, 200818 yr Just a lot of issues to deal with. Don't blame a movie, take responsibility for your own actions.
June 21, 200818 yr The movies didn't do it... If there's two things you'll never find a shortage of at a high school, it's attention-seeking, messed up kids and others who just haven't been raised correctly.
June 21, 200818 yr Amen to that. ^ Thank God I'm a seniorrr, graduating out of that b.s. this year. I don't know what these girls were thinking. They need help, seriously.
June 21, 200818 yr Yeah. Blame it on the movies, why don'tcha. This is creepy :freak: it is! D: For me anyway 'cuz they're like my age! Insane.
June 21, 200818 yr There must have been SOME warning signs, the parents/school couldn't have been that fucking oblivious. How could SEVENTEEN girls get pregnant before anyone noticed something strange was going on? Don't the parents know who their kids hang out with? Common sense would say that if at least 3 girls from the same clique all got pregnant something's going on. And why didn't any of their classmates snitch, er, report them? :P
June 21, 200818 yr ^ From what I'd heard on the local news, most of the girls got pregnant by older men who are not students. THAT'S just wrong. The article that mc_squared posted even said that one of them was a 34-year-old homeless man. Jenika, I can see how you'd think that "Juno" glamourizes teen pregnancy, but I've seen the movie and she gets pregnant by accident, as opposed to all these girls who are actively looking to get pregnant. I really don't think you can blame a movie for that kind of behaviour.
June 21, 200818 yr Sorry, but I just can't help thinking that the problem is not really these movies but rather the attitude towards sex, birth control etc.
June 21, 200818 yr having seen the film, it doesn't glamorise teen pregnancy. if anything it showcases how difficult it can be. Juno knows that she isn't ready for a child, and although not able to have an abortion, looks to adoption to give her baby a good home. although it is a comdey, and very funny, its quite serious too
June 22, 200818 yr Another...only in America? It's stories like these that make most in the world see America as a joke these days. Oh well as long as California is in the States I won't slate them.
June 22, 200818 yr Respect to the ladies Better to have a pregnancy pact instead of say a suicidal pact or a drug taking pact.
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