An epidemic of pregnancy
Number 2 Pencil
Yeeks:
This may seem impossible to you, but it’s true. Sixty-five — again, 65 — of Timken High School’s 490 girl students are pregnant. That’s a number confirmed by Principal Kim Redmond, whose staff, in less than a week, will inherit a problem it had no part in causing.
Whose fault is it that more than 13 percent of Timken’s girls are with child? Some would say fault-finding isn’t a fruitful exercise, but in this case, it’s critical. Suspects range from movies, TV and video games to lazy parents and lax discipline. Only one thing is sure: Schools don’t impregnate children.
“This has gotten to horrible proportions,” said Redmond. “I wish I knew the answer to why it’s happening.”
She’s not the only one who should wonder. McKinley High’s numbers aren’t rosy, either, and its culture is just as ripe for trouble. I recall a day there last spring, while waiting for an English class to let out, that a roomful of kids lauded a boy, no more than 16 or 17, for having become a “dad” the night before. A paper on the kid’s desk suggested he might struggle to spell that word.
Teenage pregnancy is a strong predictor of adult poverty; at least one study confirms that teenagers who become pregnant average two years fewer of education.
At GreatSchools.net, one Timken student defends the school, saying that it has a bad reputation only because of the "wanna-be rapper, gangsters, and the all american-sports players." And now, because of the girls who have chosen early sexual activity and parenthood over education.
kimberlyswygert.com |
