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by Fred Price
I often read newspaper editorials expressing viewpoints I don’t particularly agree with, trying to stay informed of what’s happening around me and aware of what others think. However, nationally published editorialist Kathleen Parker recently wrote an article I heartily agree with titled, It’s the Culture That’s Illegitimate! This week’s website article is based on her investigative reporting, some material repeated almost verbatim.
What a story! Teen girls make pregnancy pact! It captured our imaginations so readily not because it was so unbelievable but rather just the opposite. The original story, reported by Time magazine, was based on an interview with a high school principal in Gloucester, Mass. who claimed a recent spike in pregnancies at his school were the result of a pact among several students to intentionally get pregnant at roughly the same time. He has since been over-ruled by the town mayor and some of the mothers-to-be and has taken a timely vacation, offering no further comments. (While accurately confirming all the details of the pregnancies is admittedly problematic due to privacy concerns.)
However, seventeen year old Lindsey Oliver and her baby’s father, twenty year old Andrew Psalidas, appeared on “Good Morning America” saying the girls became pregnant at about the same time by coincidence; agreeing afterwards to stay in touch and help each other out. (Which is not to say some weren’t inspired by the plight – or good fortune of their fellow students, depending on your point of view – purposefully becoming pregnant in an attempt to escape the tedium of their lives or hoping to gain a companion and stability they possibly lack at home. Which is highly unlikely, as marriages resulting from such schemes rarely last much longer than the coupling that necessitates them.)
So now, without the pact, all we’re left with is the unfortunate fact of several babies soon to be born to children or, at best, near-adults; along with a number of questions. Like – Where’s Dad? Not the fathers of the soon-to-be-born babies, but the fathers of the soon-to-be mothers. That’s not to say bad or unfortunate things can’t happen in “good” families. But back in the day when birth control and abortions weren’t so readily available and fathers actually involved themselves in their kids’ lives, they served reasonably well as deterrents to misbehavior of all kinds; girls likewise being less likely to risk pregnancy when alternatives to motherhood outside of adoption were few. The specter of life-long consequences, combined with societal and parental disapproval, contributing to lower birth rates among teens as well. It certainly wasn’t a foolproof system, as with the much maligned faith-based abstinence programs; but they are viable alternatives grounded in morality and integrity that views young people as something more than rutting animals who can’t help but engage in sex wherever, however and whenever opportunity presents itself.
Solid investigative research has revealed that fewer fathers in the home giving young men THE EYE, or teaching their own boys about respect, restraint and responsibility, contribute heavily to the current epidemic of illegitimate births. Yet today, using the term “illegitimate” is more likely to incite disapproval than the activity that creates unplanned, unwanted, unwed pregnancies. And although it’s impossible to confirm at this point, it’s a fair guess that at least some of Gloucester’s pregnant daughters are from fatherless homes or reside in a house with disengaged, preoccupied heads-of-households.
That “guess”, founded on the above-mentioned research, showcases a strong correlation between a father’s absence and heightened risks for early sexual experimentation and STD’s, as well as unwanted pregnancies. Fathers not only providing the masculine affection so many girls ultimately seek elsewhere when its not expressed at home; but teaching their girls – when present – how to handle male sexual aggression and an understanding of their own role in possibly stimulating that aggression.
The debate surrounding these girls and their motives has up to this point made little mention of the family dynamics that often contribute to the present epidemic of children having children. Instead, most comments center on whether these girls – and their boyfriends – had enough access to sex education and contraceptives. Other conversations skirting the question of how much influence such movies as “Juno” may exert; which romanticize and even glamorize teen pregnancy.
Regardless of what all actually contributed to the happenings in Gloucester, we do know this much; today’s young people are bombarded daily by insinuation, innuendo and finally – explicit sexual images, both as entertainment and education by a culture that offers little instruction in responsibility and self-control; single motherhood and fatherhood in absentia often celebrated and even encouraged. Even as those doing much of the celebrating and encouraging offer little advice to single mothers suddenly entangled in poverty, despair, depression and, at times, disease – except directions to the nearest abortion clinic.
The real surprise isn’t that these 17 girls are pregnant at this Gloucester high school, but that there aren’t a lot more.
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Fred Price - married (50 years), father of two grown children, grandfather of six.
Fred retired earlier this year after 42 years as a factory worker. He has always had a heart for young people and the challenges they face today. Over the years Fred has taught Discipleship Groups for High School and college students.
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