posted August 29, 2005 01:58 PM         

UPDATED: 10:19 am EDT August 26, 2005

CANTON, Ohio -- There are 490 female students at Timken High School, and 65 are pregnant, NewsChannel5 reported.

Some would say that movies, TV, videogames, lazy parents and lax discipline may all be to blame.

School officials are not sure what has contributed to so many pregnancies, but in response to them, the school is launching a three-prong educational program to address pregnancy, prevention and parenting.

WEWS also reported that students will face mounting tensions created by unplanned child-rearing responsibilities, causing students to quit school and plan for a GED. This will make it difficult for the Canton City School District to shake its academic watch designation by the state.

According to the Canton Health Department, statistics through July show that 104 of the 586 babies born to Canton residents in Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center had mothers between 11 and 19.

WEWS discovered that the non-Canton rate was 7 percent. Canton was 15 percent.

Cleveland's rate is 20 percent.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4885861/detail.html

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OMG! Do these girls even have parents? I seriously doubt this has anything to do with video games, movies, or TV. I'm sorry... but all of those girls' (and boys') parents need to have their heads knocked together.

Much like Colombine... if only their parents paid attention to what they are up to.

posted August 29, 2005 08:58 PM         

That is pretty shocking. I can't even fathom such things.

posted August 30, 2005 02:04 AM         

Seriously... I was still playing with my barbies! I doubt I could have held a boy's hand without giggling too hard to hold it for too long.

My oldest is going to be 9 in about a month. That's not much older than her.

This story is extra frustrating for me because I feel like my dad is a lazy parent that could end up with a pregnant teen at home.

My sister is going to be 17 soon. Dad doesn't have any rules. She doesn't have any responsibilities. She hasn't completed a full year of school since the 5th grade. She's been enrolled in just about every school in the area since junior high.

She has all sorts of excuses for not going to school, and my dad just allows it. Absolutely nothing is required of her in life.

She cleans the house for money... except he always buys into paying her first, and she never does it. If she does she does a crappy job.

Its frustrating because I can't really do anything about it. She is not my child, she is my sister. My dad knows I believe he is failing her... he's already failed my 19 year old brother in basically the same way.

A couple days ago I suggested to my sister that she cut down on the partying once school starts up again. (She does this every year.) She said it will be fine as long as she keeps the partying to the weekends. I said that she had already tried that path, and perhaps she should try another path she hasn't tried yet... one where you focus on school, and maybe treat yourself with partying once you have actually earned it.

Boy howdy did she get PO'd! Oh well though... someone needs to hit that girl with a dose of honesty.

I talked to my dad about the incident later that day, and he blew me away. He told me that it is useless for any of us to try to tell her not to spend all of her (17 year old) time partying. She is going to do what she is going to do. Its just going to make her mad if we try to stop her.

That's when I realized... I'm not this kid's mom, no matter how much she treats me like a mother... no matter how much she wishes I were actually her mother. I'm not. He is her parent. He is molding her. It is not my job.

Damn people! If they would just friggin' listen to me..... sheesh! Don't they know I'm all knowing?

Its just that it seems so plain to me that you need impose yourself on your kids. Like it or not... you need to be all up in their business making sure they are taking care of their business. Why isn't it plain to everyone? If you don't want your kids to screw up their lives, you need to be involved. Granted, the child has free will and can screw up their lives while you're watching. Sure seems a helluva lot less likely.

And that will conclude my rant for the evening. Thanks for listening.

posted August 30, 2005 03:30 AM         

Of course those children whose parents really take time to talk to them about repercussions of having sex early or having it without protection, have a definite advantage.

I think the father's presence and influence in teenage girl's life is very important as well. I've researched this specifically because I grew up without a father and I believe it impacted the way I related to the opposite sex and made me more vulnerable to being persuaded into having sex.

On the other hand my mother was very loving and supportive of me growing up. She did subtly let me know having sex too young was wrong, though she could've talked to me more openly about it. I was like her little girl, so it was akward for us to talk about things like sex. I think it would've helped me if we did.

I don't if having sex when your 16 or 17 is necessarily wrong. I'm undecided on that. I belief many girls are confused at that age though. I think most could easily go through high school without having sex, but some of the more naive girls who lack solid foundations succomb to the pressure from guys that they don't even love or want to have sex with. Why, because teenage guys can be VERY persistant, even manipulative with girls. Not only are their hormones raging, but they encouraged to "score" from their guy friends. So here on one side, you have guys openly talking about having sex and giving props to the ones that have a track record. They are encouraged to explore their sexuality from a much younger age and now with porn so easily accessible, they are not strangers to sex in high school. On the other side, girls don't speak of their sexual experiences with their girlfriends at all or least not in the manner guys do. Its in a more confidential way because girls have a stigma about having sex in high school. They gossip about girls who are thought to be promiscuous and refer to them as slutty. A girl's sexuality is very underdeveloped in high school. They are sent more messages about remaining pure and innocent from parents and society. Also the sexual images we see in the media are more directed at guys.
Now, put these two together and you do the math. The girl who's had more guidance from her parents about how to say no and handle pressure from guys will probably not end up pregnant. But the girl who lacks that guidance will meet this pressure completely naive and unprepared and is at much greater risk of being another pregnant high school statistic. I was the second girl. It makes me really upsets when I think about it. The impact that it has on many girls is really sad.

That was refering to girls who end up giving into pressure to have sex from a guy they don't know very well or love. There are also girls and guys who fall in love and take their time to explore their sexual attraction to each other and then having sex is almost inevitable if the relationship lasts for a long time. This is where I'm torn. I don't really think its wrong for two high schoolers to have sex if its in a loving way and most importantly its on the girls terms. If she doesn't feel she's being pressured to have sex and wants it wholeheartedly, then why is it wrong? This is where I think education of using protection is VERY important. The sad thing is many girls are afraid to talk to their parents when they start having sex and therefore have a hard time getting birth control or even education on using protection.

So in conclusion I think the media influence mostly on guys(tv, video games, magazines, porn) AND lack of parental guidance are both major reasons why 65 girls are pregnant at that high school. Thats just my assesment, having just come from high school. Sorry that was so long!