Juno Fever?

[Miranda]

17 teenage girls from a Massachusetts high school are pregnant after they formed a pregnancy pact, according to reports Thursday.

The 17 pregnant girls, who all attend Gloucester High School, formed the pregnancy pact in order to have children and raise them together. Last October, the girls went to the school clinic to get pregnancy tests and were very upset every time they found they were not pregnant.

According to reports on Friday, the number of pregnant teens has increased to 18. All of the girls are under the age of 16. The majority of the fathers are not students with most of them 20 years old or older, including one 24-year old homeless man.

The teens are expected to give birth soon while their classmates enjoy their summer vacation.

Since the girls are under the age of consent in Massachusetts, the fathers face the possibility of being prosecuted for statutory rape. However, in addition, under Massachusetts State Law 51-A, teachers, parents and any other caretakers can be prosecuted for endangering the lives of the girls.

The first news of the pact was published in the Gloucester Daily News in March when Gloucester High School principal Joseph Sullivan said that he believed girls were getting pregnant on purpose.

On Wednesday, Sullivan told Time Magazine that the girls confessed to the pact after the school investigated the sudden spike in pregnancies at the school. Under normal circumstances, there are just four pregnancies each year at the school.

Superintendent Christopher Farmer confirmed the pact, saying the girls had "an agreement to get pregnant." Farmer also said the girls are generally "girls who lack self-esteem and have a lack of love in their life."

Gloucester, a devout Catholic city 30 miles north of Boston, is now wondering if they should offer contrasceptives at the school, which contradicts the tenets of Catholicism.

Trans World News 2008

[sass_in_the_pants]

If the girls were trying to get pregnant, why would offering contraceptives make a difference?

[TygerLili]

Ewww...STD tests, anyone?

[Msterbeau]

STD tests? How about a psychiatric exam first? I know teens suffer from a form of temporary insanity, but sheesh..

[tanuki1985]

Sounds like the high school in Southgate. No kidding.

[Rev.Reverence]

STD tests? How about a psychiatric exam first? I know teens suffer from a form of temporary insanity, but sheesh..

+1

*crys*

[Head Wreck]

and thus proves my rather cynical point that people are highly amusing in the fuck ups

[phee]

Sounds like Marc took a tour of the school in Mass....

[Homicidalheathen]

I knew a girl who couldnt wait to start havin babies.

She had her first at 16

Also admitted she wanted unconditional love because her family life was horrible

Her b/f dumped her....

She ended up with three kids one is in a mental institution

She seems ok and stable now, but her daughter just turned 16 and she is pregnant.

Just like mom.

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

@ phee :oh come on, that was a little harsh...

he's not homeless

[phee]

@ phee :oh come on, that was a little harsh...

he's not homeless

oops sorry

[TygerLili]

STD tests? How about a psychiatric exam first? I know teens suffer from a form of temporary insanity, but sheesh..

Obviously the girls have issues, but that's going to take years of therapy and court involvement to sort through, if it ever can be.

At least 18 girls, there were probably a few more who made the pact and haven't succeeded in getting pregnant yet, were having unprotected sex with lord-knows-how-many random older (homeless) guys. My primary concern in that situation would be who's spreading around HIV and stuff.

[Goth Brooks]

Where were these girls when I was back home? :(

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Often when i hear the "Idiot kid" type stories endangering themselves in one way or another I wonder about the parents and such. Other times I just think "Gene/meme pool cleaning itself out..." But in this case its idiot kids (and parents/caregivers) spreading the genes/memes... scary.

While these particular kids are worrisome, I worry more about the idea spreading via the media and/or spreading down through generations/culture.

[ttogreh]

Diablo Cody certainly did not plan on this being the result of her film. This is just proof that parents need to provide context to the images and themes that children see. Hopefully this is just a blip on the radar screen, and we will not see any more of this.

By the way, four pregnancies a year at a devoutly Catholic high school is the norm? That speaks volumes to me, already.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

By the way, four pregnancies a year at a devoutly Catholic high school is the norm? That speaks volumes to me, already.

We'd have to know how many kids per pregnancy and if that's is up or down from the average (along with a lot of other variables), to really know if that is telling or not. Otherwise its just sort of a hunch type thing. What i remember from high school and how many girls I guess got pregnant or how many we "feel" should be getting pregnant, for instance, wouldn't be all that helpful as a yardstick, we need actual data. I'm sure there is at least some data on this, but what it is I'm ignorant of.

[creatureofthenyte]

What this is also proof of is : that some parents don't have a fuckin clue as to what's going on in their kids' lives these days. It wouldn't surprise me if some or all of these kids were having sex and getting pregnant, Right under their jackass parents' noses !

I hope these kids' parents get prosecuted too!

[sass_in_the_pants]

Where were these girls when I was back home? :(

omg...that is just so wrong

By the way, four pregnancies a year at a devoutly Catholic high school is the norm? That speaks volumes to me, already.

I AM curious as to what a newspaper considers devout.

And Troy's right about the numbers thing...I want to say our HS of about 1200 kids had two - three pregnancies a year.

[n0Mad]

If I were in charge I'd split up all the girls and make them live with relatives or something in other states so they have to raise their babies alone. Ha, take that pact! Then I'd get all the guys jobs making license plates and cleaning up trash at the side of the road (ie, incarceration) and 100% of their pay would go towards medical bills for the girls.

[Msterbeau]

Here's what really makes me wonder... Why didn't they find guys that were at least intelligent or handsome or at least lived in a house??? How hard can it be to get some nerdy teen guy to have sex? :-)

[ttogreh]

Intelligent, handsome guys that live in houses don't fuck nutjob catholic schoolgirl minors, at least not without protection. A nerdy teen guy... well, maybe these girls in their obviously impaired mindset could not see the forest for the trees.

[Rev.Reverence]

Here's what really makes me wonder... Why didn't they find guys that were at least intelligent or handsome or at least lived in a house??? How hard can it be to get some nerdy teen guy to have sex? :-)

I doubt they were selective towards the genes they were procuring...probably looked at it like a shopping excursion.

Even if these girls knew about selective breeding practices...I doubt the nerd boys were dumb enough to go for it!

[the eternal]

This makes me sad.

I mean, here are women who feel they have no life, so they're creating new life and in the process making things so hard for themselves.

I hate to sound like a conservative asshat but I wish their parents hugged them a little more, encouraged them, and gave them hope to follow their dreams, something, anything.

When you're so hopeless, you feel the need to create life to make yours worth living, that's about as low as can be.

(And selfish)

[industrial_girl_2000]

17 teenage girls from a Massachusetts high school are pregnant after they formed a pregnancy pact, according to reports Thursday.

What a bunch of stupid hoes.

The worst part is that they will all end up on the welfare system, with us taxpayers having to pay for this bullshit.

Am I PO'd? Yes. I feel sorry for the tax payers in Massachusetts who actually WORK for a living to pay for ridiculous hoes like these girls.

Send the be-yatches to Iraq & let Iraq deal with them.

[tanuki1985]

What a bunch of stupid hoes.

The worst part is that they will all end up on the welfare system, with us taxpayers having to pay for this bullshit.

Am I PO'd? Yes. I feel sorry for the tax payers in Massachusetts who actually WORK for a living to pay for ridiculous hoes like these girls.

Send the be-yatches to Iraq & let Iraq deal with them.

Very well said.