How to Deal with Teen Pregnancy in Schools

Last night I felt the full wrath of being a woman when the Lifetime movie The Pregnancy Project came on television. I knew that I had to watch it because of the drama and tears I was sure that it held. What I was not prepared for was actually learning a lesson from the low-budget film.

The Pregnancy Project tells the true story of a high school teen that faked her own pregnancy as her senior project. Only a few people knew that it was a lie and most students, teachers, and people in her family were left in the dark about it. She gave the people who were helping her with the project journals and they would write down anything they heard someone say about her. Everyone was extremely judgmental and stereotyped her based on what they saw in movies and on television about teen pregnancy. Nobody believed that she could have any kind of life if she was going to be a mother. When she finally took off her fake belly at an assembly in front of the whole school, everyone realized the horrible things they had said and how those stereotypes had taken away the person behind them.

What I was really inspired by in this film was one of her teachers that supported her throughout. It made me think about how I might deal with the very real possibility of having a pregnant student in my own classroom. After seeing the film, I now feel like the best way to approach the situation is to let the student know you are there for them and encourage them to continue going after their dreams. As an educator, you cannot always hear or control what other students may say, but you can help the pregnant student to know they are supported and you see them for the person they are instead of the person they are carrying. I think the idea of really supporting and knowing what is going on with students is essential to be the kind of role model and teacher that I plan to be.

Below is the trailer for The Pregnancy Project if you want to check it out:

How would you deal with a pregnant or stereotyped student? 

Pushing Through to Inspire

I will be the first person to admit that I can be a real quitter. It is probably part my large imagination, unrealistic expectations, and general laziness that keep me from accomplishing my goals, but nonetheless- a lot of things that I want to do get thrown by the wayside. I’m talking musical instruments, trips, room decorating, diets, and the list could go on and on with dead hobbies.

Academically, I have done everything that I set out to do and more. I graduated from high school, went to college directly from there, studied abroad in England, graduated from undergraduate a semester early, and headed to graduate school directly from that. My goals in school seem oddly simple and routine to set, work towards, and reach. I do the work, grumble about hating to do the work, procrastinate until the last minute, and somehow it all turns out beautifully.

So, why am I writing this?

Well, it’s time to quit quitting. As someone who hopes to foster a positive environment and inspire my students to achieve their dreams, I have to begin to reach into the extracurricular. I think that I need it for my ability to be a role model and for my own personal gain. So the question is, what am I going to do?

I have decided to try and do the thing that is most outside my regular personality and skill set: running.

Not being able to run is something that I have always wanted to change about myself. It is a constant source of heckling from my athletic friends and it has inhibited me from participating in a lot of sports and games as a camp counselor that I wanted to join in on. I’m not sure if I am just extremely out of shape or if I am just doing it wrong. I know that sounds silly, but last time I went running it was in the morning and I was only out for 30 minutes. By the afternoon, I had the flu and I was so sick I couldn’t leave my bed for about three weeks (a story my athletic friends again found hilarious).

To turn this around, I plan to start training for the 2013 Disney Princess Half-Marathon in Disney World. The race is held in Disney and it is 13.1 miles circling the park. I like the idea of having something whimsical and fun to work towards when I know the training will be painful and dull. Each runner must do each mile in 16 minutes or under, but they say to train for under in case you need breaks on the way. I’m not sure quite yet what I am going to do as far as training, but I hope to go to a gym soon and talk to a trainer about exercises that will help me endure the race. I think this will be an excellent way to prove my strength to myself and others and it will give me a fun way to show children that anything is possible.

To leave you all off, here is a picture I found from an unknown source that sums me up as of now:

I'm more than ready to look like the top picture! 

Children and Technology

As a product of what I would consider the beginnings of the digital generation, I cannot imagine a time before there was at least a computer in my home. Hours, days, and weeks of my life have been spread over the Internet with the rise of social networking around my middle school days… but it was entirely my doing and my choice. It is impossible to imagine if it had been out of my control.

I am currently working on my master’s degree to be a high school teacher. I love the idea of teaching children to access the positive benefits of the technology that daily assaults them, but I have to admit that an article entitled "Bringing Up Baby in the Digital Age" by Martin Lindstrom has caused me to second guess the exposure children are garnering from social networking.

Lindstrom reports the findings of Internet security firm AVG, which reported that: “92% of American children have an online footprint before the ripe old age of 2 years old.”

92% before most children can form sentences.

The facts become more startling when he states, “their digital presence often begins with their first image- a sonogram- being posted online.” Of course, many of my pregnant friends have 3D and the, ever-so-creepy, “4D” sonograms of their unborn children on Facebook, but until now it has always been just a way to show their excitement in my eyes. While I at least think my personal friends have stopped there, “7% (of children) are born with a pre-established email address, and a further 5% have a social network profile.”

With these statistics, every student I have at age 14 or so will have a fully established, documented, and heavily broadcast life available on the Internet. Is it right for me as an educator to add to this pile?

Lindstrom spent time with 10 families whose children who had online representation. The two children focused on in the article were trapped either by their parents or themselves as a result of social media. Both children interviewed exhibited that their privacy had been taken away and they were forced to live inside themselves and inside their homes to have any feeling of safety.

I believe that school is a place where all children have the right to feel safe. I want to add to this atmosphere without intensifying any prior situations, but it seems naive to neglect how useful social networking can be to learning. Students can tweet their thesis statements for papers or make connections to people they might never have a chance to meet in real life who could help them enhance their writing.

I am left now thinking about what age children should be subjected to social media, is it right to force them to use it either as a parent or teacher, and what, if any, limits need to be in place to protect a child’s psychological state?

The original article can be found here.

Please leave any comments with your personal feelings! I’d love to hear other opinions on this subject.