20% of female student population at Memphis high school pregnant

The story kind of buries the lede. We learn from Action News 5 in Memphis that 90 girls who attend Frayser High School are either pregnant or have given birth since September. The number is a big one, but to get the full perspective you’ve got to know that one out of every five girls at the school are, or were pregnant.

Wow.

The Action News 5 Investigators recently discovered 90 girls who attend Frayser High School are now pregnant or have already had a baby this school year.

Frayser is in Memphis City School Board member Stephanie Gatewood’s district.  She said a former principal of the school first sounded the alarm about the issue about a year ago.

Deeper into the article we learn the percentage is about 20 percent – one in five.

Roughly 20 percent of the female student population at Frayser High is already experiencing the trials of parenthood.

“It’s a shame that all these girls at Frayser are pregnant, but it ain’t nothing new,” said Sutton.  “Some girls just try to do it because they think it’s cute.  For some, it’s an accident.”

Sutton said she believes some girls are making agreements with each other to get pregnant.

“They probably plan it,” she said.  “Plan what they’re going to do to get pregnant.  No telling.”

Yeah, no telling. In New York City, we recently learned the abortion rate for those under 19 was 61 percent. Factor an assumption of a 50 percent abortion rate in Memphis – I don’t know, this is an assumption – and that means the pregnancy rate could be as high as 40 percent at this Memphis High School.

Handing out condoms for free … not working so much.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

2 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on January 14, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    This was potentially revealing: "She said a former principal of the school first sounded the alarm about the issue about a year ago."  I wonder if that principle was relieved of his/her position for "sounding the alarm"?

     

    Of course, school board member Gatewood stated ""Noting that our young ladies absolutely did not get pregnant in the hallways of our schools," said Gatewood. "So while everything that happens in our communities, it just spills over into our schools. Now we as a community have to deal with them."

     

    She has a point: the community, and the parents in particular, have a lot more to do with what these children are doing when they actually get pregnant than the school.



  2. weregettinghosed on January 16, 2011 at 6:38 am

    Shall we believe more money thrown at this situation might just do it this time? Or perhaps yet another program, employing more government officials, taking more from the government coffers which are bottomless so long as the tax payers continue to accept the demands made upon them, should be put into effect?

    The parents need to teach their children a higher level of morals, this clearly is not being done and unfortunately the only way to teach these children is for them to fully understand the meaning of being a parent, that is the child is their responsibility, and they are fully accountable for their playful actions. I see, giving the girls community work in exchange for help, making any assistance for childcare contingent upon job training, with all assistance and monetary help given a deadline whereas if they do not meet the guidelines all assistance stops. When young girls realize, a playful night resulting in a baby will lead them to a life of heavy responsibility and commitments, my assumption is a decrease in teen birth rates. But logic never plays out, another program will be put into place, surely more tax payers money spent.



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