Pregnant and Parenting Students

When I advocate for better supports for pregnant and parenting students, a lot of people throw back the myth that helping them succeed in school will be seen as an endorsement of teen pregnancy and will encourage other students to get pregnant. And I tell people all the time: girls don’t get pregnant just because they can get subsidized child care or tutoring assistance. It’s far more complex than that, and the idea that “pregnancy is contagious” is old-fashioned and unfounded. To the contrary, the stigma that comes with being a teen parent is alive and well. Movies and TV shows about the subject and celebrities getting pregnant as teenagers have not changed that.

This was one of the themes of last night’s episode of High School Moms. The students of Florence Crittenton remarked about how annoying it is that so many people judge teen moms and assume the worst of them. One said, “I’m still in school; I’m not a dropout.” A teacher remarked that being at FloCrit is nice for the girls because “they are not an outcast here.” But even at a separate school dedicated to pregnant and parenting students, they are not immune from the power of stereotypes in our society. And the good news is that they are determined to prove those stereotypes wrong. Read more »

Kaylynn

This week on High School Moms we met two more young women enrolled at the Florence Crittenton School for pregnant and parenting students in Denver, CO.  First we met Kaylynn who is struggling with her relationship with her mother, her son’s behavioral issues, her weight, her grades at school, and making financial ends meet – needless to say, it’s a lot for a 17-year-old mom to handle.   We also met Alyah, the daughter of a teen mom, who at 16 is nine months pregnant and understandably scared to death of the reality of giving birth. 

The greatest contrast between Kaylynn and Alyah has to do with the men, or lack thereof, in their lives.  Kaylynn didn’t provide us with many details, but it was obvious that the father of her son is not involved and that his absence contributes to a lot of her struggles.  Alyah on the other hand has a very supportive boyfriend – the 16-year old father of her soon-to-be born son.  Alyah told us that when she broke the news of her pregnancy, he hugged her and reassured her that everything would be okay. Read more »

Amber and her daughter

This week on High School Moms, the focus of the show was the Florence Crittenton School’s first-ever prom. It was completely planned by the students with some help from the community, including hundreds of donated prom dresses and free hair, nails, and make-up services donated by a local beauty school. The young moms (and moms-to-be) were so excited about it.

In this episode we met Carla Garcia, a 19-year old mom of a 3-year old boy, and Amber Martinez, a 17-year old mom of a 2-year old girl. When Amber introduced herself she said that her mom was a teen mom, as was her grandmother,  and she said, “I am going to stop the cycle.” I believe she will, not just because she is so self-aware and is quite the go-getter, which she appears to be based on her leadership role in the prom planning, but also because thankfully, she attends a school where she is encouraged to see graduation as a reality and college as a possibility worth pursuing. Read more »

Last night I watched the first episode of High School Moms, the six-episode TLC documentary about students at the Florence Crittenton School for pregnant and parenting teens in Denver. Refreshingly, the show really did focus on school, both the struggles its students go through in trying to get an education and stay on track for graduation, and the struggles administrators and teachers go through in trying to help. The obstacles faced by these young mothers – personal, academic, and financial – are enormous. And remember, these are girls who go to a school that is supportive and focused on their needs, where they are not facing the types of harassment and blatant pregnancy discrimination that so many pregnant and parenting students across the country still face at school, even though it’s prohibited by Title IX.

Still, it’s not easy. In fact, the two young moms profiled on last night’s show appear to be on the verge of having to go the GED route instead of staying in high school. Read more »

This week a charter school in Delhi, Louisiana was called out by the ACLU for blatant Title IX violations when it was discovered that the school had a policy of kicking out pregnant students. A Louisiana Department of Education spokesperson said he “did not know the state's policies for pregnant students.” It is unacceptable that in the year 2012 so few lawmakers, school officials, teachers know that Title IX prohibits discrimination against pregnant and parenting students.

NWLC’s report, “A Pregnancy Test for Schools” clearly delineates the rights of pregnant and parenting students in a convenient Bill of Rights.

1. You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
2. You have the right to be free of discrimination. No one can kick you out of school because you are pregnant or a parent.
3. Your school must excuse absences due to pregnancy or childbirth for as long as your doctor says it is necessary. All of your teachers are required to give you a reasonable amount of time, after the conclusion of those absences, to make up the work you missed.
4. Separate programs or schools for students who are pregnant or parents must be completely voluntary. You cannot be forced to attend a separate school.

Think that school policies that shun pregnant students and push them out of school are a thing of the past?

Think again.

A public charter school in Delhi, Louisiana says that students who they “suspect of being pregnant” must submit to a pregnancy test. And, according to their written policy, “if the test indicates that the student is pregnant, the student will not be permitted to attend classes…” As we outlined in our report, A Pregnancy Test for Schools, policies like the Louisiana one clearly violate the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools.

Earlier this week, the ACLU sent the school a letter demanding that the school immediately end the practice of forced pregnancy tests and stop excluding pregnant students. There is also a petition asking the school to remove the discriminatory policy. Read more »

Do your elected officials support pregnant and parenting students in school?

Send a copy of our groundbreaking report to your elected officials today.

Have you ever seen MTV's show "16 and Pregnant?" It tells the stories of girls trying to graduate from high school while juggling the responsibilities of parenthood. Their struggles aren't glamorous or pretty — they're real and heartbreaking. While some of the girls stay in school and graduate, many drop out. It shouldn't have to be that way.

It may seem crazy, but Title IX — the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education — was enacted 40 years ago this month, yet schools still bar pregnant and parenting students from activities, discourage them from staying in school, push them into alternative programs and penalize them for pregnancy-related absences. All of that violates Title IX and increases the risk that students will drop out.

Today, the National Women's Law Center is releasing a new report: A Pregnancy Test for Schools: The Impact of Education Laws on Pregnant and Parenting Students. This report ranks your state and shows how the vast majority of state education laws and policies fail to adequately support these students.

Send a copy of our groundbreaking report to your elected officials today. They need to know where your state stands and what pregnant and parenting students need to succeed. Read more »

My mother got pregnant when she was seventeen. Luckily, she was able to nab her diploma before she started showing. Otherwise, in order to be excused from PE requirements, the gym coach at her school forced pregnant students to stand in front of the class and publicly flagellate themselves. My mother saw it happen to a schoolmate and says she will never forget the girls face, frozen with fear and humiliation. Years later, I had the same gym coach. Every time I looked at her, all I could think about was what kind of smallness had to exist inside of a person to do that to another human being, to a child no less? Whenever she blew her omnipresent whistle, I ran as far as I could away from her.

Man, I thought, I’m so glad that was then and this is . . . oh my god this practice is still going on! Yesterday, a middle school student named Shantelle sued her school after staff members forced her to stand up at an assembly and announce to the entire student body that she was pregnant. Until that moment, Shantelle had not revealed to anyone at school (other than her sister) that she was pregnant.

This wasn’t the first time the school had tried to humiliate Shantelle. Earlier, when school officials found out Shantelle was pregnant, they kicked her out of school. The ACLU of New Mexico wrote to the school to let them know that schools are not allowed to discriminate against students because they are pregnant. The school relented and re-enrolled Shantelle after a four-day suspension. Read more »

Today is our last weekly roundup for February, which has been an interesting month. In today’s roundup, I’ve got an updates on the two reproductive rights bills in Virginia I told you about last week, some info on an exciting new video series we’re launching, good news (!) from Maryland, new Civil Rights museums, the outcome of the tragic Yeardley Love murder case, and a segment from last week’s Saturday Night Live. Read more »