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Student's rights re: pregnancy & graduation?

2K views 35 replies 24 participants last post by  mgmsmommy 
#1 ·
Disclaimer: Mods, I have no idea where this should go, so I thought I would try here. Please move it if you need to. Thank you!

This is a situation that is occuring in my local school district. The instant I heard about it I was outraged and I am wondering what you all think and/or know. Any thougths and/or suggestions would be apprectiated. Here are the details as far as I know them:

An 18 year-old senior student is pregnant. Graduation is June 9th and the young woman's "due date" is the 13th. The school is asking her mother (who works full-time, out of the home out of neccessity) to "home-school her for the last few weeks"!!
:

The mother has talked to the principal several times to try and get some specific information about what exactly her daughter needs to do in order to graduate and she is getting no where. Road bocks everywhere. Basically, they want her out. They don't want a pregnant girl lumbering around the school. WTF - Is it 1953?!?!?!?! Why don't we just send her to the convent and tell her friends she is "visiting family out of state"!

This is making me sick. WHAT CAN I DO?! Surely this 18 year old has some rights to finish her education! Can a public school just kick her out for being pregnant?!

HELP!
 
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#2 ·
Speaking from a ex-pregnant teenager's prospective, that is outrageous. No they cannot deny her the right to graduate based on her pregnancy. No they cannot force her to leave the school. That would be pregnancy discrimination. That mother needs to go into that principal's office and tell them where they can shove it. They cannot legally deny her daughter the right to an education based on her pregnancy. If I where that mother, I would just continue to send my duaghter to school, and send her to the graduation ceremony. They may have a fight ahead of them, but ultimately they will win if it is a public school.
 
#4 ·
I graduated 10 years ago, but this kind of thing was happening at my school back then.
Pregnant teens were "encouraged" to go elsewhere once they started really showing.
Not all of them did. They couldn't be forced to leave.

Basically, the schools don't want the pregnant teens to "influence" other teens to get pregnant.
 
#6 ·
Greaseball! Thank you! In my fired up haste, I didn't even think to do a search. This site is great and there is a link on to an awesome document outlining Title IX. I'm printing it off right now and I am literally going to drive over to the mom and get it in her hands as soon as it is done printing.

The thing that pisses me off is that this is a family that could be easily railroaded and it SUCKS!

Its ironic: my husband is running for school board right now (primary on Tuesday!) because of just this sort of thing! And you know, now their gonna piss of the other Reeher!? NOT SMART!!!!

Thanks again!
 
#10 ·
ARGH! I was pregnant my senior year and had a due date 2 weeks before gradutaion. I was never told to leave the school or to be "homeschooled". I did finish the semester at home with a tutor but ONLY because I was put on strict bed rest. She really needs to speak to a lawyer who can tell her her rights and what she can do to stay in school. Telling her to "homeschool" for the last few weeks is outrageous!
 
#11 ·
Also, if it's a public school, they can not force her not to go to school, it would be illegal. Others have given great info so I wont' repeat it. But ooooh does this make me mad..... I remember being this upset when my friend overheard a teacher saying that all pregnant teens should go to a special school becuase we were wasting our time in regular school since we were not going to go to college anyway.
:
 
#13 ·
You guys rock! I am so thankful for a place where people will be as mad about it as I am!

I took the mom some very specific information about the law (Title IX) and her daughter's rights. We looked over it for a few minutes together - long enough that I was sure she understood pretty well and so that I was positive that she understands, at the very least, that they can NOT make her leave. I also let her know that she can call me if she needs more help and I will be happy to whatever I can.

She seemed really thankful. She also said that she's going to call tomorrow and shock them by knowing what the hell she's talking about this time! :LOL

Irishmommy - I'd love to see her slingin' that baby on stage too!


thanks again!
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by boricuaqueen327
I remember being this upset when my friend overheard a teacher saying that all pregnant teens should go to a special school becuase we were wasting our time in regular school since we were not going to go to college anyway.
:
:puke

Why are people SO closed minded!?
 
#15 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by coopnwhitsmommy
Maybe they don't want to get stuck with a girl in labor on their hands...god forbid anything happen and the school found liable...

Yes, I think this crazy thing has persisted because of liability. I graduated in 1972 and one of my friends was pregnant. She graduated with us, but I can recall her in physical education class jumping on the trampoline for fun; this was not a required activity.

Huge Liability, otherwise, I do not think the schools would care. The administration is only looking out for itself.
 
#16 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by boricuaqueen327
I remember being this upset when my friend overheard a teacher saying that all pregnant teens should go to a special school becuase we were wasting our time in regular school since we were not going to go to college anyway.
:
*snort* oh, yeah, because everybody else who goes to that high school is college bound, huh? Or maybe they should pigeonhole everybody by demographics - send all the kids who's parents live in trailer parks to special schools because they won't go to college anyway... and kids who are black... and kids who have been caught smoking pot...

Yeah, mamas who get pregnant in high school deserve a lesser education because they're not headed to college, huh?
idiots
 
#17 ·
Yikes, that makes me sick!

I went to a small, conservative, Catholic high school, and one of the girls in my class was about 6 months pregnant when we graduated, and the school had no problem with letting her participate in everything, including graduation. There was also a girl in my 8th grade class (at yet another small, conservative, Catholic school) who was pregnant, and the school allowed her to stay.

It's really frightening when the private (read: Christian) schools are more lenient than the public schools. WTF?
 
#18 ·
How awful!!
That poor girl did exactly what people would have criticized her for not doing...she finished her education. She didn't drop out because she was pregnant...she finished high school despite morning sickness, pregnancy discomforts, and all of the teasing, etc. that would have gone along with it. To have graduation taken from her is just awful.
The girl should be an inspiration--she FINISHED school while pregnant!

And how dare they think she wouldn't go to college... My mom finished her associate's degree with 4 kids under the age of 5...and then finished her bachelor's degree after *6* kids! My mom had me shortly after she graduated high school. Why do people automatically assume just because you have a child, you can't go on to school? I started grad school while pregnant with my first (and graduated during this pregnancy), and my sister just started college and she has a 1 year old!
 
#20 ·
So sad this is happening in this day and age. When I was in HS we had assorted girls pregnant through the years with no problems. There's even a picture in one of my yearbooks of a pregnant twirler (twirling at a game, in uniform which was a sparkly leotard)


and fwiw I've been out of high school better than 10 years....

-Angela
 
#22 ·
Annette...You know, I went to Messiah College and this issue was one of the few things I didn't agree on. It would have been the same way at Messiah for an unmarried student.

I'm really glad I am getting the opportunity to help this family as well. I'm a bit notorious amongst those who know me for being a "know-it-all" when it comes to pregnancy, birth, etc. But its just because I am passionate about it. Why do I have to have kids to be passionate about all things mothering?

I feel like this is my chance to do something really real with that passion!


I will get in touch with the mom again in a couple of days to see how things are going. If she needs soemthing more from me, I'll be ready to give it!
 
#23 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by aisling
I will get in touch with the mom again in a couple of days to see how things are going. If she needs soemthing more from me, I'll be ready to give it!

 
#24 ·
My sis was a teen mom. She was 15 when she had to drop out of public school to be homeschooled. The admin didnt 'make' her leave, but she was getting daily threats from some of the other kids at the school - notes and whispers of "Watch your back, we're going to push you down the stairs" and "I've got a coat hanger you can use".. things like that. One guy even pinned her up against a locker and called her horrid names. she was scared to death. The admin refused to do anything about the threats and instead advised her to either have an abortion or drop out. There were 11 pregnant girls that year - 9 had abortions, one miscarried and my sis was the only one who had her baby.
Yet, at the same school 2 years earlier, my graduating class had a girl who was 8 mo preg walking across to get her diploma. So, I dont think there is really a standard plan for dealing with pregnant girls, i think its up to the administration. I think what is happening to the girl posted about is abhorrent. She deserves an education as much as anyone else. And i agree, not letting the mama graduate while the dad has no repercussions at all is a terrible double standard.
I graduated from a public school, but for a few years i was at a private christian school. A girl in the class above me got pregnant, and the principal got up during an assembly and ANNOUNCED it to the student body, without the girl's permission. And she was sitting in front of me during this assembly, and was crying and sooooo humiliated. She too was about to graduate. She was allowed to graduate but not to walk across the stage to get her diploma. So not all private christian schools are lenient...

Kudos to you, aisling, for getting involved to help this mama.


Lisa
 
#25 ·
I was a teen mom. I was 16yr and a junior in high school when I got preggo with dd1. i was the 3 girl that year to be preggo. 2 of them were seniors. Neither one of them were forced out of school. I wasnt forced out, but I had teachers that called me a slut, whore, told me I needed to have an abortion or give "it" up for adoption. And my classmates (except for 1) talked about hitting me, i was a whore, etc bc i was a pregnant high school junior.
then when my daughter was born (premie) that was the talk of the town/school. how she was premie bc i was uneducated (??? WTF??), bc I didnt take care of myself (not true!), and so forth.

I hate close minded people!


oh and when i was a freshman, our prom queen was 7 months pregnant with TWINS!!
 
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