Each year, more than 750,000 teens get pregnant, according to information posted on the Rural Assistance Center, a health and human services information for rural America. So, when Lifetime Original Movie aired “The Pregnancy Pact” last month, it helped raise awareness in an obvious problem nationally among young girls. The film educates teens by exploring different topics of pregnancy and that there’s nothing easy about having a child at 16. We spoke with a popular Massachusetts high school sophomore to find out if she was being educated about getting pregnant and if she wanted to have a child at 16. “Teen Pregnancy has never been talked about in our high school. I don’t know why any teenager would think that it would be “fun” or “cool” to be pregnant and I know all my friends agree with me on that.”
“The Pregnancy Pact” was inspired by the 2008 Gloucester High School debacle in Gloucester, MA, after 18 girls in this year’s graduating class became pregnant. But it wasn’t until Principal Sullivan was quoted by TIME magazine calling the spike in pregnancy at Gloucester High a “pact” that the story received national attention. Sullivan, who was under a lot of scrutiny, stood by what he said and believed everything he said was accurate. According to The Gloucester Daily Times, school Superintendent Christopher Farmer said he had never heard the term “pact” from students, parents, teachers or administrators at the high school. Not one of the 18 girls or their friends and family has ever confessed of such a “pact”. The only “pact” that would be considered true is that the girls wanted to stay in school and raise their kids together.
It seems that the inspired movie was based on a false accusation from either Principal Sullivan or glamorized by TIME but at least the film has helped raise awareness in young teens not only in Massachusetts but nationally. You can read comments on the Lifetime discussion board where teens talk openly about getting pregnant.
Local filmmakers also took it upon themselves to create “The Gloucester 18,” a documentary about the actual events including interviews with the girls. Their website features original stories surrounding the events, film production staff bios, and even their own synopsis of what really happened. A free screening of the film will take place at the Kendall Theater in Cambridge, Mass. on March 4th at 7:30 p.m. It will be hosted by the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy and will include a panel of experts to talk about some of the larger issues around teen pregnancy after the screening.
