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(AP) GLOUCESTER, Mass. The females routinely showed up at the high school health clinic, requesting pregnancy tests. But their reactions to the test findings were perplexing: high-fives when they expected them, long expressions when they didn't.
According to school authorities in this hardscrabble New England fishing village, 17 girls - four times the typical amount - fell pregnant this year. Worryingly, some of the females may have established a contract to have babies and nurture them together.
''A typical girl, you'd assume, would exclaim, 'Oh my God! What should I do now? How will I support this child? ''How am I going to complete my education?'' According to Superintendent Christopher Farmer. ''These young women have certainly not seen that.''
The topic blew up after Gloucester High School headmaster Joseph Sullivan was featured in Time magazine last week as stating the girls confessed to forging such a deal. Sullivan was on vacation on Friday and did not respond to requests for comment.
The superintendent stated that he had no independent confirmation of the agreement. ''What we do know is that there was a group of students who were getting tested for pregnancy on a regular basis, which would imply they were not taking precautions to prevent becoming pregnant, and that when some of them had their infants, they looked to be extremely happy,'' he added.
No one from the girls' or their families' relatives has come forward to corroborate the arrangement, and school and health officials have not recognized any of the children.
The females are all 16 or younger, and virtually all are sophomores. According to the superintendent, they have been hesitant to name the dads, many of whom are older. However, one of them is a ''24-year-old homeless person,'' according to the principal, as reported by Time.
For months, city and school authorities in this town of roughly 30,000 people 30 miles north of Boston have struggled to explain and deal with the pregnancies, despite the fact that just four girls each year at the 1,200-student high school become pregnant.
Just last month, two high school health center administrators quit in protest over the local hospital's unwillingness to endorse a request to provide contraception to students at the school without parental authorization. The hospital is in charge of the clinic's finances.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk said Friday that there are several variables contributing to what she called a ''blip'' in the pregnancy rate, ranging from the glamorization of young pregnancy in pop culture to financial cuts that have curtailed instructors and health programs in Gloucester.
''We have fallen on hard times,'' Kirk said of her community, which has suffered in recent decades as the fishing sector, which has characterized Gloucester since the colonial era, has declined.
Gloucester was the site of the 1991 shipwreck that inspired the book and film ''The Perfect Storm.'' The Fighting Fishermen are its high school teams.
Student Council member Emily Spreer stated that many of the girls hailed from low-income families: ''Their circle or clique, they're not the most privileged family-wise.''
''If you're a young girl who is fighting to establish her identity, it may become almost a default option for some to become a parent,'' said Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. ''We need to do more for youth and provide them more options.''
Gloucester, a mostly Roman Catholic city with a sizable Italian and Portuguese community, has historically been supportive of adolescent moms. For students and workers, the high school provides a day care center.
Christen Callahan, a former Gloucester High student who had a kid at the age of 15, stated on NBC's ''Today'' show that some of the girls would question her about her pregnancy. ''They'd say things like, 'Oh, I think my folks would be cool with it and would assist me,'' Callahan explained.
Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, believes that some of the responsibility rests with the country's Hollywood-obsessed culture, which is rife with news about pregnant celebrities.
Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears' unmarried sister, gave birth this week at the age of 17. ''Juno,'' a witty comedy about a 16-year-old girl who becomes pregnant, was one of the year's most lauded films.
''Baby bumps are discussed in the same way that luxury handbags are. ''It's just another way of living, another way of expressing myself: these shoes, this bump, and that handbag,'' Brown explained. ''It's hardly unexpected that the attraction of celebrity pregnancy might mislead or even captivate adolescent females.''
According to school authorities in this hardscrabble New England fishing village, 17 girls - four times the typical amount - fell pregnant this year. Worryingly, some of the females may have established a contract to have babies and nurture them together.
''A typical girl, you'd assume, would exclaim, 'Oh my God! What should I do now? How will I support this child? ''How am I going to complete my education?'' According to Superintendent Christopher Farmer. ''These young women have certainly not seen that.''
The topic blew up after Gloucester High School headmaster Joseph Sullivan was featured in Time magazine last week as stating the girls confessed to forging such a deal. Sullivan was on vacation on Friday and did not respond to requests for comment.
The superintendent stated that he had no independent confirmation of the agreement. ''What we do know is that there was a group of students who were getting tested for pregnancy on a regular basis, which would imply they were not taking precautions to prevent becoming pregnant, and that when some of them had their infants, they looked to be extremely happy,'' he added.
No one from the girls' or their families' relatives has come forward to corroborate the arrangement, and school and health officials have not recognized any of the children.
The females are all 16 or younger, and virtually all are sophomores. According to the superintendent, they have been hesitant to name the dads, many of whom are older. However, one of them is a ''24-year-old homeless person,'' according to the principal, as reported by Time.
For months, city and school authorities in this town of roughly 30,000 people 30 miles north of Boston have struggled to explain and deal with the pregnancies, despite the fact that just four girls each year at the 1,200-student high school become pregnant.
Just last month, two high school health center administrators quit in protest over the local hospital's unwillingness to endorse a request to provide contraception to students at the school without parental authorization. The hospital is in charge of the clinic's finances.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk said Friday that there are several variables contributing to what she called a ''blip'' in the pregnancy rate, ranging from the glamorization of young pregnancy in pop culture to financial cuts that have curtailed instructors and health programs in Gloucester.
''We have fallen on hard times,'' Kirk said of her community, which has suffered in recent decades as the fishing sector, which has characterized Gloucester since the colonial era, has declined.
Gloucester was the site of the 1991 shipwreck that inspired the book and film ''The Perfect Storm.'' The Fighting Fishermen are its high school teams.
Student Council member Emily Spreer stated that many of the girls hailed from low-income families: ''Their circle or clique, they're not the most privileged family-wise.''
''If you're a young girl who is fighting to establish her identity, it may become almost a default option for some to become a parent,'' said Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. ''We need to do more for youth and provide them more options.''
Gloucester, a mostly Roman Catholic city with a sizable Italian and Portuguese community, has historically been supportive of adolescent moms. For students and workers, the high school provides a day care center.
Christen Callahan, a former Gloucester High student who had a kid at the age of 15, stated on NBC's ''Today'' show that some of the girls would question her about her pregnancy. ''They'd say things like, 'Oh, I think my folks would be cool with it and would assist me,'' Callahan explained.
Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, believes that some of the responsibility rests with the country's Hollywood-obsessed culture, which is rife with news about pregnant celebrities.
Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears' unmarried sister, gave birth this week at the age of 17. ''Juno,'' a witty comedy about a 16-year-old girl who becomes pregnant, was one of the year's most lauded films.
''Baby bumps are discussed in the same way that luxury handbags are. ''It's just another way of living, another way of expressing myself: these shoes, this bump, and that handbag,'' Brown explained. ''It's hardly unexpected that the attraction of celebrity pregnancy might mislead or even captivate adolescent females.''