http://www.indy.com/posts/4577 en-us JL Kato OK, I'm coming back after reading everyone's comments. I don't know whether a maternity leave policy will work, but I do know the case-by-case policy DOES NOT work. I would ask school administrators, though, to examine what they want to accomplish. Do they want to punish these girls? Do they want to isolate them from the general student population? Or do they want to provide them with the opportunity to succeed? I'm for the third option, even if it means the young mothers sit out a semester with no penalty for absenteeism. The last thing you want is someone to abandon her education and jeopardize her ability to raise a child. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:06:02 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13462 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13462 caralyn soooo... you're for a set, over-arching policy? against? I agree with you. just not sure where you're going with it. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:51:14 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13455 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13455 Neal Taflinger The problem is that society changes faster than human nature (and I'd like to see an argument that our nature ever has changed or ever will). A hundred years ago, a pregnant teenager wouldn't be scandalous - she'd likely be married. I'd rather our culture accept certain timeless truths (people have sex, people do drugs, etc) than shut out eyes, plug our ears and la-la-la our way into the future. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:46:36 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13453 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13453 nSAYchable Mine too girl!!!!... Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:18:01 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13444 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13444 chewbeckah I agree with aLLEN, allowing maternity leave makes pregnancy really convenient. In my high school, teen pregnancy was pretty glorified - you got to eat anything you wanted and not worry about getting fat, you got extra attention and exemption from physical activities, and you had this sweet baby to tote around. Adding a six-week vacation to the mix sounds pretty appealing, especially if your parents are going to take care of your kid anyway. Maybe we should be putting the stigma back into teen pregnancy? On the other hand, perpetuating the cycle of the pregnant teen drop-out doesn't do anything positive for society. If providing maternity leave will increase the likelihood of them finishing their education, then why not? Isn't their child enough reminder of their bad decisions?? Great topic of discussion - I'm afraid my jury is still deliberating on this one! Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:00:47 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13419 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13419 aLLENiMAGERY Personally, I think that allowing them to have a maternity leave policy makes teen pregnancy too convenient. When our parents were in school, they NEVER saw a pregnant student at school... Now-a-days, you NEVER see a high school WITHOUT pregnant students. It's a shame that our children can't find anything better to occupy their time. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:00:40 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13408 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13408 nSAYchable So how do we allow them that 6 week break or "bonding time" with their child and at the same time let them know that this isn't a party or celebration of them being pregnant...what if they get pregnant in the ninth grade, take their 6 weeks, come back to school and are pregnant again before they graduate???....they already know the school system is backing them, their parents are probably backing them (because no matter how angry a parent might be, odds are they won't leave their child/grandchild out in the cold), so whats to stop them or deter them from doing it again???....when we take medications, we are aware that there may be side effects....we may get drowsy, headaches, insomnia and so forth....or we may not....but there is that risk...if we dont mind taking it, we take the medication.....when teenagers have sex, especially unprotected, there are certain risks....with each risk, there are other risks....you risk getting a STD, which makes them susceptible to gossip....you risk getting pregnant, which makes you at risk of losing friends, dropping out, and having a hard time...if you want to take that risk, take it!!!...but should they expect the rest of the world to bend over for their choices??? Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:05:47 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13285 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13285 JL Kato Perhaps I should have said that life, rather than the system, is unfair. I've seen too many promising teenage girls who dropped out because they didn't have the resources to cope with a pregnancy and school. A standard policy might not be any better, but I'm for any support system that keeps these girls in school. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:54:49 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13273 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13273 caralyn I'm not sure that evaluation on a case-by-case basis is inherently unfair at all. Socio-economical and cultural, rather than work- and study-related history, becoming a basis for evaluation may be a nasty side effect, but I wouldn't say it's at all inherent. I just worry that with an overarching policy determining a specific number of weeks off what is, like Jolene said, a legally required phenomena (read: education) that all the hard work that girls faced with pregnancies in their teens have put in to keep up with and return to school in the past will have been devalued. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:31:57 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13266 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13266 JL Kato The trouble with case-by-case evaluations is its inherent unfairness. You don't think certain girls (read higher-income families) will be given breaks unavailable to lower-income students? Perhaps it's justified in that higher-income students have more resources to deal with the pregnancy, but is that assumption fair? Just asking. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:24:06 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13261 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13261 nSAYchable Well put Jolene.....i think you are right on point with that....we are confusing school and work....being off for 6 weeks at your job is not the same as being off for 6 weeks from school.....what are the odds this teenage mother will spend the 6 weeks trying to stay caught up on her school work....i can't help but to feel like that would be close to rewarding teen mothers for being just that....and like i said, my opinion may be biased because i dont have kids....but i have seen new mothers fight their jobs trying to get 6 weeks off, so its not a given for all working mothers....its not a "right" necessarily....not to mention the odds are, if these mothers at work weren't getting paid during that time off, they would be rushing back to work because bills and new expenses must be paid.... Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:22:35 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13259 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13259 Jolene.Ketzenberger I think we're comparing two different things here, school (for which attendance is required by law) and jobs (which can offer however much time off an employer is willing to pay for). Schools have policies concerning excused absences for doctor-approved conditions. Break your leg and you might be out of school for two weeks. Get mono and you might be out for a month. In both cases, when you go back depends on when your doc says you're healthy enough to return. Seems like the health-related aspects of pregnancy would fall under those kind of policies. Like if she can't climb stairs or carry a backpack for a while. I think such health-related issues should certainly be an excused absence. But it seems like in this particular situation, type of leave requested is based on the kind of leave offered with a good benefits package, like six weeks off to bond with the baby, that sort of thing. Which is nice, but as any woman who's had a baby, worked right up until delivery and then gone right back to work a week later knows, you can bond with your baby without time off. If the concern is that a flexible schedule is needed, then, like others have said, alternative schools already exist to address the situation. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:39:31 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13251 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13251 nSAYchable interesting.....i'm still up in the air on this myself, although i have to agree that if this keeps them from dropping out, maybe its more positive than we can see.....however....i can't help but to feel like it promotes teen pregnancy in some way....maybe because i didnt have a baby as a teenager, i dont fully understand all that one must go thru, but to enact a policy of this magnitude will surely have some consequences that the school, the parents, the teens and the taxpayers aren't ready for.... i dont know...im still up in the air on it as i said...its kind of a touchy subject that is hard to be subjective about if you haven't been in those shoes.....i like what caralyn said though....this would be better on a case by case basis.... Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:56:53 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13232 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13232 benjamindy "And anything to keep these girls from completely dropping out is probably a good thing." Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:38:22 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13226 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13226 kimikokopuffs I've never heard of anything like this. I don't know how one could even go back to a regular high school schedule with a newborn. Every pregnant teen I've ever encountered ended up in "alternative school," which still allowed them to go to school, but with modified schedules. Or went after their GED. Honestly, I think that's the better route. If I'd had school (instead of a job) to deal with after having my kid, there's no way I'd go back to the full time, 7 hour day. I'd go to the alternative school, with it's flexible hours, etc. and work it out that way. But really, doesn't it end up the same in the end? Who cares if they take excused absences or not. If they're able to keep up with the schoolwork and not fall behind when they get back, why not? Things happen. And anything to keep these girls from completely dropping out is probably a good thing. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:35:20 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13224 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13224 caralyn Here's a link to a story in Denver and the correlating Rocky Mountain News article My concern with it is this: that by putting an official policy in place, rather than evaluating maternity-related absences on a case-by-case basis just like any other extenuating medical circumstance, that (the) school board would be making what should be a well-thought-out and hard-fought decision to both keep up with school work as well as return to school, a no-brainer. A baby AND three- to six-weeks off with little to no consequence? Suuuure! I say this should remain a decision between student/parent/school that is evaluated case-by-case, not umbrella-ed by policy Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:52:38 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13202 http://www.indy.com/posts/4577#comment_13202