# You know what would be fun? If we all got pregnant after midterms. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 20, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546 "2008-06-20T03:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/1 "2008-06-20T03:01:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Seventeen girls at Gloucester High School not only got pregnant, but according to some, it was no accident. > > “Pregnancy was the desired outcome,” school superintendent Christopher Farmer says. > > “So they did it on purpose?” Miller asks. > > “That’s what it sounds like, yes,” Farmer says. > > School officials discovered the pregnancy pact after some girls seemed disappointed that their pregnancy tests from the school nurse came back negative. This is just weird. How stupid are these girls? I am going to go out on a limb and bet these girls are awful mothers and these children will end up being human trash. The apple does not fall far from the tree. > **[Teens' Pregnancy Pact Shocks Mass. Town](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-pregnancy-pact-shocks-mass-town-19-06-2008/?index=1)** > > Authorities Say High School Girls Planned To Have Babies As Part Of Secret Pact ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/2 "2008-06-20T03:38:49Z")
A much better written article is at [Time](http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.htm) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/3 "2008-06-20T03:47:21Z")
The veracity of these “teen sex pact/sex club” stories, and there have been several of various types over the years, generally seem to fall apart when seriously investigated. It often turns out it’s some teenage girl drama conspiracy where several teenage girls are spinning wild tales of sexual decadence for school administrators who swallow it hook line and sinker, and then the media gobbles it up also. I would take this tale with a pickup truck sized grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/4 "2008-06-20T03:48:02Z")
People like this need to be shot with a contraceptive dart (like they do with overpopulated deer) then their kids given to infertile adult couples who are qualified and have the means to raise children. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/5 "2008-06-20T03:57:37Z")
Meanwhile how many couples can’t seem to get pregnant? Ah, to be young again. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/6 "2008-06-20T04:08:13Z")
[QUOTE=astro] The veracity of these “teen sex pact/sex club” stories, and there have been several of various types over the years, generally seem to fall apart when seriously investigated. It often turns out it’s some teenage girl drama conspiracy where several teenage girls are spinning wild tales of sexual decadence for school administrators who swallow it hook line and sinker, and then the media gobbles it up also. I would take this tale with a pickup truck sized grain of salt. [/QUOTE] From my cite at _Time_ > [@](#): > > As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies — more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Four times the previous year ain’t bullshit. > [@](#): > > School officials started looking into the matter as early as October, after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, “some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were,” Sullivan says. All it took w.as a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. Not exactly “some teenage girl drama conspiracy where several teenage girls are spinning wild tales of sexual decadence for school administrators…” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/7 "2008-06-20T04:37:44Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] From my cite at _Time_ Four times the previous year ain’t bullshit. Not exactly “some teenage girl drama conspiracy where several teenage girls are spinning wild tales of sexual decadence for school administrators…” [/QUOTE] Most of the sourcing for this appears to be what “some” of the teenage girls have told the school administrators. Given teenagers proclivity to simply make stuff up to shut people up, blame others for thier decisions, get out of trouble, or get some “dance puppets dance” drama going, I’m still taking the salt. Assuming the 1200 person school has approx 600 girls the 17 pregnant teens are only 2.8 % of the total female student population. This is a tiny enough number, and well below the average rates in many high schools, that 2X to 4X swings could be well with the range of random distribution over time. I’d have to see the last 10 years of pregnancies At that school to draw any conclusion that the incidence of pregnancies are exploding on relative basis over time. See [Teen pregnancy rates dropping](http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_439288.html) > [@](#): > > The most recent data, for 2000, showed a national teen pregnancy rate of 84 for every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19. Statewide, the rate for that same age group is 60 per 1,000 girls, the 12th lowest in the country. 17 pregnancies per 600 girls of HS age hardly seems to be pushing any demographic envelopes. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/8 "2008-06-20T04:48:42Z")
It’s pretty embarrassing that a bunch of people who met through the Straight Dope column could still be taken in by this. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/9 "2008-06-20T04:53:11Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] People like this need to be shot with a contraceptive dart (like they do with overpopulated deer) then their kids given to infertile adult couples who are qualified and have the means to raise children. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but do “qualifications” (what does that even mean?) and means always matter? there are countless people, some even on these boards, who had kids young and were fine, and lots of older, responsible couples who manage to fuck up their kids royally. At some point you sort of have to admit, there’s no way to know who’s going to be a great parent and who’s going to screw it up. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/10 "2008-06-20T04:56:51Z")
If the story is real, then these women and their families deserve pity, not ire. Yes by all rational accounts they did something extremely foolish, but I fail to see how to castigation and outrage is the appropriate response here. The language in the OP suggests to me that **2.5** is trying to get a rise out of people. What a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/11 "2008-06-20T04:58:15Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] It’s pretty embarrassing that a bunch of people who met through the Straight Dope column could still be taken in by this. [/QUOTE] That doesn’t even make sense. Go be dumb and smug somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/12 "2008-06-20T05:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] If the story is real, then these women and their families deserve pity, not ire. Yes by all rational accounts they did something extremely foolish, but I fail to see how to castigation and outrage is the appropriate response here. The language in the OP suggests to me that **2.5** is trying to get a rise out of people. What a surprise. [/QUOTE] And that specifically is what causes me to have some degree of incredulity about the “realness” this story. It simply does not (to me) make sense only any level whatsoever that some cadre of teenage girls have embraced the concept of deliberately having out of wedlock babies sans husbands. It’s so counter to common sense and normal female teenage peer attitudes that my BSometer is ringing like a gong. I can understand getting pregnant accidently, but to embrace it and seek it out and the huge burdens it brings… it’s just asking too much to believe that this is not some stunt by a few pregnant teenagers, and their friends to spin this story and see who would bite. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/13 "2008-06-20T05:31:19Z")
[QUOTE=astro] And that specifically is what causes me to have some degree of incredulity about the “realness” this story. It simply does not (to me) make sense only any level whatsoever that some cadre of teenage girls have embraced the concept of deliberately having out of wedlock babies sans husbands. It’s so counter to common sense and normal female teenage peer attitudes that my BSometer is ringing like a gong. I can understand getting pregnant accidently, but to embrace it and seek it out and the huge burdens it brings… it’s just asking too much to believe that this is not some stunt by a few pregnant teenagers, and their friends to spin this story and see who would bite. [/QUOTE] By “a few pregnant teenagers” do you mean less than the reported 17? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/14 "2008-06-20T05:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] By “a few pregnant teenagers” do you mean less than the reported 17? [/QUOTE] It’s quite easy to believe there are 17 pregnant teenage girls, heck in some schools would be glad to have that few out of a population of approx 600 female HS students. No where in the story does it claim that ALL these girls are pregnant due to this purported pact. > [@](#): > > All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together So 7-8 girls (according to the Principal) are claiming that this seemingly insane “pact” exists. If I was a pregnant teenage girl looking for attention, sympathy, and/or peer support going along with an absurd story concocted by some of my more influential pregnant peers is not the worst way to go about it. Look it could all be true, every bit. It just rings of BS to me. I’ll leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/15 "2008-06-20T05:54:39Z")
As I understand the story, not all of the pregnant girls are supposed to be part of this pact. [Ah.](http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/19/teens_had_pact_to_get_pregnant_report_says/) > [@](#): > > “ **Nearly half** the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together,” the magazine’s story said, after reporters talked with Joseph Sullivan, Gloucester High School principal. ETA: Damn you, **astro**! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/16 "2008-06-20T06:12:40Z")
[QUOTE=astro] And that specifically is what causes me to have some degree of incredulity about the “realness” this story. It simply does not (to me) make sense only any level whatsoever that some cadre of teenage girls have embraced the concept of deliberately having out of wedlock babies sans husbands. It’s so counter to common sense and normal female teenage peer attitudes that my BSometer is ringing like a gong. I can understand getting pregnant accidently, but to embrace it and seek it out and the huge burdens it brings… it’s just asking too much to believe that this is not some stunt by a few pregnant teenagers, and their friends to spin this story and see who would bite. [/QUOTE] Well, being around teenage girls regularly at a school where there are 5 or so pregnancies a year, that part of the story absolutely rings true to me. The response to the pregnant girl from a lot of girls is, just as the one student said, a bit jealous of the unconditional love the baby will provide. “You’re so lucky” is said to the pregnant girl quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/17 "2008-06-20T06:20:08Z")
I find myself strangely unshocked. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/18 "2008-06-20T10:51:30Z")
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Does the UK still provide council-flats for teenage girls? About a decade ago it was quite customary for teenage girls to get pregnant so they would get an appartment from the state. They would then dump the baby at moms and just carry on as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/19 "2008-06-20T11:51:18Z")
If these weren’t middle-class white girls, would this still be a story? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546/20 "2008-06-20T11:53:56Z")
I don’t know if it’d still be a story, but it’d still be stupid. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-would-be-fun-if-we-all-got-pregnant-after-midterms/453546.md?page=2)