Whole Kids Project

High School Girls Had Pact to Get Pregnant

From WBZTV.com in Boston:

There's a stunning twist to the sudden rise in teen pregnancies at Gloucester High School. 17 students there are expecting and, according to a published report, most of them became that way on purpose.

Time Magazine is reporting that nearly half of the girls confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. None of the girls is older than 16.

Principal Joseph Sullivan has not returned calls from WBZ to confirm the report.

Sullivan told the magazine that the pact wasn't the only shocking incident.

"We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," he told Time.

Last month, two top officials at the high school's health center resigned in a fight over contraceptives distribution.

Medical Director Dr. Brian Orr and chief nurse practitioner Kim Daly support confidentially giving contraceptives to students. They were outraged about resistance from Addison Gilbert Hospital, which administers the state public health grant that funds the school clinic.

Normally, the school has about four pregnancies per school year.

According to Time, school officials started looking into the spike in pregnancies after an unusual number of girls came to the school clinic for pregnancy tests. Some came by several times.

"Some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Sullivan told the magazine.

Click the links above to read the entire story.

My goodness.

One thing that I don't understand from the article- why did the author bring the contraception issue into this?  This doesn't have anything to do with the teens access to contraception- from what I gather from reading the article is that these girls purposely set out to get pregnant. They didn't get pregnant because they didn't have access to contraception.  It's a non sequitur argument.

Woman Fired for Reporting Kiddie-Porn Surfer

From the Campaign for Children and Family:

Librarians across the United States should report child pornography to law enforcement despite their supervisors’ reluctance to protect children, said Campaign for Children and Families, a leading California-based pro-family organization.

County librarian assistant Brenda Biesterfeld of Lindsay, California was fired after disobeying her supervisor’s order NOT to report a man who was looking at naked boys on the library’s public computer. She called police anyway, who, during his next library visit, caught 39-year-old Donny Lynn Chrisler viewing child pornography. Chrisler was arrested March 4 on suspicion of violating child pornography and obscenity laws. Police also found “kiddie porn” in Chrisler’s trailer home.

But Biesterfeld was fired for doing what’s right. “She kind of threatened me,” Biesterfeld said, describing her conversation with her supervisor, Judi Hill. “She said I worked for the county, and when the county tells you to do something, you do what the county tells you. She said I had no loyalty to the county. I told her I was a mother and a citizen also, and not just a county employee.” Biesterfeld was fired on March 6. The letter from Tulare County Librarian Brian Lewis said the county's probationary employees can be terminated at any time if they don't perform at a level “necessary for fully satisfactory performance in the employee's position.” But a Lindsay city councilwoman said six weeks before the firing, she was told Biesterfeld was doing a great job.

On March 14, the City Council of Lindsay has sent a letter to the county supervisors complaining about Judi Hill’s “abrupt, demanding and demeaning” phone call to a police captain telling him to call off his pornography investigation because the city had “no business interfering” with library matters. "The liberals who run the library system in America must stop violating the federal law because they regard child pornography as ‘free speech,’” said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families. “All pornography is immoral, but possession of child pornography is a federal crime. No librarian should fear reporting child pornography to the police, but libraries that fail to report these crimes should be very afraid. Brenda Biesterfeld will get her job back, and more.” Campaign for Children and Families and Liberty Counsel, a nationwide legal organization, have been in contact with Biesterfeld, with Liberty Counsel representing Biesterfeld at no charge.

The American Library Association does not teach librarians to report child pornography to the police. Instead, ALA has vigorously opposed all Congressional efforts to restrict pornography, obscenity and child pornography for more than a decade. On its website, the ALA says “Libraries should actively oppose proposed legislation that exposes them to new liabilities and negatively impacts intellectual freedom. As always, they should be vigilant about new regulations of free speech.”

UGHHHHH! Child pornography in a public library- protected free speech?

What happens when this perv gets tired of getting his rocks off in front of the computer monitor and drags a kid into the bathroom? This guy should be prosecuted and locked away. At the very least, keep him away from the library and the children of this community.

Let the Tulare County Library know how you feel.

Tell the ALA that they should put the safety of our children before the "rights" of perverts:

Loriene Roy- President of ALA

Jim Rettig- President-Elect of ALA

Hat tip to: RomanCatholicBlog.com

For Teachers: Reporting Child Abuse

One of our readers posted a thoughtful comment regarding a site that aids teachers in recognizing signs of child abuse and in talking with a suspected victim.

The tool was developed by a 26-year veteran of the Lakeville, Minnesota police department:

Mike Server realized that although teachers were the most likely professionals to see the signs of child abuse, they were often under-prepared to report child abuse. Not only were they confused about the statutory reporting requirements, but they did not know how to avoid the pitfalls of talking with a fearful, confused and withdrawn child.

"With the best of intentions," says Mike, "a teacher may take the wrong approach with an abused child, and that child may physically and emotionally withdraw for months. Or the child may distort her story to fit what she thinks the teacher wants to hear. Or the true facts may be so compromised that any investigation will be unable to discover the truth and bring justice and resolution to the child's situation."

We felt that Mike's site should receive greater exposure than it would receive in the comments area. 

So, here is a link to Hownottotalk.com.

The site offers a free trial of the tool.  If an educator purchases the course they are eligible to receive CEU professional development credits.