The Contraceptive Bandaid

Pregnancy rates in Gloucester High School in Massachusetts quadrupled this year. In late May the school was embroiled in a debate over the distribution of contraceptives at the school. Initially the principal claimed that a group of seven or eight sophomore girls made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Now it seems that his claim was a hasty attempt to defend the school's decision not to distribute contraceptives. Can we conclude that contraceptives would have saved these girls from getting pregnant? Investigation into the principal's claim may have been inconclusive about the pregnancy pact. However, it did uncover some very important facts about these girls who got pregnant.

Gloucester Pregnancy Plot Thickens - TIME

Pathways for Children CEO Sue Todd, whose organization runs the school's on-site daycare center, told TIME on June 13 that its social worker had heard of the girls' plan to get pregnant as early as last fall. She noted that some of the girls involved had been identified as being at risk of becoming teen mothers as early as sixth grade, when they began to request pregnancy tests in middle school. "What we've seen is the girls fit a certain profile," Todd said. "They're socially isolated, and they don't have the support of their families."

So apparently these young women fit a "profile" of teen mothers, and a large part of that profile is lack of family support. Herein lies the rub. Contraceptives would not help these high school sophomores become less isolated or give them a better family life. On the other hand, helping these students grow in social virtues and strengthening their family lives could have kept them from getting pregnant.

You see, the dangers of premarital sex are not limited to disease and pregnancy. Premarital sex is often a sign of deeper problems, including social isolation, depression and low self image. Premarital sex also increases these problems and damages the ability to love and to grow in intimacy in the future. Contraceptives don't help with any of these problems.

None of the rising juniors TIME identified as being members of the pact have come forward publicly, but nine Gloucester High students have talked to TIME about the girls who decided to get pregnant. Some described the pregnant teens as having little parental supervision. "They could stay out all night if they wanted," says classmate Allie McCarthy. Others noted a herd mentality. "I think the plan was a lot about peer pressure," says Nicole Jewell, a rising junior who describes herself as being friends with some of the girls involved.

This story should not be written off as some aberration about which we shake our wise heads and say, "How could something like this ever happen?" It should remind us how important a job parents have to teach their children virtue, appreciation of their fertility, respect for themselves and for others (including those of the opposite sex) and to help them build a plan for chastity. If the parents of these teen aged mothers had been more involved in their children's lives, chances are pretty good that the teens would have chosen chastity, self respect and social virtue over their current choices.