• Home

Bernd Meier

Home education pregnancy schools student health teenagers teens youth As Ky.'s teen-birth rank rises, mother objects to Casey Co. child-development class's baby shower for five pregnant students

As Ky.'s teen-birth rank rises, mother objects to Casey Co. child-development class's baby shower for five pregnant students

Written by Unknown on 10:12 AM ,
Kentucky's ranking for births to females aged 15 to 19 is going up, and five students at Casey County High School are pregnant. A joint baby shower for them during class time recently sent the wrong message about teenage pregnancy, a mother of a teenager at the school told the Casey County News.

Carmen Foster gained custody of her daughter three years ago, but not before the girl heard her biological mother say she enjoyed being pregnant because of all the attention she received. The biological mother left her and six other children with an abusive ex-boyfriend until Foster gained custody, Abigail Whitehouse reports.

"Some of these kids come from situations we can't even imagine," Foster said. "They need daily positive examples to help them reach their potential. I don't want my daughter thinking that being a pregnant teen will get her tons of positive attention from everyone at school."

Foster, who was a teenage mother, said she has spent years instructing her daughter that she doesn't need approval from boys to have self-confidence. "I want better for our girls," she said. "I believe in love and acceptance and helping in any way that I can, but I also believe in doing so responsibly. This was not a message to be sent out at school."

CCHS Principal Josh Blevins told the newspaper that the baby shower, in a Human and Child Development class, "was a way of saying, here are some things to help get them on their feet. We are just simply addressing the fact that this has happened, and now it's our responsibility to educate these women on how to care for their children." Blevins said the class is an elective, and participation isn't required.

Jackie Allen, who teaches the class, said the students were working through a unit on pregnancy and childbirth unit, and asked if they could throw a surprise baby shower for the five students. "I think it was a positive experience for my students and for the girls they invited," Allen said. "I think that students who are pregnant need all the support they can get. I don't think there was any kind of glorifying teen pregnancy."

Kentucky ranked seventh out of 51 (50 states and the District of Columbia) in 2011 birth rates among females 15-19, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2008, the state Kentucky ranked 19th.

Tweet
Newer Post Older Post

Popular Posts

  • Lexington is considering whether to add electronic cigarettes to its anti-smoking ordinance
    The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council will discuss whether to expand its smoking ban to include electronic cigarettes, possibly as earl...
  • As part of UK campus food deal, Aramark puts up $5 million for Food Connection, vows to purchase Kentucky products
    By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The University of Kentucky has entered a $5 million public-private partnership designed to promote ...
  • Heavy use of e-cigarettes may deliver big doses of formaldehyde, which can be a cause of lung cancer, study suggests
    Vapor produced by electronic cigarettes can contain a surprisingly high concentration of formaldehyde—a known carcinogen that can cause lun...
  • Ten common myths about diabetes busted
    Kentucky ranks 17th in diabetes, and many Kentuckians are newly diagnosed every year with the disease, usually Type 2 diabetes. The diagnosi...
  • Ky. ranks 8th in the number of high-prescribing Medicare physicians for powerful narcotic painkillers and stimulants
    Kentucky ranks eighth in Medicare physicians who are considered "high prescribers" of Schedule 2 medications, drugs that have the ...
  • Newport school board's smoking ban, which includes e-cigarettes, would be 38th among 173 Kentucky school districts
    The Newport Independent Board of Education  passed the first reading of a proposed smoking ban Wednesday, Jan. 28 after adding electronic ci...
  • Millions of children on Medicaid are missing free check-ups; Kentucky is a little below the national average
    Millions of low-income children across the country aren't getting free preventive exams and screenings guaranteed by Medicaid, and some ...
  • Obamacare seems to be no plus for Kentucky Democrats, perhaps mainly because of the word's first three syllables
    Though the federal health-reform law has helped cover more than half a million Kentuckians and cut the state's uninsured population by h...
  • McConnell seeks 'timely and fair review' of plan for Medicare coverage of CT scans for those at high risk for lung cancer
    U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services  Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to "give a timely and fair r...
  • Research suggests eating only during a nine- to 12-hour time period can help maintain healthy weight
    For a long time, scientists supposed that eating after midnight was unhealthy, but now a study has provided support for the notion. When sci...
Bernd Meier © . All Rights Reserved. Powered by Blogger