Federal Judiciary

Mamas in the Classroom

‘What can you do to stem the tide of teen pregnancy?' Jacquelyn Wideman asks from New York City, where the rate is at least 12 percent higher than the national average. 

Get them fully engaged in their new lives as parents, she says, answering her own question.

By which she does not necessarily mean a shotgun wedding -- though marriage is absolutely to be encouraged, for the sake of parents and child. She has in mind New Directions, a proposed charter school for Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, and the idea behind it is to get teenage mothers and fathers dealing with their new responsibilities in 'a motivational, supportive environment,' Wideman, a nonprofit consultant on the planning team, explains. 'The proposed charter high school seeks to give them the environment, the area, the access to continue their education.'

#ad#New Directions is the dream of a group of New Yorkers, a number associated with the Faith Assemblies of God Church in Brooklyn. According to the school's working mission, it would 'give pregnant teen girls and parenting teen boys and girls residing within the five boroughs of New York City a place where they have the opportunity to resume and complete their high school education. New Directions Charter High School will provide an environment that is non-judgmental, encourages academic growth and excellence, develops self-confidence and worth, and promotes critical thinking skills that will open the door for positive life choices.'

How exactly does accommodating teen pregnancy with its own school 'stem the tide of teen pregnancy'? Because it's not accommodating the teenagers. It's equipping them to meet the challenge of their new life as parents. 'They see this is very hard. That may prevent them from a repeat pregnancy,' Wideman explains. The engagement strategy is quite practical: 'keep them busy, so they're not motivated to have a second child.'

But it's not busywork. Wideman stresses 'excellence.' Passing classes will require a 70 or more. They're aiming for a 100 percent graduation rate. They want students to be college-bound -- not an easy goal, but with online schools and other options, New Directions would help these too-young parents map out their options. Wideman tells me they want 'to get students educated, to assist them in completing their educations, providing employment opportunities, and helping them succeed.' The school would be about 'tools and opportunities.'

In 2007, the last four public high schools for pregnant teenagers closed in New York City. Wideman believes among the reasons they failed was a lack of vigilance in covering core subject areas, in preparing students for key state exams, and in doing follow-through when a student didn't show up. Attendance was low. The New Directions planning team wants to make sure that theirs is one place that reaches out and holds enrolled students accountable.

But by pushing teen parents to see the opportunities before them, the New Directions strategy is not to pretend that life has not changed. Further: 'We want to discourage them to get pregnant again,' Wideman tells me. While creating a 'non-judgmental' environment, New Directions would truly seek to put these kids on a new direction: away from more pregnancies before they're ready. And away from dependency. Toward even the possibility of more than a 'minimum-wage-paying job,' since they'll need to work hard to provide for the family they've created.

#page#A critic of the idea told the New York Post, 'I don't think that we should be creating schools that segregate young women or men based on their parenting status.' But it's precisely when we treat teen pregnancy as just another lifestyle choice that we've surrendered. There is a new life, and they have new responsibilities now. And, frankly, there's a little healthy stigma that comes from behavior- and needs-based separation, too -- not to make a new parent feel bad when already overwhelmed, but so she might get or stay serious and former classmates might pay attention: Pregnancy sure does change things. Her life became a lot more work; he sure had to grow up fast.

And there is precedent for the model, as Virginia Walden Ford, a preeminent advocate for school choice, points out. 'Though I am saddened by the rise of pregnancy among young girls of color, I have actually seen such a school work in ensuring these young women complete their high-school education. One of the first public schools for parenting teens was started in Detroit, Michigan, many years ago, and the principal is a dear friend who has seen wonderful responses from these students. One of the things she has shared with me is that having a chance to go to this kind of high school often prevents a second pregnancy.'

#ad#This is all certainly a matter for continuing discussion and study (and New Directions is nowhere near a reality yet; its proposal is being tweaked and resubmitted next January): How to make sure the least of our younger sisters and brothers have the support they need when they find themselves in a difficult situation, without encouraging the behavior that got them into the situation in the first place? In New York, a city with a shockingly high (New Yorkers agree) 41 percent abortion rate -- higher in Brooklyn and higher among blacks and Hispanics -- it is crucial for young women and girls to know that if they wind up pregnant, they don't have to end that child's life. There is adoption. And there is help. Good Counsel Homes has been working to make this real and known, as have the Sisters of Life.

But a conversation about kids who have kids, and about helping this population, cannot be had without talking about abstinence. And just as truly helping a teen mother involves more than day care and the directions to a government-assistance office, abstinence involves much more than simply saying 'no' to premarital sex, which is why programs like Best Friends and Healthy Respect work. Successful abstinence education is really character education and, practically, involves being constructively busy with things other than attracting the attention of the opposite sex. Contrary to conventional derision, abstinence education is not all about sex. Which, of course, is precisely its message in practice. It's about giving students more to aim for than what they may see around them. It's knowing that life and love can and should be about self- and mutual respect, about dignity, and about responsibility.

And for those who already have a new responsibility, they certainly owe it to the new life in theirs. It's about making sure they know that teen pregnancy is not a ticket to a lifelong ride on the government assistance. That's at the heart of the goal of New Directions. And it's not a bad direction.

--- Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor-at-large of National Review Online.

Full post as published by Bench Memos - National Review Online on March 07, 2011 (boomark / email).