Seaside city looks for help on teen pregnancy

Gloucester turns to teen pregnancy pros

by Jessica Heslam

July 24, 2008 | Boston Herald | Gloucester, Massachusetts

More than a month after a Time magazine report about an alleged pregnancy pact thrust this seaside city into the worldwide spotlight, Gloucester school officials last night turned to a host of teen pregnancy experts for help on the issue.

School Committee member Val Gilman recalled her own tough conversation about safe sex with her now 20-year-old daughter when she was 12. She made an appeal to the parents of middle school children watching at home on cable TV.

“If you have children in middle school right now,” Gilman said, “talk to them now.”

Dr. Karen Hacker of the Institute for Community Health in Cambridge made a presentation that included the benefits - and risks - of contraception, including birth control pills, the birth control patch and other methods.

Contraceptives have never been available to students at Gloucester High School - an issue that sparked debate this year - but a federally funded health center is opening soon near the school. Gilman asked about having the contraception conversations at the health center as opposed to the school.

“It’s better to have some access than no access,” Hacker said.

Patricia Quinn of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, said teens who are already sexually active need access to confidential contraception, and there’s no evidence that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs work.

“We don’t get to decide when teens have sex,” Quinn said.

The experts said waiting until high school to educate youngsters about safe sex is too late.

Last month, in an article quoting Gloucester High principal Joseph Sullivan, Time reported that some of Gloucester’s 17 pregnant teenagers had made a pact to get pregnant. Sullivan didn’t attend last night’s meeting, which drew a large crowd.

School Committee Chairman Greg Verga said the media frenzy turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “Maybe we can help others,” Verga said.

Verga said after the meeting that they have been getting calls and e-mails from people who support solutions that range from abstinence only to confidential contraception. The city plans to hold three ‘community conversations‘ early this fall, including one for teens, and a public hearing on policy recommendations.

Mayor Carolyn Kirk said she fully expects Sullivan, who came under fire for his pregnancy pact remarks, to be the high school’s principal this fall.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1108827

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