At my all girls school there is a rule that states that if a student were to get pregant during the year and she decides to keep the baby, that student is “asked to leave” the school on the basis that they couldn’t keep up with the rigorous academic curriculum. However, it is my own personal belief that the real motive behind this policy is for the school to save face and not have their “pristine” reputation tarnished. Regardless of the motive, I think this policy is unreasonable and discriminatory towards the students of the school for multiple reasons.
I believe that my school is essentially forcing girls to choose between abortion or education. They aren’t open to the idea of adoption because they would have to wait until the girl comes to full term, which would be bad for the school’s reputation. They are also against allowing the girl to have and keep the baby, which I believe should be up to the mother and her family. This policy seems to be implying that either a girl can choose to stay, and be educated, and go to college, but get an abortion; Or, the girl can choose to have a baby, but will most likely be unable to finish highschool. I think that forcing these girls to make this choice is unnecessary and may force young girls to deny their religious, political, or familial beliefs.
This policy also seems unfair because both the male and the female equally participated in the impregnantion of the female. Just because the girl carries the baby, and other people are aware of that based on her appearance, she should be punished by expulsion? The father should have just as much responsibility for the pregnancy as the mother does, and yet no one at his school even has to know and his school definitely doesn’t consider expulsion. The policy shows that just because of the way a man is biologically built, he has the opportunity to finish highschool and go to college over a woman carrying his child.
Also, because women are biologically programmed to get pregnant, without the negative attitude that society has toward teen pregnancy, it would be a completely natural thing for a girl to get pregnant at any age. Therefore, taking away education because of the nature of a woman’s body is not fair and really doesn’t even make sense because it isn’t something that is in anyone’s control. Getting pregnant, which is a natural thing for a woman to do, shouldn't have anything to do with her academic career.
I am not at all promoting teen pregnancy. I personally believe that a girl should get pregnant when she is old enough and ready to care for another human being. However, I think that if a teen girl AND a boy make the mistake of getting the girl pregnant, a school should be supportive and compassionate towards the situation and refrain from punishing the girl for something she is biologically programmed to do.
This is an interesting topic, I have never thought about it really because going to a public school they can't get kicked out. Has this situation come up at your school, if so then was she asked to leave?
ReplyDeleteRachel K
I think about this topic a lot. It's so true, pregnancy isn't a one-sided event. Two parties are involved in the creation, and the two parties should remain involved throughout. I think its interesting you juxtaposed this with education. I think it would make an authority figure at your school rethink the situation. -ngina
ReplyDeleteat the end you mention that a girl AND a boy make the mistake of getting the girl pregnant. i think this part is really interesting and it would be really cool if you added more on that topic. that it's unfair that the girl has to leave school and not finish high school, while the boy still gets to have an education. the boy is at fault as much as the girl.
ReplyDeleterachel m
Wow - the premises behind such a policy, and all of the possible implications have my mind racing. Would or could the same kind of policy exist at a co-ed school? A public school? Why or why not? What do you think being an all-girls school (and an all-girls prep school) has to do with the particulars of this policy (in addition to the importance of saving face)? Do policies like this exist at other similar schools?
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine what would happen if a policy like this existed at a school that had a very high rate of teen pregnancy? It could become, de facto, a single-sex school for boys.
Seems like this policy deals with a 'symptom' and not a 'disease.' (Put another way, it deals with a smaller offshoot of a much larger issue.) Is it indeed a 'disease'? What would happen if we flipped this whole notion on its head, and becoming pregnant at a young age were, in fact, desirable? (Imagining all of the possibilities here.) If you were to suggest alternative policies that treated the 'issue' of teen pregnancy, what might you suggest? If some of the premises are that teen pregnancy is bad and equals delinquency and losing face, what might be some policies that your school might enact to, say, change this dominant cultural understanding? Or to make clear that males involved in the pregnancy are still implicated in and responsible for pregnancies? Or to reduce the number of teen pregnancies by encouraging safer sex practices?
-Steph