While it is very sad to watch the unfortunate misplacement of life goals, to see the young girls in Gloucester, MA getting pregnant to find love in there lives, I find myself wondering if you realize this has been going on in some African American segments of our country. Recently I heard from a mother of young ladies in her NJ suburban high school getting pregnant to show that some boy loved them. They taunted the young ladies who didn’t get pregnant because “no one loved them”. Then the young new mothers found so much attention at church where showers and a special status were gained. The babies were given state welfare, lovely clothes, kisses and admiration for being so cute. The church members were not advocating the early pregnancies but trying to show the young girls support in a difficult time. In the meantime, the young ladies who chose not to look for attention and gifts were ignored as they worked hard academically graduated from high school and went on to college and careers.

I know babies are a blessing, precious in their own right. There is nothing better than to have a child as an adult. I think it is much easier with two devoted parents who have jobs and maturity). I know there are several girls pregnant and they supposedly made a pact but this is not so strange as it is sad.

Please don’t present a story that seems so surprising in the Euro American community when it happens in great numbers in parts of the African American communities and parts of other ethnic communities also. While it is not a pact, it is a way of life for SOME young girls who do not have the proper supervision and parenting.