Fan Rant: School Blames 'Juno' for Rise in Teen Pregnancies
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Fan Rant
Here's the set up: Folks have been a bit puzzled over the alarming rise in teen pregnancies at North Shore High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the past year alone, 17 girls have tested positive for a little bun in the oven, and officials (as well as school administrators) were baffled as to why, all of a sudden, the girls in Gloucester were all sorts of knocked up. Crazy, right? And weird. I'll fully admit that to wind up with 17 girls pregnant in one high school at the same time seems a bit strange, especially when it's four times the level from the year before. Four times!
Completely baffled, officials turned to the only feasible explanation: Blame the movies. And when they looked around at popular movies within the past year -- whaddya know -- there was an Oscar winner with teen pregnancy scribbled all over it. Juno ... written by that teen pregnancy supporter Diablo Cody, and directed by a pregnant teen himself, Jason Reitman. Of course! The ridiculous rise in pregnancies had to do with Juno -- a film that made teen pregnancy look about as comfortable and enjoyable as stuffing yourself in a piece of old luggage and rolling down a mountain. There's the answer!
But should we talk to the girls? Maybe see if there's another explanation for all this? Nah. Leave it all on Juno ... after all, Fox Searchlight didn't hand out condoms outside movie theaters screening Juno (I sure as heck never got any condoms!), so, really, it's their fault for not paying closer attention. Right?
Ahem, and that's when the twist comes in ...
Oh yes, because a juicy story like this HAS to have a twist. Once all these girls turned up pregnant, Time Magazine decided to pay a little visit to Gloucester and do a little investigating of their own. Probably something administrators, officials and, well, parents should've done a long time ago, but maybe it's easier to talk to a reporter from Time over, say, your mother or father.
What did Time Magazine find out? That these girls were faking it and shooting a sequel to Juno instead? Um, no. But close. In reality, they concluded that at least half the girls (all 16 years of age or under) had planned these pregnancies on purpose in order to all have kids at the same time and raise their babies together. Aww. The best part of this whole thing is that it appears the teachers were the ones who gave up their students' pregnancy pact. That, along with the disturbing news that one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless man. Nice.
But why? Why did these girls decide to form a pact and get pregnant at the same time? Could it be that Gloucester, a fishing town, has been hit with tons of job losses as their industry slowly collapses? Could it be that there's not much for these kids to do for fun? Could it be that their parents are having a rough time paying the bills, keeping their families afloat, and so they're not paying as much attention to their children? Could it be that these neglected kids are then looking to produce a child that will love them unconditionally -- something they don't have in their lives and desperately need ... especially now, as they're on the verge of becoming adults?
And officials blamed Juno. Instead of looking around at a town that was falling apart economically and emotionally, they blamed the quirky comedy because kids liked it. Here's an idea: Next time, how about you look at what kids don't like. They don't like to feel neglected, like they're worthless or not important. They like to feel needed, they like to feel wanted and they like to feel loved.
I'm still waiting for the Hollywood producer to show up to Gloucester looking to turn this real-life story into a hip, teen flick. And the ironic part? Ten bucks say they pitch it as the next Juno.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-20-2008 @ 3:11PM
theangiechrist said...
...and again... the term "bad parenting" means nothing. I guess it's not politically correct anymore.
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6-20-2008 @ 3:24PM
Slappy said...
Now this is a fan rant worth writing. Good article, Erik.
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6-20-2008 @ 3:34PM
Nick said...
So... where did you get the information that officials at the school were "blaming 'Juno'"? The TIME article just refers to it as "some adults" who could be anyone, or even just one or two people. Sure the school and town could have done a bit better at figuring all this out on their own, but I'm not sure where you're getting the idea the school officials were blaming movies.
Also, linking to the Independent's summary, which is more of a rewrite since it's almost as long as the original article, instead of the actual Time article is just wierd.
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6-20-2008 @ 3:46PM
BondsBabe said...
My sister was angry as an article about the situation blamed Catholicism because the town was predominantly Catholic and wouldn't allow birth control in schools and so the girls didn't use birth control, HELLO?! They planned this so even if they had it they still weren't going to use birth control!
And some people are blaming the school itself for allowing girls to bring their children to school with them and inspiring more stupid girls to have babies. They think having a baby is like having a baby doll it's all fun. People buy them presents throw them a party. They get to buy clothes, dress it up, and when they get bored or want to party well 'mom' can do the babysitting. It was more a peer thing thing that inspired by movies.
Many of the girls themselves spoke of wanting unconditional love and thought a baby would be the answer. So parents should start at home before pointing fingers at the school, and Hollywood.
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7-25-2008 @ 4:27AM
angel dawson said...
It's not related only to Catholic. So just tell your sister. Thanks to Erik.....
_______________________________
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Did you see it? One more time? You won't get faked out here!
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6-20-2008 @ 3:47PM
Nick said...
OK, now I see you got it from David Usborne's article/summary/commentary. But where did HE get the idea from? Given he's almost wholesale lifting from the original article, I'm betting he just made it up.
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6-20-2008 @ 4:16PM
Erik Davis said...
Nick, there's a link to my source inside the post to an Independent article that was sent to us as a tip. Thus, my story is based off their article, and it states the following:
"Stumped for an explanation, officials pointed to the popularity of this year's Oscar-winning film Juno, a heart-warmer about a schoolgirl who finds herself expecting and decides against the quick fix of abortion."
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6-20-2008 @ 5:19PM
Nick said...
Yeah I see that now, but if you actually look at the TIME article he's referencing, 1) it's clear the Independent article is a summary and 2) unless he's bringing in new research (and there's absolutely no indication this is the case), he made that statement up.
I guess I'm just wondering whether you're ranting against something that's not actually true.
6-20-2008 @ 3:55PM
Nick Plowman said...
Let's blame a film...that makes so much sense....this world is so damn crazy.
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6-20-2008 @ 4:11PM
MR.R said...
If the movie is influencing society, then I would be interested in seeing a report on how much more stupid and nerdy men have gotten because men in that movie are pretty sad and moronic.
I recently read an article on how there is a rise on STDs amongst teenagers which shows the failure of sex and pregnancy awareness campaigns. I am convinced that it's all about home education, not school or Juno.
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6-20-2008 @ 4:20PM
Kevin Archibald said...
Could it be that just as many people are getting pregnant, but less are getting abortions?
That sounds like a good thing!
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6-20-2008 @ 7:00PM
MR.R said...
I assume you will chip in from your own pocket in case this teens can't give their children all they need? Send them your phone number or better yet, a blank check
6-20-2008 @ 4:36PM
kevjohn said...
DAMMIT! Just when I thought I had seen the last Juno-related post here, along this comes. Is someone on the Cinematical staff banging Diablo Cody or something?
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6-20-2008 @ 4:43PM
Jim said...
It's totally plausible that Juno is to blame. After all, movies and entertainment are the root cause of everything that goes wrong in this country. Look at me, I recently watched Pirates of Caribbean for the thirtieth time, and something just....CLICKED. I instantly went to my local harbor, found a bar with patrons who couldn't spell pirate, and recruited myself a crew. I then found the biggest, fastest, and coolest rowboat and set out on a quest to pillage and burn every small island north of exit 23. Unfortunately, the load capacity of that particular row boat was less than I figured, and so it took on water. I was picked up by the local authorities and have been placed under house arrest. Luckily, I have Netflix.
DAMN MOVIES! Rotten, horrible influences on us all!
Juno was an excellent movie. :-)
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6-20-2008 @ 4:55PM
Cam said...
Glad you could summarize the perez hilton blog:
http://perezhilton.com/2008-06-19-blame-jamie-lynn-and-juno
Busted!
You have to admit, to an extent, the movies are partly to blame for pretty much everything that goes on in society
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6-20-2008 @ 5:00PM
Turtlefreak4 said...
Did they actually see the movie? Because Juno actually gave the baby up to someone who couldn't have a baby on her own. She wasn't having a baby because it was the cool thing to do like these crazy girls are doing.
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6-20-2008 @ 6:02PM
Matt Griswold said...
It's always something other than personal (or parental) responsibility. If it's not video games, it's movies... if not movies, then salacious TV... if nothing else, try blaming the corporations, internet, or person next to you.
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6-20-2008 @ 9:50PM
Wayne said...
Maybe they are secretly planning to sell their babies on the black market to boost the economy.
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6-20-2008 @ 11:29PM
Erik Davis said...
Cam,
My source link is in the post, and I'm sorry to say it was not Perez Hilton. God, I don't even remember the last time I was on that hideous site. So, yeah, sorry.
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6-21-2008 @ 3:10PM
LloydDobler said...
I wouldn't blame "Juno" specifically...but I would slightly blame the media's glorification of every celeb-pregnancy. They make it seem so easy and fun. But what they aren't portraying is that fact that all of these celebrities have nannies and handlers. They can afford to have kids unlike these unwed middle-american teens, who haven't even graduated High School and now never will. Has anybody else seen the promos for the new NBC show "Baby Borrowers" where give teen couples babies to take care of, then toddlers, pre-teens, teens, and elderly people. Trying to teach them a lesson on how hard it actually is. It's started a bunch of controversy. I think it might be a good idea. Every parent should watch this show with their teenagers especially if they are sexually active.
But on the topic of life imitating art and movies being real life. I would like a magical bicycle...that leads me on a cross country adventure.
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