What The Fuck, Louisiana?

In a Louisiana public school, female students who are suspected of being pregnant are told that they must take a pregnancy test. Under school policy, those who are pregnant or refuse to take the test are kicked out and forced to undergo home schooling.

Welcome to Delhi Charter School, in Delhi, Louisiana, a school of 600 students that does not believe its female students have a right to education free from discrimination. According to its Student Pregnancy Policy, the school has a right to not only force testing upon girls, but to send them to a physician of the school administration’s choice. A positive test result, or failure to take the test at all, means administrators can forbid a girl from taking classes and force her to pursue a course of home study if she wishes to continue her education with the school.

This is in blatant violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

I remember another person who wanted to force tests of women and his name was HITLER!

Even at the wishes of the parents, girls cannot refuse the test. I am sure that many girls would want to be called out as pregnant. These days it seems to carry more stigma to LOOK pregnant than to actually BE pregnant. Being a fat girl is a much greater sin than being a stupid girl who allowed herself to get knocked up.

In the old days a pregnant girl would be sent away only to return nine months later with a new little sister. If no one could see her growing larger by the day, then the 'sin' hasn't been committed. Girls certainly weren't becoming reality television stars.

I can almost understand the schools policy. Teen moms are glorified more now than at anytime in our history. Most girls still think having a baby is the way to hold onto a relationship with a boy who is never prepared for the heavy burden of fatherhood. It's all a fantasy.

These female dreamers deserve a slap for making their lives and the lives of their children so difficult just because they think that having something to love will solve all their problems.

And here I thought that Louisiana was a progressive southern state. I am shocked that in school districts where the kids are not allowed to be given sex education or contraception that many more girls are getting pregnant - so much so that the school felt the need for such a draconian policy.

I have watched all the episodes of Teen Mom that has been made and to a person, the girls are the ones who give up the most when they get pregnant and decide to keep the baby. They are the ones who need support from an institution that they should be able to count on - but can't because the school views any support as acceptance of the choices these young people have made. The school gets to take the moral high ground and another girl drops out and lives her life in poverty.

I think more young women need to see how the lives of their classmates have been made more difficult by poor life choices, they need to be education on all the downsides to having a baby at such a young age. Maybe seeing their friend going through something so stressful will help them avoid that same mistake.  Just sweeping the problem under the rug and ignoring it is never the solution.

You would think that educators would have compassion for these girls, many of them from the margins of society. Instead of searching for solutions to the generational poverty that usually results from these kind of single parent families, people seem to be giving up and that is the saddest thing of all.