Click the image for a non-Leo obstructed version of the Parade article

Parade is read by almost every living, breathing human being in the United States.  Or close to it.  Still, many of you may have been so distracted by the cover treatment on dishy Leonardo DiCaprio that you failed to note a story on teen pregnancy inside the magazine.

Specifically, the brief story highlights the recent increase in the teen birth rate and wonders why rates of early pregnancy and childbearing in the United States are so out of kilter compared to other countries.  The article also discusses the effectiveness of abstinence programs.

Take Action (Make your own whooping siren sound here and then explain to your colleagues, co-workers, friends and family why you are making such a ruckus.)  Parade is asking readers the following question: "Should abstinence-only sex ed continue?"  Let them know what you think by voting here.   The results of the online poll will be published in an upcoming issue of Parade.

In the today's installment of the Gloucester Pregnancy Pact debacle (you thought it was over?  HA), Joseph Sullivan resigns as principal of Gloucester High School.  In his resignation letter, Sullivan complains that:

the mayor held a press conference and publicly slandered my reputation, my integrity and my intelligence. Since then neither the superintendent nor any member of the School Committee has publicly come to my defense.

Evidently, we have one more adult who has focused their attention on the absolute WRONG part of the Gloucester story...this isn't about a pact or a media circus or Principal "My Name Is Mud."  It's about seventeen pregnant teenagers.  It's about a school that is in the midst of a real crisis.  And, most importantly, it's about priorities - these girls were all pregnant before Time magazine made them famous.  So why on earth didn't we care until their story was turned into tabloid fodder? 

Read all of Sullivan's resignation letter here for your full daily allowance of woe-is-me-ness.  Unfortunately you won't read anything about the teens themselves...but what do you expect?  They're more or less bit characters at this point.

UPDATE: it seems that the resignation letter on the Gloucester Times website has been password protected...we'll keep looking for a readable copy and repost when available. 

In the immortal words of gumshoe, Lieutenant Columbo, there's just one more thing to note about the Gloucester High School pregnancy unpact.  In the reams of words written about the 17 young women, in my view the very best comes from an editorial in the Norton Mirror in  MA.  An excerpt:

"While the armies of the Left and Right have spent 40 years fighting over sex---mostly through proxy battles on issues like sex education, parental notification and contraception---the culture forgot to teach children some fundamental things about parenthood...The real story at Gloucester High---and at high schools across the nation---isn't that kids have casual, uninformed attitudes toward sex.  It's that they know and care too little about what it takes to raise healthy children."

 Read the entire editorial.

And now a break from Gloucester...

A provocative (!) ad has been making the internet/YouTube rounds over the past 48 hours.  In the purported ad for staid department store J.C. Penney, two teenagers get undressed and then time themselves as they quickly put their clothes back on.  The ad ends as the teen boy and girl walk past mom on the way to the basement to "watch TV" and the words "Today's the day to get away with it" appear on the screen.   We clever viewers realize that mom is being duped--that the young Lotharios are actually heading downstairs for a roll in the hay.  Aren't we smart?

Turns out the ad wasn't actually an ad for J.C. Penny at all, according to a story in today's Wall Street Journal.  The "Speed Dressing" ad, according to the WSJ report, was created without J.C. Penney's knowledge or consent. 

Doubts are now being raised about whether there actually was a pregnancy pact among some of the students at Gloucester High.  Pact or no pact, the number of pregnant girls at that particular high school more than tripled in one year.  Alarming?  You betcha.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you now know that several students from a high school in Gloucester, MA  apparently made a pact to become pregnant and raise their babies together. This news broke the very same day that 17-year old actress Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl.  Needless to say, these two events have  focused national attention on the issue of teen and unplanned pregnancy.

So, what do we think?  See below:

1.  Gloucester High Teens: selected press clips, resources for parents and educators, and other pertinent links, and a recent Pregnant Pause post on this issue

2.  Jamie Lynn Spears: The National Campaign statement, selected press clips, and resources for parents and educators

UPDATE:

Sarah Brown on the CBS Early Show, June 23rd

Also, check out The National Campaign's fearless leader Sarah Brown on the June 20th edition of The Today Show:

Keep an eye on TheNationalCampaign.org for up-to-date info on these and other stories.