I was recently watching the latest episode of 16 and pregnant, and in it the school tells her that if she misses more than two weeks of school she will fail. Including time off postpartum. She drops out and begins to homeschool herself, in the process giving up hopes of attending college to become a pharmacist.
The way her school acted is illegal. It violates her rights under Title IX, which prohibits discrimination against pregnant and parenting minors. Pregnancy must be treated like any other temporary disability and new mother must be allowed to make up missed school work without penalty. Also mothers must be allowed as much time off as their doctor/midwife deems appropriate. (Which should be as much time as the mama feels she needs.)
I think we should all comment on the 16 and pregnant and teen mom boards about this violation. We should also post in general to bring people to Girlmom!
Maybe we can even figure out what school she was at and file a complaint with the department of ed/ write letters to the school.
Charlie....awesome idea....they are penalizing her for being a mother......we let adults take more than two weeks off......I would be willing to write a letter to the school.
great idea charlie!
Awesome.
If anyone is able to find out which school that is, please post! That is beyond wrong.
Not sure if everyone has already seen this but here is a link to an article on the New York Civil Liberties Union's website about this problem.
http://www.nyclu.org/content/nyc-doe-failing-pregnant-parenting-students
I can't find the link I'm looking for on their website, but apparently they launched a lawsuit against the New York Dept of Education for this.
Why oh why can't i get this show on netflix?
It is on the mtv website.
schweet, thanks for the heads up