Friend #24

All night last night I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about my Friend #23 and her mommy. I know so many teenage moms - some who have multiple children before they graduate from high school - and it seems crazy that there's not much I can do to prevent more girls from getting pregnant. I understand that times are changing and it's now acceptable and (gasp, gag) cool to have a baby. So many girls want to get pregnant, think it won't happen to them, or know that their families will help them when they do get pregnant. My school closed its daycare this year, and it hasn't had a negative effect. In fact, I think it was a sort of crutch for some girls who thought, "Eh, if I ever get pregnant, I can still go to my school and get free daycare."
All night I thought about one of my new students - Tina. Tina started at my school because her new boyfriend is a student (when he feels like it.) Tina seems like a good girl with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, she is easily swayed to skip school by her boyfriend. I've seen this many times before: girl meets boy, girl gives up everything for boy, girl and boy skip school, parents ignore this, girl gets pregnant, boy leaves and starts the cycle with new girl.
I had to do what I could to prevent another teen pregnancy.
Today I called Tina's mom. Since enrolling April 22nd, Tina has been absent six days. Gloria (Friend #24, by the way), only knew about one day. My phone calls to parents are supposed to be very general and factual. But I had to go a step further, even if it meant getting reprimanded or offending Gloria.
"Please excuse me if I'm overstepping my boundaries, but I've seen this same thing before. Girls skip school with their boyfriends and end up pregnant," I think I was pleading at this point.
"Oh, I'd kill her if that ever happened," Gloria half-chuckled deep in her throat.
"This is very serious and I can't tell you how many teen pregnancies in my school have started this way. Please talk to Tina about not only skipping school, but giving in to pressure, and protecting herself. I'm sorry for being so blunt, but I'm really concerned." I knew I had to tell my bosses about this conversation before they heard it from someone else in a negative light.
I did, but only after pleading my case first. They were supportive and understood me 100%. Phew!
At 2:30, I got a call that Tina's mom was in the office. She wanted to verify Tina's absences before she confronted Tina later on. I got to meet Gloria face-to-face and she shook my hand and thanked me for caring so much about a student I've only had in class five times. She looked overworked and tired. She sounded worn out. Her aura screamed, "Help!"
She told me that she has two older sons who both had children in high school and ended up dropping out. She doesn't want that for Tina, but doesn't know how to talk to her so she'll listen. I referred her to our counselor to get some tips.
Let's hope that Tina is mature enough to listen to her mom, and wait.