In Baytown, Texas a 14-year old gave birth in a middle school bathroom stall on Wednesday morning. Other students overheard a baby crying in the bathroom stall and they rushed to get the school nurse and assistant principle. Unfortunately, they were too late, by the time the 14-year old was found, the newborn had allegedly drown in the toilet. Investigators believe that the 14-year old panicked and tried to flush her newborn, killing it in the process.
Apparently many people were interviewed regarding the student and none of them knew that she was pregnant. Investigators are currently treating the case as a homicide, but they have not completely ruled out that it may have been an accident. Many parents came to pick up their children early from school as the case hit the news. The middle school faculty reacted quickly and sent a letter home with the students explaining the incident. They are also offering counseling for the students at the middle school.
This is a shocking story and many are left wondering how should the 14-year old be handled. What are your thoughts on this story and what do you think should be the consequences for this 8th grader?
To view the article and clip from the news please visit: http://www.click2houston.com/news/15773665/detail.html#
12 comments:
I read a story just last week about how a teenager (14 yrs. old also) had her baby in a airplane bathroom and disposed of the fetus in the bathroom trashcan, which a stewardess later found. The father (also a 14 yr. old) and her were not charged with anything. I don't know if it is because I am fairly conservative and value the life of a child, but I think that it is wrong for there to be no consequences for actions like these. If children don't learn at a young age that their actions have repercussions, how will they ever learn? Although I am fairly conservative in my political views, I do think that abstinence should not be the only method of birth control taught in the public school system. I don't really know what the punishment should be for a situation like this, but I think that some action needs to be taken.
This is absoulutely horrifying. This shows that person who had the baby was actually a child because she was not able to make a rational decision. I can only wonder if she told her parents, but I would assume that she was too afriad to. On one hand I want to talk about the fact that a middle school girl is not mentally or physically capable of having a child, but on the other hand I have to focus on the other aspect which is why a 14 year old girl is having sex. It seems to me that a 14 year old girl isn't even able to rationalize the concepts of dating let alone having a child. I hate to be cliche but I would have to say that her parents should be at blame for this as well. I couldn't imagine that the parents of a 14 year old girl could see the signs of her changing pregnant body. I also think it is important that the parents teach their children what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. I think that with the proper attention and upbringing a fourteen year old girl isn't even stuck in the instance of whether or not she should have sex. I see so many things wrong with what is going wrong here but my heart goes out to the girl. I know she murdered her baby and I think that is disgusting and horrible in everysense. However, we have to remember that she is a child. She does not even have the ability to cognitively make these decisions but she was stuck making the wrong choices and I blame it on her parents.
This is an awful example of what happens when there is a lack of communication between parents and children, teachers and children, and teachers and parents. There needs to be more sex education and communication about sex in schools and with parents. I know that some parents do not feel that they want their children to learn from the school, and if this is the case then I personally feel that parents are obligated to approach the topic of sex with their child with as much, if not more, information than the school programs. I know it's an embarrassing subject to talk about, but it's even more embarrassing to see YOUR daughter on the news for trying to flush her baby down the toilet at school.
I think there are numerous avenues that need to be examined with this story. First of all, I think that the 14 year old should undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if she knew that her actions would kill the newborn. Because, if she is found to have an understanding I think she should be tried as an adult. Regardless of age she engaged in adult activities and should have handled the responsibility.
Yet, I think the ultimate cause of the incident is probably the lack of discussion in the household concerning sex and the consequences of such behavior. I also think that many parents are unwilling to discuss this difficult subject with their teens for multiple reasons (i.e. religion or simply embarrassmeny); thus, I think this is where the school systems should step in with a comprehensive rather than abstinence only sexual education program. Had the 14 year old been given more comprehensive education about the consequences of sex and the protection methods available, she could have made a safer decision which would not have led to the death of the newborn.
This is tragically sad. The fact that the 14-year-old concealed the pregnancy from everyone around her to almost full-term shows what kind of mental state she must have been in. I know I had a lot of issues to deal with as a 14-year-old child, and I can't imagine handling something that big on my own. It's depressing to read about, and I agree with the others in that sex education certainly needs to be improved.
The thing we should remember is that somewhere out there this newborn also had a father. Our society too often places blame on the female in situations like this. What if the girl told the father and he flat out rejected having anything to do with the baby? Or threatened her if she had it? While things have changed over the years it's still pretty much all the girls fault if she gets pregnant. Young boys don't need to claim any sort of responsibility and that makes a much larger burden to carry for pregnant teens. I think in this instance she was scared and she probably had a reason for not telling anyone. I have a hard time believing a 14 year old wouldn't be cognizant and capable of understanding that a child is still a human and shouldn't be murdered.
That is a hard article to read. I agree with what everyone has been saying and that more communication is necessary for the prevention of similar tragedies. I think this is an example of how important it is to discuss sex education at schools and at home. Parents may not want to discuss it but it's something that desperately needs to be addressed.
I don't know how I think the girl should be punished. But I certainly think she needs to be punished. In the court they will argue at the age of 14 she really is not mentally developed enough to take full responsibility for her actions. This is a very serious offense but I don't see any purpose in locking her up and throwing away the key. She should be punished but not at the tax payer's expense.
I am saddened to read this story. I agree with a lot of you in the fact that there was a complete lack of communication here on so many levels. There should be better communication at home. In addition, schools need to communicate more than just abstinence also. Obviously that method is not what all kids are going by, and as a result of only teaching that, kids are lost on what to do if they do become pregnant. There is no help being communicated. If the schools won't talk about it, kids don't want to either and then cases can come down to these extremes that are so sad. I'm not sure how this case should be handled. In my mind a 14 year old is only a child. And in this case, a child that needs a lot of help.
This is just another reason we need to beef up our sexual education training in the public schools. Our youth need to know there are serious consequences to their behavior. They need to know what alternatives are available to them instead of having unplanned/unwanted pregnancies. (Like abstinence programs, contraception, adoption, and abortion laws), I hate to say it, but they really should know all of their options so that they are fully aware and are not putting themselves in situations where they find themselves trapped and feel like they have no other alternative other than committing crimes like the one mentioned.
I definitely think that something needs to be done....kids need to learn early on that there on consequences for their actions. The punishment needs to be age appropriate, but maybe the parents need to be talked to too. The fact that nobody knew this girl was pregnant is so sad to me. The fact that nobody was invested in this girls life enough to know that she was carrying a child at age fourteen is terrible.
I think that something should be done, not neccessarily to just the girl, but maybe the parents as well. They should be active in their childrens lives and know what they are doing. I think the girl should get some support and explained that there are other options to deal with things like this such as adoption. This would allow the baby and the young girl to continue their lives.
I also think that this problem also needs to be addressed with teenage boys. They are often half the cause of a teen pregnancy and they should be informed of the consequences of their actions. I am not saying that we should teach abstinence only messages in school, but also safe sex practices to help prevent a tragedy such as this.
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