Schools scramble with teen pregnancy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Zane Ball is just a few weeks old, but already he's been kicked out of school -- barred from the campus of his mom's high school.

Mom is 16, a sophomore at Bloomingdale High School in Van Buren County.

The dispute in this tiny town is raising questions about how schools across West Michigan handle student moms -- as teen pregnancies start to rise after years of decline.

It was on a recent visit to school to pick up homework that Kera was told by her principal, Rick Reo, that she and her then-week-old son, Zane, had to leave, that they were glamorizing teen pregnancy.

"When I came here as principal three years ago, one of the first issues brought up to me from teachers at a staff meeting was students bringing their babies to school during the school day," Reo later wrote her in an e-mail. "The teachers felt that it was disruptive to have a student arrive at their door with a new baby while they were trying to conduct class.

"Furthermore, since babies are so darn cute, teachers felt like teen motherhood was being glamorized because what students saw was the new teen mother and her baby being showered with all kinds of attention, oohs & ahhs, etc. The staff felt pretty strongly that we should not be sending this type of message to the student body. We decided at that point that we would not allow students to bring in their babies to show off to other students during the school day."

She could come back, he told her, but not with Zane.

Her mom -- Zane's grandmother -- hopes their fight with school administrators leads to change -- maybe even programs for teen moms.

"I think they would kind of like the teen moms, especially, to maybe just go away," the grandmother, Teresa Pountain, said.

But, this issue goes beyond Bloomingdale:

With teen pregnancy on the rise again in Michigan and the U.S. -- after 14 straight years of declines -- some cash-strapped schools struggle to deal with babies giving birth.

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[starefirerougegurl12]

This is crap. Treating people (girls) as statistics and evil. Women used to be women at 13. Married with kids. Why is it like Satan if a girl gets pregnant now? Jeez. Mind their own business.

[hshimamo]

I don't believe schools are required to provide daycare, but it's a good thing if they do; we don't want these students dropping out, it only worsens the cycle. But barring babies from school? It's not like the baby would be in the classroom, they're just picking up homework, no different than any other school pick up. And games? So if a player's parents had a baby, they could bring it, but this girl can't? I can understand the lack of daycare, but banning the baby FROM CAMPUS is too much.

[impresioname33]

She how the mother talks

That just proves to wait

Have a baby when you're old enough to drink have an apartment and a job then they wonnt be judged

[ajaykeer23939]

The guy is 1.26 looks like a monster

[mamaniki1987]

damm .. .german schools are more tolerable toward teen pregnancy when i was graduating .. i had 2 females in my class pregnant and when i had my baby when i was 17 .. after i graduated... i took my baby to school .. to the gradution ceramony and we.,,, me and baby were more than welcome ! i dont get this kind of attitude !

[SincereTheLady]

um...wow...

[scbell1]

I agree with the school. Why did she feel the need to take the child with her to pick up her homework? She knew it would be disruptive.

[tvfreak427]

While maybe it is true that schools do not need to start day cares, the schools should be doing all they can to ensure that these students do not drop out. For the best interest of the school's drop-out rate, the mother and the future of our economy with increased unemployment concerns. She did have an option not to have the baby, but she also had the option to have the baby. They need to respect whichever she chooses and work with these mothers the best they can.

[ilovenbcnews]

thats medically incorrect, he wasn't in your stomach, he was in your Uterus , hemp!

[BrokenRealityx]

because you wanted to take on a 18years long responsibility early.

You can't expect schools to use their meagre funding to accomodate for people who had a option not to have the baby.