Maternity leave for high school girls?

Featured Topic | Posted 45 weeks 2 days ago

Maternity leave for high school girls?

Denver Public Schools officials are putting together guidance for schools on the attendance of pregnant students, crafting a plan expected to give them four to six weeks after childbirth to recover. "We're all in agreement we want these young ladies back in school and catching up," said Denver school board president Theresa Pena. "We also need to be very mindful of the time they need for bonding with their babies and for healing."

Is such a policy sensible, or does it reward irresponsible behavior?

Board members sought the clarification after hearing complaints that new moms were being told to report to class the day after they're released from the hospital -- or begin racking up "unexcused" absences that could hurt their grades.

Ben likes: Take maternity leave, graduate later

Darren Miller/Right on the Left Coast

Maybe, if you get pregnant in high school, and you want to take time off to bond with your child, you graduate a bit late. That's not punishment or penalizing, that's a natural result of actions you've taken. At the very least, if you want to take several weeks off school, you should go on a home/hospital-type program or perhaps online classes (assuming those programs exist in Colorado).

Joel likes: Maternity leave... from math class?

Lynn Harris/Salon

Some of the kinder commenters, perhaps predictably, suggested that the prospect of four weeks' "vacation" would only "incentivize" teen pregnancy -- and that if these girls are "irresponsible" enough to get pregnant, the school should not "institutionalize [its] approval," but rather force them to face the "consequences."

Right. Because teen motherhood is easier than school, and because a baby is not a "consequence." And because (what may amount to) showing young mothers the school door will help break the complex, multifaceted teen pregnancy cycle.