ST JOHN'S, Antigua, CMC:
THERE HAS been mixed reaction to the decision by the authorities of a secondary school in Antigua to prevent four students from attending their graduation ceremony due to pregnancy.
The four, including the head girl at the Clare Hall Secondary School, were allowed to take their Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams, but were told by the school that they could not participate in the graduation exercise.
SMALL SOCIETY
Acting Chief Education Officer Lenore Henry said the 'pressures' of a small society made it difficult for schools to accept pregnant girls in their graduation ceremonies.
"Graduation is a right and not a privilege. There are certain taboos surrounding pregnant teens and because of societal pressures in small countries like ours, the schools do not want to promote or encourage it," Henry said.
While school authorities declined comment on the matter, some members of the public were of the opinion that the students should not be made to pay again for their earlier mistakes.
"Let those without sin cast the first stone," said Troy Allen, a teacher at another secondary school. "There is no crime against teenage pregnancy."
Callers to radio talks shows said the pregnant girls should have thought about the consequences of their action.
AN ISSUE OF MORALITY
"So why they didn't protect themselves. I would not want to see them coming down the aisle with my children with their big bellies. Get a school for them," one caller said.
Bishop Ewing Dorsett of the Church of God of Prophecy said the issue is one of morality.
"This thing has been raging all the while, but we are not going to get to the bottom of this thing until we return to morals. We must have a moral code. Sex is something that goes with morals. Certain things are right; certain things are wrong."
"It doesn't give a good picture to reward those who have kept themselves to themselves with those who get pregnant," Bishop Dorsett said.
