Stranger things have came out of Mass. Like witches and Teddy.

This was one of the rudest and most hate-filled articles I have ever read in the News-Press. We live in a society which is so quick to place blame. Why waste ink placing blame when you could use the ink to write possible solutions to the problem, maybe even improve someone's life? It is a small person who has to attack a group of teenage girls who obviously made some bad decisions, and will be living a harder life as a result. Cast your stones another direction.

I agree with k-hawn. What kind of person kicks someone who's already down? These girls are going to pay for their mistakes tenfold, and unless you've been a single mother, you'll never understand. And who are you to say whether they'll have their kids on public assistance? I know lots of teenage mothers that did without before taking government cheese. You generalize too much, mr. booher.

Since when has telling the TRUTH become unpopular? No matter how bad these girls lives were the DID NOT have to have sex & get pregnant! I was a single mom ( by divorce) I had a pretty bad childhood but waited until marriage to get pregnant. What this world needs is more JESUS & Truth and less political correctness.Mr. Booher continue to tell the TRUTH.

I have no idea what jesus has to do with it, but whatever. my point was, people make mistakes, bad ones. I agree that they did not have to have sex and get pregnant, but, they did, and people like you and mr. booher feel the need to kick them while they are down. Good christian values there, pal.

oh, and by the way you sound pretty silly when in one breath you damn single mothers and tout the virtues of being married before you get pregnant, but then reveal how well that whole marriage thing worked out for you. people in glass houses....well you know the rest.

Thanks Steve! You are right on target with this. K hawn is way off target saying your comments were rude and hatefilled. boobaladee is all wet wwith the "kicking someone who is already down" comment.
These kids were stupid, and they have screwed up their lives and now they've screwed up the lives of innocent children.
Who ends up paying for it, the tax-paying public, and THAT'S wrong.
I'm tired of paying for others stupidity.
They public should not be expected to pay for this insanity. If they are going to crank these babies out with no visable means of supporting them and the fathers aren't gone, they shouldn't be allowed to keep the babies. Give them to a loving two parent home that will nurture and support them.
It's time to get tough on free-loaders and to quit rewarding stupidity.

yeah, cause having two parents ALWAYS makes things better, right? and who says you are going to be paying for these babies? not EVERY teen mother gets on assistance. what horrible examples of christian kindness you all are.

yeah, its sad, and bad, but wouldn't the right thing to do be to come up with solutions to empower girls so they don't feel the need to resort to this? oh, but don't bother. just sit there and criticize...that'll solve everything.

My point was there are certain values we have lost sight of as a people, one of them being, having children out of wedlock. As far as people who live in glass houses these girls now live in glass houses and should expect the opinions of others to not always agree with their decision to get pregnant & have babies when they are in high school & unmarried. If theses girls thought this was a good thing to do I wonder how many of them discussed their decision with someone older who they trusted or did they hide this until they were already pregnant. I am not kicking them while they are down, just suggesting if they had Jesus in their lives the choices they made my have been very different. Boombaladee have you ever been married? It sometimes dosen't work out but that still does not change the fact that somethings are meant to wait for that union of husband & wife.

Boombaladee I have the solution!!! It is the Bible & Jesus. God is the provider of life and "Empowers" us when we live our life thru Jesus.

Know God know peace, No God no peace.

as a matter of fact, i have been married, and it was awful. I was a single mom before that and much happier and stable than when I was married. Now that we're divorced, my kids are happier, too. so there goes that theory of yours. And I don't want to hear how we've "lost sight" of certain values. the same things happened back in the day, only then, nobody talked about pregnant teenage girls, they just sent them off to homes or had them subjected to illegal and dangerous abortions.

I though that I heard these girls got pregnant on purpose so they could raise their children together. What an irresponsible decsion for such young people to be making.

so, oreginal58...what if these girls were raised christian? who's to say this wasn't your god's plan? (one wonders how old mary was?)

not everyone is christian, so you can't force that on everyone. what's right for you may not be right for everyone.

rush620...exactly. i believe teenagers are pretty well known for their poor decision making skills. this one was a particularly bad decision, but it could be worse.

why can't people rally around our children? our schools are poorly financed right now, and what help they do get is based on how well their testing results are. the kids are so overprepared for these tests that there's no room for actual learning anymore...health classes, art, music, etc have been cut and our kids are treated like cattle in school nowadays. I know...being a mom of two, I see it every day. On top of that, our economy is crap, and parents have to work two jobs apiece to make it, and what happens to the kids? they're at home, left to their own devices, and this is the kind of stuff some of the come up with. Where are the solutions?

Mary was young but she did not make a pregnancy pact, go out & find someone to sleep with to have a child, (read the story in the Bible Luke chapter 1 starting at verse 26.)He is not my God he is everyone's God and regardless of whether or not you acknowledge Him he still loves you. He also loves these girls and would like to help them in their struggles but they must accept His help. I have not said these girls were bad, silly, stupid or anything like that, they just made terrible choices that they must now live with. I will pray that they ask for the strength & guidance to raise these children in the Lord.

yeah, cause praying has really helped the youth of our country as of late.

god is imaginary, and its sad that so many people use religion as a crutch.

Steve, Steve, Steve. Your own words... "Maybe we should stop and think about this before we form a posse, round up the guys and throw them all in prison" make my case for me perfectly. In your view the men involved are innocent until proven guilty, but the girls are stupid, irresponsible and let us not forget 'guilty' and deserve what they get.

Then if we view them as having 'schemed' with this pact, it makes them even 'guiltier', doesn't it? Where is all that hostility coming from, Steve? I am sorry, but children do incredibly stupid things and the law recognizes that they are in a different category. Therefore we have family courts and we treat them more leniently. This is a good thing.

You objected to my harsh attitude toward the adult fathers in this story. If it turns out that regular, same-age teenage boys are the fathers, that is an entirely different matter than 'mostly adult men' as the news articles indicated initially. If there is no '24-year-old man' involved, as previously claimed in the initial news reports, I will be greatly relieved. As none of these pregnant girls is over 16 - with most 13, 14 and 15 - any man out of high school should have known better.

You, however, are adamant about laying all if not the majority of the blame on the girls. Forgive me when I describe this attitude as very Neanderthal of you. Practiced by patriarchal societies over millennia, I will not give you full credit for your viewpoint but I will hold you accountable for at least some gender bias.

I am the mother of an adult son, the sister of a brother, the daughter of a father, etc. I love the men in my life and I treasure them. Not one of them would have ever taken advantage of a desperate teenager, whether she was love-starved, half-naked or deluded into thinking motherhood would solve all her problems.

(Continued below)

(continued from above)
The negative, finger-pointing focus of your article condemns the girls for the premise of their desire to have children. Of course it is utterly unacceptable in our society, but your lack of compassion is even more unacceptable. They were irresponsible, selfish, immature, etc. They will be held accountable by nature and the difficulties of their situations whether they keep the babies or not. Yes, their innocence is gone, but as I said in my own article and subsequent comments to it, this does not make them evil.

Yes, I do believe grown men who have sex with children should be prosecuted, whether they are pedophiles or predators. According to the FBI, statutory rape is characterized as non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is younger than the statutory age of consent, which varies by state but is generally 16 years old.

The term statutory rape generally refers to sex between an adult and a sexually mature minor past the age of puberty.
In my opinion, and the opinion of the legal system in this country, this is wrong on the part of the men.

I do not want to return to the days when if a man impregnated a thirteen-year-old, marrying her 'solved' the problem for society and her family. I also do not want to lock up somebody's teenage boyfriend, so each case should be decided on its own merits and circumstances. I am aware there are plenty of horrible cases where the young men were abused by the court system and their lives ruined even when the girl and her family testified on their behalf. In other words, I am talking about prosecuting grown men, not boys with the same impulse problems these girls had.

I guess what I really don't understand about your article, however, is why all the meanness towards these young girls? The whole situation makes me want to weep for everyone involved. My Gather article has a different viewpoint obviously. For those interested, here's the link: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977378553

Boombaladee what do you use as your moral compass if it isn't God? These girls apparently used their own judgement of right & wrong and must now live with their choices. Under your theory if it is right for one person that makes it right? What about if someone thinks it is right to murder, or steal? Should that be right for them without any repercussions? Somewhere there must be a definite right & wrong or this world would be be more chaotic that it is!

Prayer does help. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it.

Funny how something like this happens in the most liberal state in the union. I don't think it's any coincidence. Maybe if God were allowed back into the schools things like this would not happen.

The thing that bothers me is how people say these girls have screwed up their lives. While these did make a bad decision and will be inconvienienced from time to time with raising a child. These children will be real blessings in these girls lives someday. They just have chose a more difficult route to go, but it may make them better in the long run.

It's really funny that you think all atheists are morally corrupt criminals. seriously, i've got the giggles right now.
my moral compass is the right and wrong that my parents taught me, the laws of the land, and my own concience. I don't need an imaginary friend to tell me whats wrong and what's right. Nor do I need a book that was written thousands of years ago by people that thought the earth was flat to tell me. (by the way, it also says that slavery and incest are ok in the bible, as well as beating your children.) no thanks.

and who says they won't have any repercussions? i know how hard being a single mom is, and soon they will too.

Maybe people of "old" thought the world was flat but God knew better Isaiah 40:22 talks about the "circle of the earth....The laws of the land are based on Biblical teaching, like it or not God is in everything. His standards are good and have been for thousands of years.

or maybe it was humans innate knowledge of right and wrong put into a story of "god" in order to control the masses. just sayin...

most of the time i am not enchanted with mr. booher. this time i agree.

I Totally Agree With This Article 100%. Great Article. Finally Someone Just Says What They Mean And What Everyone Else Is Thinking.!

Here's a real chin-scratcher...Boombaladee, who apparently is atheist, makes a comment about this situation possibly being God's plan. How's that? God gave us all free will, including you, Boobaladee, to make whatever choices in life you decide to make, including being an atheist. These girls, however young, immature and ill-informed they are, made these choices, as did their partners in crime (i.e., sperm donors, for those of you just tuning in). Have you ever heard anyone say, when reflecting on their past, "I made some stupid choices when I was a kid..."? That's what that's all about. This wasn't God's plan. God's plan is to place the right people in these girls' lives at the right time, to be a support system, to help them realize what they've done, learn accountability for their actions, responsibility for these unborn children (whatever that may entail) and teach them how and where to go from here to better their lives.

There's no one group to cast blame in this situation. Multiple people failed here. Start with the parents and work your way up from there. It's a start. Really.

wickedtruth....um, is your sarcasm-meter on the fritz?

also, if your god's plan was to place the right people in these girls' lives, why the hell didn't he do it BEFORE they decided to get knocked up? oh, wait....cause he doesn't exist.

BEING ACCOUNTABLE.......THAT IS WHAT IS LACKING IN TODAYS YOUTH........THANK GOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE STEVE BOOHER WHO HAS THE GUTS TO SPEAK OUT AND SAY IT LIKE IT IS. TOO MANY PEOPLE WANT TO CUSHION THE RESULTS OF OUR TEENAGERS CHOICES, INCLUDING PARENTS WANTING TO BLAME EVERYONE ELSE FOR THEIR TEENS BAD CHOICES. A TERRIFIC PIECE OF JOURNALISM......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOST AMERICANS AGREE WITH YOU..........AND SUPPORT YOUR VIEWS!!!

rant much?

How much money does the government pay unwed mothers these days?

Lots of benefits......

A variety of benefits!

It's some peoples lifestyle, like it or not.

Exactly my point StJoeMoe. If the people who create these poor bastard children can't take care of them and provide for them, then they need to be taken away and given to loving two parent homes who will provide, care, nurture and love them. It's not the childs fault that the mothers are idiots and got knocked up and the fathers are obviously loser who's only goal was a moments pleasure, careless of the consequence. Psychology experts agree a LOVING two parent homeis ALWAYS better than a single parent household.

What nobody has mentioned is that in many cases like this it is not the teenage parent who wakes up at 2am to feed the baby. Instead it is the grandparent who winds up raising the baby while the teenage kid is still living the life of a tennager. This enabling behavior by adults is why teenagers today act irresponsibly.

kw, I was a single teenage mom, lived on my own, and gave up my teenage life. most teenage moms i know did that. I didn't even live with my parents, I had two jobs, my own apartment. its sad that some of the people here generalize so much.

Version1955-I don't think you have to be a psychology expert to realize a "loving" 2 parent home is better than a single parent one. I am a single parent of 2 children, neither of which have been pregnant as a teen nor did the impregnating. However, we have a lot of communication in our home, and do I wish I had a loving partner to share in the raising of my children, yes I do but it didn't work out that way, and the only way someone would come in and take my children to put them in a loving 2 parent home, would be over my cold dead body. There seems to be a lot of generalization going on here. I agree there is a lot of financial benefit to single mom's, I however, can say that I worked full time, sometimes 2 jobs to make ends meet. If it weren't for my parents helping me out, who knows what would have happened. I did not have food stamps, free lunch, housing or have my children on medicaid. Both of my children work part time and go to school. They know right from wrong and they also know they have to take responsibility for their actions. Good and bad. Sometimes life isn't fair. It isn't everybody elses fault it's just the way it is. If more parents were parents instead of "friends" perhaps our young people would make better decisions.

--I stand by my statement: Why waste ink placing blame when you could use the ink to write possible solutions to the problem, maybe even improve someone's life? It is a small person who has to attack a group of teenage girls who obviously made some bad decisions, and will be living a harder life as a result.
--I am not defending nor attacking what these girls have done, my issue is with the writer of the article. This article is very one-sided and lacks the qualities of true journalism. See how the article reads if you insert your favorite ethic or religious group in the place of the word "girls", you will soon see the hate woven in the words.
--Good journalism does not take sides, it reports the story, writes both sides or a neutral perspective, only stating the facts.
--If this writer is but an opinion column writer, we have the right to strongly disagree with his opinions. Opinions are like bellybuttons, everyone has one.

the principal at the high school is the one that indicated there was a pact between the girls. more investigation has revealed that not to be the case. how this turned into a religious discussion i have no clue. that is what is wrong with children today, they want, and so does everyone else, to blame the parents, when it is just a mistake that they will pay for with their childhood. if anyone thinks it is easy being a single mom, then think again. i don't know of anyone who has become rich off the state. if the girl is on tanf, then she has to agree to naming the father, which she should, then they enter a cs order. people who are low income and working can receive help with babysitting and food stamps, they can also get medicaid for them and their children if no insurance is available to them thru their employer. don't get me wrong, i do believe there are people who take advantage of the system. as George Carlin once said, he never saw a dying athiest.

I was a single mother, with 2 kids and never seen a dime of child support or welfare. I worked hard (2 jobs)to support my children. That was 30 years ago. Today, many girls and guys know they can live off the system. I know a 28 year old girl(woman) with 2 kids, will not work, her boyfriend stays with her and we foot the rent, groceries and insurance. Amazing how the kids and her wear designer clothes and have cell phones. This girl is on Tanf and has yet to name the father of the 2nd child. Also she was not raised on welfare.

turn her in. my guess is she has and either can't find him, or she doesn't know who the dad is. they don't make the girls/women work if they have children under 5 which is BS because i did.

RUSH620- Well said, and great job! You did the right thing and didn’t look for a shortcut. You have got plenty to be proud of, congratulations! I am impressed by the fact that both your children are going to school and working. An obvious appreciation for what their mother has done for them. Things happen and not all marriages stay together and there are many, many wonderful single parents in this world. My point was to who’s responsibility supporting the family falls on. You stepped up and took responsibility and never relied on welfare. Again, congrats!

AKM: You did the right thing! Stepped up and worked and supported your children without you hand-out, or going on the “dole” with public assistance. Good Job! I’m sure your children appreciate the things they have more because of the example and sacrifice you gave.

RXYRCH: Good point an changing how this matter was changed from irresponsible stupidity on the girls part, to a diverted attack on Christianity.

K HAWN: I still stand by my statement and think you are all-wet. Maybe we should all hold hands and sing “Kum Ba Yah”. Booher was right on target in calling a spade a spade. Or, in this case (to say it mildly), a tramp,a tramp. Why is it everyone else’s responsibility to fix idiot’s mistakes. In the wild, you care for and provide for your own. If you don’t they wither and die. SECONDLY- the piece Booher wrote was NOT an article. It was an editorial and appeared on the opinion page. Guess what the opinion page is for k_hawn?? Giving opinions. (which I think Booher did very well)

missouri_mule that was a little crude. Unfortunately it is oh so true today. It is not just the girls either. It takes two but the ultimate responsibility falls to the girls to prevent themselves from getting pregnant. It is not all the schools fault, it is not because these girls did not get health class, or birth control at school. It is in part the parents but the majority of the responsibility lies on the girls. There is no guarantee they will be bad mothers because they are young, just as there is no guarantee they will end up on welfare but to blame the economy or anyone else other than the girls and their partners is ridiculous. Also k_hawn you've spouted twice now about finding solutions instead of attacking the girls but instead of putting some of those ideas forward, you just attack the author of the comments. This is not a religious issue and it would be a refreshing change to see an issue not become a religious issue by either side. The children that will be born into this mess should be priority. They need stable, loving homes and someone to raise them and nurture them, whether that be their biological parents, grandparents, adoptive parents or whomever. We can't forget the children.

the only reason it became a religious issue was because someone suggested god as a solution, which i disagreed with.
teenage pregnancy, whether you want to believe it or not, IS a symptom of a broken society and a bad economy. look at teen pregnancy rates in inner cities compared to well off communities, where parents have more time to be parents. I don't know what the solutions are, I just know that tearing these girls down instead of helping them onto their feet is not the way to go.

To boomblahdee...oh never mind, wasted breath. Let's just all agree with her that these girls shouldn't be held accountable for their actions, whether it be planned or a mistake (Sarcasm alert). Religion or no, the point was, is and always will be, as someone else pointed out, accountability and responsibility isn't taught enough in our soceity (which starts with the parents, at least in my house it does). It's always someone else's fault. This isn't about tearing anyone down, although, some people would agree that you have to be torn down to be built back up. It is a basic principle in preparing our soldiers for combat, but that's another blog of itself. You don't want anyone to be preachy to you, yet you yourself preach. Weird logic.

P.S. He is MY God and for that I am grateful.

Thanks version1955. I am proud to say, both my kids are graduates. My son has no children of his own and my daughter is married with 2 kids and both work to support their families. I get so upset because my daughter and grand daughters currently have no health insurance. They're in that bracket, make too much to get help and not enough to pay for it. It's so frustrating when you know people don't give it a second thought, that there are taxpayers (my daughter) paying for their insurance and she can't afford it for her own babies. But as a parent/grandparent I'm willing to help with the payments.

lucky you, wickedtruth. and i'm not saying that they shouldn't be held accountable, (i mean what are you going to do besides make them mother their children and learn from that experience,....um, ground them?) I'm saying that you don't know what kind of mothers they will be and that they need all the help they can get, while they figure that out. and by help, i dont' mean a handout, i mean support and education.

Cutting to the chase, yes, these girls made a huge mistake. They now have the obligation to get their acts together in less than 9 month's time (i.e. make decisions about work, education, childcare, etc), or become someone else for taxpayers to support. I also believe if their parents did a better job of teaching morals, ethics, and sexual responsibility to these girls, perhaps this would be a non-existing issue. Is a typical 14, 15, 16 year old equipped to make the choice to conceive? None that I know. Also whomever impregnated (espcially if over 18) them should be held criminally liable.
I can only hope and pray my 7-year-old boy makes good choices throughout his life. Temptation will be great as he grows older, as it is for any teen today. Me and my wife do our best to teach him right from wrong and making good choices. If he ends up making errors, mistakes, etc. you can bet I will be putting a huge rock of responsibility on my shoulders for not guiding him in the right direction, knowing that he still made the choice.

akm - I am also in that bracket, but I found when my children were younger Blue Cross and Blue Shield offered a very affordable health ins. plan. As I found out, once the girls reach 19 their premium almost triples, but for younger children it's a good policy with affordable co-payments.

And boombaladee - Give God a try. He's waiting on you. If you don't know how, just ask. Jesus is my Lord and Savior.

gladimgone - keep your son away from missouri_mule! LOL!

Version1955, I do not receive the News-Press, only the online version, the article was listed on the main page. As I referenced previously, it was obviously lacking in journalistic skills, due to this I attributed it to being an opinion. As I stated opinions are like bellybuttons, everyone has one. We have clearly received several.

I had suggested the ink be put to better use. I was implying the writer of the article, who gets paid for research and writing, might have better spent their time educating the readers vs. slamming a specific group. I did not realize version1955 would expect me to write an essay for such a limited audience as this comment area. I will give it some thought.

It is not so easy as to point our finger at one group or another and fix the problem. If this were true the problem would have been solved long ago. The answer is in education. Educating the girls, boys, men and women, who create our communities.

BTW, several of the people involved in this story have came forward to say there was no pact, so I guess all our writing is a mute point. I would assume there are 17 (or maybe we should say 34) different stories.

Lastly, it was attributed to me as a poster that I had made this a religious issue. I do think you have mistaken the poster's identity which led the thread toward God. Yet I must now agree, a little more Godliness and a lot less sex, and we would not be discussing this issue. LOL.

Version1955, you and I will just have to agree to disagree. Have a nice evening.

Thanks rush620. She has an appointment with a BCBS agent.

K-HAWN- Humm… “lacking in journalistic skill” Are you a journalism professor at the local university or perhaps MU? Posh! Mr. Booher possesses excellent journalistic skills and I enjoy reading his pieces. One can tell by your views, you are obviously a liberal, whom by the way is wrong.

rxyrch- I can't believe they don't make them work until 5 years old!!! What if the one is 7 and the other is 1?

K-hawn - Perhaps we should take all the "ink" you are talking about having been wasted and put up a huge billboard stating GIRLS KEEP YOUR LEGS TOGETHER! THAT'S HOW YOU PREVENT PREGNANCY!!! How's that for a solution?

akm - exactly in recent years they have tried to cut down on that by offering day care services etc. but ---------

Steve I may not always agree with you, and your articles have made me mad a few times, but you stir that pot and I love it! Too many people are afriad to say anything for fear of offending someone. Come on! Keeing quiet and/or being a crybaby is what's sending this country straight to hell. Keep stirring that pot Booher!!