Is it right (or within the rights) of Catholic schools to expell unwed mothers?

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Tietjen said:
In the interest of charity, I am withdrawing from this thread. I said that a few days ago but this time I feel I truly must. I really have explained my reasons why I believe a Catholic school has the right to expel a student who participates in pre-marital sex. The supporters of pre-marital sex have likewise stated their opinions on the matter and we are all repeating ourselves. I have tried to listen to the arguments against holding children accountable for their actions but I must be an idiot, because I simply don’t get it. I have listened as a self-proclaimed Catholic poster cried out, “I don’t care what some man-made religion says or some priest,” I’ve listened as another self-proclaimed Catholic claimed that even if a girl and boy were caught in the act behind the school bleachers, they should not be punished but instead counseled. It simply amazes me that Catholics cannot even agree on issues of morality anymore. It’s no surprise that the estimate is 80% of self-proclaimed Catholics use artificial birth control. It’s no surprise that there is a growing amount of self-proclaimed Catholics who do not view abortion as murder. So very sad…
I feel so very sorry for today’s children. Take care all and God bless.
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You can’t hide your contempt behind “in the interests of charity”; you just called everyone who disagreed with you “supporters of premarital sex”, and enounced all of us as unworthy Catholics who don’t understand morality, and tried to pretend that you were bowing out gracefully.
 
Lujack said:
And here we hit the key difference. You see a student who refuses to lead a chaste life, and needs to be punished. I see a student who slipped up, and now needs the support of a Catholic community. I also see a new life coming into the world; that’s a serious responsibility and a joyful occasion.

The school can aid the student by showing its love and support in her time of need, by offering her the opportunity to get the education she’ll need to support her child, by helping her create a support network among her friends and classmates that could last the rest of her life. Perhaps a classmate or a teacher will even end up as the baby’s godfather or godmother; what a wonderful thing that could be!

As someone who changed schools between fifth and sixth grades, its difficult to adjust to a new place with new people. In all likelihood, this girl is either a junior or a senior in high school, and going to a new school in the later years of high school is the hardest of all…for a normal student who is changing schools because she moved. But this is more than that! You’re asking a pregnant girl, who has just been told that she’s unworthy to be part of her old community, to press forward with her education in a public school that’s likely larger.

Not only that, you’re expecting her to somehow still want to be associated with the Catholic Church, so that she can use its other support networks! And a fat chance that is; to the eyes of a student, a Catholic school and the Catholic Church are closely intertwined. Likely the school is attached to the very same parish she’ll supposedly return to for guidance!

Again, we are looking at it in two very different ways. You seem to think that nobody should get anything more than they are entitled to. If Heaven operated on that standard, the New Testament wouldn’t even exist; its about what we can do to help others, not what others deserve.

And actually, while the school obviously doesn’t have the financial resources to put her through college, I think it would be incumbent upon teachers and guidance councilors to help her find a college that fits what she needs, and help her to find financial aid if she needs it. That’s what you do when someone falls behind: you rally to them and help them pull through.

How is it teaching non-responsibility to teens when a school steps up to help a student prepare for perhaps the greatest responsibility that anybody can take on? By allowing the student to stay in school, and helping to prepare the young woman for being a mother, the school is emphasizing the responsibility that she’s about to take on.

Its also teaching responsibility to the other students: your responsibility to your fellow human to step up and aid them in their time of need, even if its difficult.
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I’ve read most of the thread, and I think that this does a good job of answering the pertinent question: “What would Jesus do?”

Granted, premarital sex is wrong, and a Catholic school should be teaching that emphatically. I am thrilled that the Catholic high school our girls attended is the first to implement a wonderful curriculum (“Healing the Culture”) that deals with pervasive unhealthy attitudes, including those about love and sexuality. Perhaps, this will cause it to dawn on that school’s students that the Church really does have the right idea about healthy, moral sexual relationships (marriage!) healingtheculture.com/mission.php

That said, the thought of a Catholic school actually expelling a pregnant girl makes me profoundly uneasy. I think that the best solution would be continuing her studies at home, returning to school following the baby’s birth. Personally, I could not imagine WANTING to stay in school, among my (immature and often cruel) peers, in a situation like that.

The abortion question simply cannot be dismissed (I’m talking about the U.S. now.) For a school representative of a pro-life Church to provide a climate where a girl who became pregnant, and aborted, could stay in school because her pregnancy was unknown, while a student who “chose life” was expelled is simply not acceptable to me. This plays into the hands of those who hate the Church and will use anything against her; this type of situation would allow them to have a field day with charges of utter hypocrisy, and that does damage.
 
Tietjen said:
It simply amazes me that Catholics cannot even agree on issues of morality anymore. It’s no surprise that the estimate is 80% of self-proclaimed Catholics use artificial birth control. It’s no surprise that there is a growing amount of self-proclaimed Catholics who do not view abortion as murder. So very sad…
I feel so very sorry for today’s children. Take care all and God bless.
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If you derived from this thread the idea that anybody here actually thinks that teenagers engaging in premarital sex is a good idea, then I think you are mistaken.

We simply differ in what we regard is the response most in keeping with what Jesus’ response would be. Any intimation that those of us who don’t necessarily think expulsion is the best course of action are soft on abortion is unfair, not to mention a total non sequitur.
 
The original question was concerning schools in the Philippines.

I would be surprised if Catholic Schools in America expel unwed mothers.
 
Actually, if the school is a private institution it has every right to expel any student for any reason so long as it doesn’t break descriminatory laws… ie race, religion, gender, etc. It’s not an easy decision for the School Board but ultimately its their call. Personally, I don’t agree with it but it is their call.
As for the practice of pre marital sex. That has been going on for thousands of years (good luck stopping it). If you must make a stand on pre marital sex then the only way to slow it down is to educate the kids and yes the parents too. Kids should never be raised in school. They need the structure of the family to enforce good morals and yes discipline. If the parents can’t or won’t then you must learn to accept that sometimes people fall through the cracks. This will be the only post I make on this thread.
 
HelenRose said:
The original question was concerning schools in the Philippines.

I would be surprised if Catholic Schools in America expel unwed mothers.
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Yes, I think we all knew that it was in the Philippines, which is why I qualified my response. There had been some general discussion of the question, however.
 
Within their rights? Sure, but not because she is pregnant rather because of her break (by having sex outside marriage) with the code of conduct most Catholic school expect students to adhere to. I do think there should be compassion shown. This doesn’t mean the school is condoning extramarital sex, it means they do not want to further complicate the situation of a person already in a tough spot.

I am a member of Feminist For Life, an organization that fights hard to protect pregnant women from discrimination in the academy-- while the school has a right to choose to expel her, I’d hope they wouldn’t be the kind of institution I protest against with other Catholic women!
 
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