Pregnant Student Banned from Graduation, Walks

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foxnews.com/story/0,2933,156955,00.html

Pregnant Student, Banned From Graduation, WalksWednesday, May 18, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/images/service_ap_36.gif MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A pregnant student who was banned from graduation at her Roman Catholic high school announced her own name and walked across the stage anyway at the close of the program.

Alysha Cosby’s ([search](javascript:siteSearch(‘Alysha Cosby’s’);)) decision prompted cheers and applause Tuesday from many of her fellow seniors at St. Jude Educational Institute ([search](javascript:siteSearch(‘St. Jude Educational Institute’);)).

But her mother and aunt were escorted out of the church by police after Cosby headed back to her seat.

“I can’t believe something like this is happening in 2005,” said her mother, Sheila Cosby. “My daughter has been through a lot and I am proud of her. She deserved to walk, and she did.”

The school’s guidance counselor delivered Cosby’s degree to her house earlier Tuesday, but she still wanted to participate.

“I worked hard throughout high school and I wanted to walk with my class,” she said.

Cosby was told in March that she could no longer attend school because of safety concerns, and her name was not listed in the graduation program

The father of Cosby’s child, also a senior at the school, was allowed to participate in graduation
 
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CinciMom:
The father of Cosby’s child, also a senior at the school, was allowed to participate in graduation
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Well, you have to admit that is not right. I think that perhaps they both should have stayed away. Let’s face it, she did not do this on her own.

I don’t agree with the mom and aunt being defiant as well. Why did they choose a Catholic High School if they did not want the rules and discipline? The school has the right to not want to advertise this.

It seems that the school might have handled it better, and I am not sure of how. One thing that the girl is doing right, is actually having the baby. She needs support and guidance and not all this drama.
 
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Fitz:
Well, you have to admit that is not right. I think that perhaps they both should have stayed away. Let’s face it, she did not do this on her own.
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I totally agree here. It is a double standard BIG TIME here.

I am also glad she did choose to have the baby instead of having an abortion.
 
she shouldn’t have been banned from walking. The dignity of all life, including the pregnant, is not an embarrassement.
 
Well, she did carry the baby instead of aborting. Isn’t that Catholic?

And if they allowed a guy but not her, it seems the visual side of it (the visible pregnancy) was the deciding factor more than what really happened.

This is what people get for overdoing things with the sin of scandal. The sin of scandal is one thing, but focusing on the external appearance over reality looks like a petite-bourgeoisie kind of fear more than anything Catholic.

The school didn’t act in a beautiful manner, nor did the girl. Well, it pretty much looks like everyone messed up.
 
Well…that will be a graduation to remember.

I don’t condone her defiant actions, but she would not have done it if the school would have let her walk. I am sure that the kids walking across that stage has also had sex, but she is suffering the consequences. Not fair at all. But then again, life isn’t fair, right? :confused:

Seems to me the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. They’re saying, “If you have pre-marital sex and get pregnant, you don’t get to graduate.” Shouldn’t it be, “If you don’t do the work, you don’t get to graduate”?
 
You’re right. MOM AND DAD should NOT have been allowed to participate. It’s either both or NONE.

I think Jesus would have been a little more forgiving.
 
rediculous–Peter denied Christ and still became Pope.

We all screw up, the key is how we pick ourselves up–this girl is having the baby and defending life–we should commend that, not hide it.

Like another poster said–imagine how many of those other kids have had pre-marital sex. This is teaching that it’s only wrong if you get caught.

Don’t even get me started about letting the father walk.
 
**How times have changed! In the fifties, this was common even in public schools. The pregnant girl usually had to drop out of school, period. If the girl’s parents were sufficiently upset, she would be sent to the Crittenden Home in another city until the baby was born. **
 
I’m with everybody else. I can’t believe the school wanted to make an example of the girl, but not the boy who got her pregnant. That’s just hypocritical; there had to have been a better way to handle the situation. It’s just easier to blame the woman; it’s obvious that she’s pregnant, but you can’t tell by looking at a man that he got a woman pregnant.
 
geezerbob said:
**How times have changed! In the fifties, this was common even in public schools. The pregnant girl usually had to drop out of school, period. If the girl’s parents were sufficiently upset, she would be sent to the Crittenden Home in another city until the baby was born. **
Click to expand...

Yes, in less than half a century pride has replaced shame. Isn’t it grand?
 
This administration is thoughtless. Diocesean school? So some other girl in the school gets preg in her Sr. year and the abortion counselors, who are understanding, will have her ear; no public humilation. Actually, I think this gal is gutsy and determined. This policy is suppose to be life affirming?
 
Do we have the whole story? Perhaps there is more to the story than we know, as usually the case when things like this are reported.

If all things being equal then I don’t see the prudence in not allowing her, but no-one can lay claim to a God given right to walk across a stage and have their name mentioned. It is a privilege, equality does not apply to privileges, only rights.

But he replied to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last." Matthew 20:13-16
 
Sad story, and we DON’T know all the facts.
Buried in the story was a statement that the girl had not attended school since March, due to “safety issues”. Not sure what that is all about.
Also, we don’t know if the school was aware who the father of the child was. If the mother to be and the father to be didn’t tell the school officials, but other students or reporters knew by “word of mouth”, doesn’t that make a difference?
The girl was not kept from graduating, in that her diploma etc. were given to her on the Tuesday. It was the “walk” that was “banned”. . .and even there, we also don’t know just how far along the pregnancy was. If the young woman had stopped attending school in March for safety issues, one of those safety issues COULD have been related to the girl needing bed rest, or other precautions for problem pregnancies. There are literally DOZENS of problems that can affect pregnancy–gestational diabetes for example, or preeclampsia, which could have made even attendance and a “walk” in the typical graduation (which usually lasts 2-3 hours or more) a health hazard for the mother-to-be.

I have problems trusting articles from the MSM which use “loaded” language, such as “banned”, or have very “fuzzy” or “equivocal” statements, and a paucity of real factual information. This story just seems too contrived and definitely there are too many areas which need more information than is set out before a person could make a truly informed judgment on the whole thing.

Well, God bless her and the baby, glad she chose life and hope the baby is healthy.
 
geezerbob said:
**How times have changed! In the fifties, this was common even in public schools. The pregnant girl usually had to drop out of school, period. If the girl’s parents were sufficiently upset, she would be sent to the Crittenden Home in another city until the baby was born. **
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I graduated from a Catholic high school in 1980, & there was a girl in the class ahead of me who got pregnant & the school made her leave. A couple of years later, there was another pregnant girl in my sister’s class & she was allowed to stay in school, so obviously the school or the diocese changed its policy. I can understand both positions, but when I became a teacher myself I started to wonder which would be better: when I was student-teaching, there was a very pregnant girl in one of my classes and I always worried that something would happen, i.e. that she’d go into labor or have some complications. It was a large building and there was no way anyone could have ran to the nurse’s office in time to get a trained health professional in time. Unless you happen to be the school nurse or perhaps a phys ed/health teacher, you have no first aid or medical training unless you got it on your own, and very young girls are more prone to problems especially if it’s their first pregnancy. A scary situation for all parties concerned.

Although I agree that both the girl and the school officials both behaved badly, I’m actually surprised that any school, Catholic or otherwise, would sanction a pregnant girl in this day & age of intense media scrutiny & lawsuits at the drop of a hat. As the others have said, I wonder if this story presented all the relevant facts.
 
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Trelow:
If all things being equal then I don’t see the prudence in not allowing her, but no-one can lay claim to a God given right to walk across a stage and have their name mentioned. It is a privilege, equality does not apply to privileges, only rights.
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I would say to the school it is a privilege to cash my tuition check. If they did this to my daughter, I would stop payment on the monthly tuition.

One final lesson for the young girl…Hypocracy! I guarentee that this is what she will remember for a long time about the Catholic faith. I just hope and pray that she keeps her faith.
 
Tantum ergo:
The girl was not kept from graduating, in that her diploma etc. were given to her on the Tuesday. It was the “walk” that was “banned”. . .and even there, we also don’t know just how far along the pregnancy was. If the young woman had stopped attending school in March for safety issues, one of those safety issues COULD have been related to the girl needing bed rest, or other precautions for problem pregnancies. There are literally DOZENS of problems that can affect pregnancy–gestational diabetes for example, or preeclampsia, which could have made even attendance and a “walk” in the typical graduation (which usually lasts 2-3 hours or more) a health hazard for the mother-to-be.
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My daughter’s Catholic HS has a similar policy. Once a pregnancy is “visable” the student must withdraw for “safety” reasons. What a bunch of baloney! The girl made a mistake. God bless her for not compounding that mistake by aborting her baby. Just think of the next girl in that school who gets pregnant, “if I don’t abort, I will be kicked out of school”. Nice message, they should be ashamed.
 
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swampfox:
Yes, in less than half a century pride has replaced shame. Isn’t it grand?
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Indeed. The father should be “banned” as well, but I find it odd we now celebrate that the pregnant teenager has not committed another mortal sin by abortion. Is this the new standard?

I am sure there is more to the story than as reported, but to get pregnant, defy the school and announce your own name and walk across the stage is hardly the role model I choose for my children.

The emphasis is on the “inequality” of the schools decision rather than the immorality of the acts committed. Good grief.
 
Not exactly showing “radical solidarity” with the girl. (The school I mean)
 
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