On January 23, Lifetime premiered "The Pregnancy Pact," an original movie inspired by the alleged 2008 pregnancy pact at a high school in Gloucester, MA.
This fictional account imagines what would have happened if there really had been a pregnancy pact, and gets behind the media circus that erupted after Time magazine reported that such a pact may have existed. In the film, on-line journalist Sidney Bloom (Thora Birch), returns to Gloucester, her home town, to investigate the sudden spike in pregnancies at her old high school. She comes up against Lorraine Dougan (Nancy Travis), the head of the local Family Values Council and mother of Sara (Madisen Beaty), a newly pregnant 15-year-old. Meanwhile, the high school nurse (Camryn Manheim) urges the school to provide contraception to students in order to address the pregnancy epidemic, and stirs an ongoing debate about what schools should do to prevent teen pregnancy.
If you missed it, you can now watch the entire online at mylifetime.com. Check out the trailer and public service announcement starring Camryn Manheim below and don't forget to visit the movie's Facebook page for more information about "The Pregnancy Pact."
Check out this video featuring real teens sounding off about teen pregnancy and what they really think can prevent it.
How do the themes in the movie relate to your real life? Watch the movie on January 23rd and come back to answer the questions below:
- The school nurse tells Lorraine that while adults are arguing, teens are getting pregnant. Why do you think adults fight so much about what to teach teens when it comes to sex and pregnancy prevention? Do you think that talking about abstinence, but also teaching about contraception for those who do have sex, is a clear message or a confusing message? Is it confusing to you? Click here to answer.
- Sidney tells her teen viewers, "If you're having sex on a regular basis and you don't use birth control, you have an 85% chance of pregnancy within a year." Does that surprise you? Do you think most teens know this? Do most teens know the facts about how to prevent pregnancy? Why do so many teenagers think it won't happen to them? Click here to answer.
- Lorraine doesn't even know her daughter Sara is having sex at all until she finds out she is pregnant. Even though her mom was clear that she expected Sara to wait until marriage, Sara chose to have sex anyway. Why do you think Sara made that decision? Do you think she regrets it now? What are some good reasons to wait to have sex? Do you know what your parents' values are when it comes to relationships, sex, and pregnancy? How do they communicate them to you? What are some good reasons to wait to have sex? Click here to answer.
- When Sidney takes Becca to buy condoms at the convenience store and asks the clerk if he thinks she's promiscuous because of her purchase, he says yes. Do you agree? Is there a double standard for guys and girls when it comes to having protection handy? Why? The teens in this movie say it's too embarrassing or too difficult to get birth control. Do you agree? Why don't people take responsibility for getting and using birth control as much as they should? Have you ever asked your parents -- or another adult like your doctor or the school nurse -- about how to get birth control? What happened? Click here to answer.
For more discussion questions, check out the movie's Questions and Things to Think About.
- Teen pregnancy is 100% preventable. What else can you say that about?
- Nearly 3 in 10 girls in the U.S. will get pregnant at least once by age 20.
- 1 in 6 girls in the U.S. will be a teen mother.
- One out of every ten children in the U.S. is born to a teen mother.
- Nearly half of teens say they've never thought about how a teen pregnancy would affect their lives.
- Less than half of teen mothers ever finish high school; fewer than 3% finish college by age 30.
- Babies born to teens are more likely to be born prematurely and at low birth weight; they are more likely to have health and developmental problems, and less likely to succeed in school. They are more likely to be abused and neglected.
For more facts and tips on teen pregnancy and how to prevent it (waiting, contraception, common myths, and more), visit our Get Informed section.