<p>Perhaps the problem is regional? or more common in certain areas? Our HS has not had a single prom baby in the 12 years that we have been here. There have been 2 babies born in March-May timespan, so conceived during the previous summer. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what the % of teens is, who have had sex WAY before the age of 17/18, or prom, but pretty high I think?</p>
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<p>I don’t think the girls in this urban legend have any confusion about where babies come from, do you? I can’t fathom how what you wrote has any relevance to this topic.</p>
<p>As to the story, it’s an urban legend. Trust me. I’ve been an amateur UL researcher for 10 years and this has all the makings of a classic. The fact that it’s an urban legend doesn’t mean that a girl has never become pregnant during or just after a prom, it just means that this particular story is a bit of folklore. Just because it’s folklore doesn’t mean it has never happened.</p>
<p>CGM, You know I love you, but your mixing things up about this one. The abby article this am was about girls having prom night sex… to get pregnant to avoid college only. That’s not the point your defending is it?</p>
<p>Of course girls (and boys) can and do have sex on prom night for alot of reasons. The most previlant reason was not to go into college a virgin if they still are. However, they still planned to go to college. </p>
<p>I do know of young girls (15,16) who do purposely have babies so they can move out on government assistance and each additional child meant more money in aid. This was studied in the north Everett, WA projects (30 north of seattle) and these child moms were having babies so they could get their own apartments and move out of the house where they shared their room with 2 or 3 sibs. They basically were doing what their moms had done. The goal was to get them into college and into something other than the projects. </p>
<p>So I would say yes, sex goes on at prom (and other nights) but I think we’d be hard pressed to find someone who was trying to get preggers to avoid fall classes.</p>
<p>Added: My earlier post is going to draw the reaction of “how do you know?” I tell you what, find me names, places, times, and a reliable source and I’ll retract what I wrote earlier about it being a UL. Otherwise, I’m sticking with it. This story has most of the hallmarks of good folklore:</p>
<ol>
<li> Someone does something for the wrong reason.</li>
<li> They are punished for their ignorance.</li>
<li> The story contains no verifiable information.</li>
<li> It’s a horrifying story that touches at something that could happen to anyone’s family (or friends).</li>
<li> It allows the reader to feel superior at the same time they think, “there but for the grace of God go I.”</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for sharing this. I haven’t seen a new one in a while.</p>
<p>(“Dear Abby” is right up there with email as one of the world’s great disseminators of urban legends, by the way.)</p>
<p>If anyone bothered to read the FIRST line of my OP, you will see something, a kind of disclaimer, for heavens sake</p>
<p>I did not say that I thought the letter was real, no I did not, however, I did say that prom night is a night of extra pressures for a lot of things, including sex, and often for the first time, and that we as parents need to remind our kids about taking care of themselves in all ways</p>
<p>I am mixing nothng up at all, jeesh, I am using the letter as a jumping off point, imagine that!!! something to start a discussion about teen pressures, sex, rites of passage, the extra pressures of doing things that they might not normally do on a night such as prom night</p>
<p>I would say the same thing about valentines day for sex, new years eve for drinking, etc</p>
<p>How am I mixing anything up, if anyone bothered to read the first line of my post was this"</p>
<p>Whether it is a trend or not, a reminder to parents about prom and sex</p>
<p>how difficult was that to understand…</p>
<p>as you stated yourself, one of the most prevelant reasons for having sex on prom night was to lose their virginity, and as such, we as parents can gentlely remind our young men and women that they should at all times be safe, careful and not do something “just because” but to think about their choices</p>
<p>I in no way defended what the letter writer was claiming the girls were saying, that was so odd anyway</p>
<p>but that letter did bring up the idea of sex on prom night, and such…and other prom night issues, such and drugs and drinking, and dangerous behaviors</p>
<p>It is like reminding your kids to buckle up, we can’t stop them from driving, but we can do our best to remind them to be safe, is that such a hard thing for some here to get?</p>
<p>CGM, I was careful not to say that I thought you believed the story. Most ULs have a cautionary tale built in, and it is wise to heed the core message.</p>
<p>With the speed of propagation of these sorts of stories in the Internet age, it’s really rare to come across one that someone else hasn’t already sent me. It’s why I was excited – it’s sort of like finding a $20 bill in a jacket you haven’t worn for a while. No offense of any sort was intended.</p>
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<p>I thought the “so called” and the first part of my post made it relatively obvious I don’t completely disagree 
I don’t think this is a widespread trend that most people aspire to conciously. But on the other hand, I’m certain that pregnancies result from activities on prom night. On every other night too, though. My point was that the real issue here is teen pregnancy, not prom.</p>
<p>They may know where babies come from, but that’s only half the battle. Do they know how to prevent them? Well. The success rates for “ideal use” and “average use” are different, aren’t they? I don’t believe most teens have adequate information for the decisions they’re making. My observation was that as urban legends about “prom babies” work their way into mainstream media and are viewed as alarming trends, the same people who are so alarmed hold tight to ideas that have been shown to not reduce the problem. These legends that this is a new trend are based partly on the idea that something is inherently different today - that the culture is too concerned with openness - back in the day no one even THOUGHT of “prom babies”, so we need to bring our control even tighter back to the old way. But that really isn’t true - there were teen pregnancies, it was just much less open. There is obviously no trend here, my point is that it’s disturbing one will no doubt end up used to justify things are probably counterproductive.</p>
<p>As a society, we have taken to our hearts the need to be concerened about drinking on prom nights- many schools have breathalzers, etc.</p>
<p>My point is and has been that as PARENTS of young people, we can be reminded that prom night is a night of passage, or rite of passage for many kids, the time of feeling all growded up, and as PARENTS, it is our responsibilty to remind our young charges that just because it is PROM NIGHT, that is not a reason to engage in risky behavior you otherwise might not</p>
<p>How in the world is that counter productive</p>
<p>We talk to them about drinking, driving, and drugs on prom night, we should also through in the sex talk…what a radical idea!!!</p>
<p>As well, many girls who do not normally drink much, may, just may, drink more on prom night, and in doing such, that drinking may cloud otherwise good judgement about risky behavior, sex and drinking often go hand in hand, throw in a “romantic” night, and the pressure can expand</p>
<p>So it is counter productive in what way to discuss this with our teens?</p>
<p>Kids have been given the message from at least the fifth grade in school and from the culture that they are expected to have (<strong><em>SAFE</em></strong>) sex while they are in high school, and you expect prom night to be any different?</p>
<p>They’re too drunk to remember to use protection on prom night, as opposed to every other night? Oh, well. They’ve been taught in school since the 4th grade not to abuse substances too.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Abstinence training:</p>
<p>Learn the following, my students: Tell him don’t. Tell her stop.</p>
<p>Don’t! Stop! Don’t! Stop! Don’t! Stop! Don’t. Stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop. Oh yeaaaaah.</p>
<p>Abstinence training: how prom babies get made.</p>
<p>I wonder why all those teenage mothers had babies before the days of Sex Education in the schools in this country (i.e. prior to the early seventies). Apparently you think it’s a Bush Era-theocratic-influenced phenomenon? </p>
<p>Takes something other than a few high school lectures, abstinence or non-abstinence, to prevent it from happening, it seems to me.</p>
<p>As best I can tell, prom night is distinguished from other nights primarily by the wearing of ridiculously expensive clothes, riding in pointlessly expensive vehicles, to attend a party which isn’t in the style that any of the particpants would have chosen by themselves. Kind of a teen version of Jon Benet Ramsey. As far as I can tell it’s 50% competitive sport for the girls who vie for the maximum number of proms they get invited to and 50% “Little League mom” style parental insanity. I doubt that there’s any more or less sex, drugs and alcohol involved than any other weekend.</p>
<p>Why would you want to ruin your life with a baby, imagine all the fun you have before the childern. Well, thats a straight childs parent worry 
though sad.</p>
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<p>keep thinking that if you want to. however, it’s far from the truth</p>
<p>Yes Kluge, everyone should just enjoy hiking, biking, reading and other low impact life choices–while wearing only REI clothing. You should start reading “Ask an uptight Seatteite” in the Seattle Weekly. It’s you.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.seattleweekly.com/columns/284118/[/url]”>http://www.seattleweekly.com/columns/284118/</a></p>
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<p>Actually, the teen pregnancy rate dropped after the advent of sex ed including contraception.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061201180530.htm[/url]”>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061201180530.htm</a></p>
<p>I doubt that you could find one sex education curriculum anywhere in the country that tells students they’re “expected” to have sex in high school. That’s a gross distortion made by those with a political axe to grind.</p>
<p>The leading cause of teen pregnancy? Some could make a case that it’s adult males. Most girls who become pregnant as teens report having been sexually molested by adult males prior to becoming sexually active. And as many as 70% of girls 15-17 who become pregnant are impregnated by males 3 or more older. The younger the girl, the greater the age difference tends to be between her and the father of her child. </p>
<p>Additionally, 60% of girls who have sex before age 15 report being coerced by a male 6 or more years older.</p>
<p>Here’s the original letter to Dear Abby: <a href=“Dear Abby - Life Advice | UExpress”>Dear Abby - Life Advice | UExpress, which makes it sound even more like an urban legend: “One had been accepted to several Ivy League schools.” (And yes, I’m one of those annoying people who writes back to mass e-mails with the real info from snopes.com :))</p>
<p>I hope that second letter’s a hoax too.</p>