In recent months, motherhood has been the center of debate in the US. A school in Texas where every student is a teen mother reveals how young lives are sustained and reshaped. Read to know more.
All about Texas school full of teen mother students
For the outside eye, Linklon Park looks like all other US schools. With its sandy brick building, the American flag hoisted, and school buses outside. However, inside, one can hear the babbles and cries of babies alongside teens attending class. The school walls are full of posters encouraging students to go to college, in addition to some promoting parenting classes and pregnancy services. Moreover, there is a daycare center right next to the main building.
This unique school is situated in Brownsville, Texas, on the US-Mexico border. The school is one of the last ones providing a specific and important educational service of teaching teen mothers. Almost all students attending Lincoln Park High are teen mothers. Since 2005, the school has been exclusively serving teen mothers. (Ativan)
Lincoln Park High School: More on the school and data
Almost all teen mothers attending Lincoln Park High School are Hispanic. The high rates are a reflection of the city’s population with 94 percent Hispanics. Most of them are from low-income families and some are American-born Mexican residents who cross the border every day to attend classes. While teen birth rates are reducing over the last three decades, it is much more common among young Hispanic mothers. They have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates and experts believe the numbers will rise following the 2022 SC decision of striking down the right to abortion.
As per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 in every 1,000 girls between the age of 15 to 19 years gave birth in 2020. However, the data does not include birth rates for teens below the age of 15. In the year when motherhood was the center of the cultural and political conversation in the US, the school overs insight into how it is helping young women facing the challenge. As per the data from the liberal Texas Freedom Network, about 58 percent of public schools in Texas teach abstinence-only sex education. While 25 percent do not touch the topic. “As long as we don’t share that information with them, then they’re not getting educated. They’re not allowed to choose whether they want the consequence or not,” said Cynthia Cardenas. Cardenas is the principal of the school.