Pregnant High School Senior Denied Attendance At Graduation Ceremony

[RedAngie]

An pregnant 18 year old student who attends an ultra-conservative religious school is being banned from its graduation ceremony. She will still receive her diploma; she just can't participate in the ceremony.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareins...-her-christian?utm_term=.hkVlB2G3G#.rgYngoEVE


Runkles was student council president, vice president of Key Club, and on the soccer team. She is finishing senior year with a 4.0 grade point average.

In January, she found out she was pregnant.

The school, which abides by a strict religious code of conduct prohibiting "sexually immoral" behavior, reacted swiftly and harshly. Runkles was removed from all student leadership roles. She was told she'd be kicked out of school and could not be seen on campus, though that was later amended to a two-day suspension.

She was also told she would not be allowed to go to graduation on June 2.

"They say it’s because I was immoral sexually, but there are kids at my school who have been caught drinking at parties, and they were suspended for one day," Runkles told BuzzFeed News.

"But I didn’t break the law," she said. "I just had sex before marriage, which they see as the worst thing you can possibly do."

The father of the baby does not attend the school and is now in college, she said.

*******************************************

She and her parents signed a Student Code of Conduct. She says she agrees with having this code, which she knowingly and intentionally violated.

But apparently the rules should only apply to other students, not her.

Thoughts?

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Graduation ceremonies are over rated. Bunch of boring speeches by stuffed shirts and then you walk across the stage and get a diploma cover without a diploma in it. I should have done something to get kicked out of mine so I could just hang with my friends. Once she ends up going to her kids graduation, she'll realize oh, these are majorly boring and that they unwittingly did her a favor. Although I hear the one in Arlington, TN had some unintended entertainment.

 

[Colleen27]

My first thought is that this is the absolute worst message possible for an organization that wants people to "choose life" can send. She made a mistake and did all the right things, including admitting her mistake and making the choice most in keeping with the values of her family and the school. And for that, she is incurring a more serious punishment than if she'd kept the situation to herself or made a different choice about how to proceed.

IMO, it isn't about thinking the rules shouldn't apply to her. It is about thinking the punishment for the rule she broke should be in line with other violations of the honor code. And that isn't happening here. Kids who are caught drinking, using drugs, or otherwise violating the honor code (including, according to one article I read, having sex without pregnancy) are punished one way, while she is punished another for doing the same thing.

 

[luvsJack]

I think the school is wrong and should allow her to walk at graduation but I don't agree with teens signing that kind of code of conduct either.

The only reason they are going this far with this girl is because everyone will be able to see that she is pregnant. They can't see which ones got drunk last night. It's all about appearance.

 

[Southernmiss]

What if the baby was already born? Then what would they have done? Ds graduated with at least one teen mom last week. The babies/kids were in attendance.

As big as the graduation robes are, how could anyone really tell who was pregnant?

And what if a teen boy got someone pregnant. Would they be excluded?

 

[lifesavacation]

I think it's a strange policy when one considers the "choose life" angle.

And I probably can't say anymore without getting points.

 

[jdb in AZ]

When I was in high school, pregnant girls were not allowed to "march" at graduation. Our student-body president got his girl friend pregnant and he resigned from office. The baby was born before graduation, so mom was able to "march." Fast forward several(!) years and a local school actually had a "bring your baby to school day."

 

[bcla]

I'll try to avoid the religious angle, but some schools' "honor codes" have been brought into question because they have been used against people who made accusations of sexual assault. It wasn't necessarily that being assaulted became the violation of the victim, but that ancillary descriptions of the situation included admissions of possible "honor code" violations such as premarital sex, drug/alcohol use, etc. And those cases were often not reported to campus authorities, but to law enforcement. I've even heard sometimes that law enforcement personnel (who felt it was their duty) went straight to the honor code office to report it, which theoretically is a clear violation of agency policy.

 

[Shanti]

An pregnant 18 year old student who attends an ultra-conservative religious school is being banned from its graduation ceremony. She will still receive her diploma; she just can't participate in the ceremony.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareins...-her-christian?utm_term=.hkVlB2G3G#.rgYngoEVE


Runkles was student council president, vice president of Key Club, and on the soccer team. She is finishing senior year with a 4.0 grade point average.

In January, she found out she was pregnant.

The school, which abides by a strict religious code of conduct prohibiting "sexually immoral" behavior, reacted swiftly and harshly. Runkles was removed from all student leadership roles. She was told she'd be kicked out of school and could not be seen on campus, though that was later amended to a two-day suspension.

She was also told she would not be allowed to go to graduation on June 2.

"They say it’s because I was immoral sexually, but there are kids at my school who have been caught drinking at parties, and they were suspended for one day," Runkles told BuzzFeed News.

"But I didn’t break the law," she said. "I just had sex before marriage, which they see as the worst thing you can possibly do."

The father of the baby does not attend the school and is now in college, she said.

*******************************************

She and her parents signed a Student Code of Conduct. She says she agrees with having this code, which she knowingly and intentionally violated.

But apparently the rules should only apply to other students, not her.

Thoughts?

This school obviously values its image more than its students. At least she's lucky enough to be graduating & getting out of there.

And Christ never would have treated her that way, so they aren't being Christian, either.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

A private school, especially a religious one, gets to make its own policies, even deciding what is "immoral" behavior.

Student and parents are OK with her attending such a school.

Girl willingly breaks school's policy, but doesn't want to suffer the consequences of her actions.

Father, who is on the school board, whines and quits because HIS daughter should be an exception to the rules he accepts and is charged with upholding.

Girl wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Girl and parents rush to media and then cry about backlash when people don't agree with their entitled attitude.

She should consider herself lucky the school didn't expel her when she got knocked up.

 

[wilkeliza]

When you go to school you have to abide by their rules. She signed the waiver code and so did her parents. Since the daddy didn't go to this school we don't know if father's would face the same situation.

On the drinking thing underage drinking/pre-maritial sex that doesn't result in a child are just he says she says events so usually handled much less strictly when found out at these schools. Teen/unwed pregnancy is known and everyone can see it so pretty hard to say prove it to the administrators.

College is no different. My first school literally had a policy that boys and girls could not touch in common spaces beyond hand holding. My friends and I got a fine for laying on a dude in the quad. We knew the rules and all signed saying we accepted them. A lot of us left after a semester or two.

 

[luvsJack]

A private school, especially a religious one, gets to make its own policies, even deciding what is "immoral" behavior.

Student and parents are OK with her attending such a school.

Girl willingly breaks school's policy, but doesn't want to suffer the consequences of her actions.

Father, who is on the school board, whines and quits because HIS daughter should be an exception to the rules he accepts and is charged with upholding.

Girl wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Girl and parents rush to media and then cry about backlash when people don't agree with their entitled attitude.

She should consider herself lucky the school didn't expel her when she got knocked up.

Do we really think she was thinking about school rules when she got pregnant?

I do think the pro life stance is an important part to this. I mean if she had chosen to get an abortion, she would still be in all her offices and walking at graduation. So basically they are telling the next girl to get an abortion before anyone finds out. Is that really the message they should be sending. Because you can bet the next girl isn't going to think about the code of conduct either.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Do we really think she was thinking about school rules when she got pregnant?

I do think the pro life stance is an important part to this. I mean if she had chosen to get an abortion, she would still be in all her offices and walking at graduation. So basically they are telling the next girl to get an abortion before anyone finds out. Is that really the message they should be sending. Because you can bet the next girl isn't going to think about the code of conduct either.

That was her choice. She could have eliminated the problem and marched in the ceremony. She chose otherwise and must accept the consequences.

I'm not concerned about any message the school should be sending. Their message is quite clear, don't get pregnant. Don't like it? Don't attend that school.

 

[sailorstitch]

I wanted to post about this news story, but I was worried that it would be against the "no religion" rule.

I've also been reading about this girl too.
http://people.com/chica/dress-code-violation-student-possibly-detained/

sailorstitch

 

[bcla]

A private school, especially a religious one, gets to make its own policies, even deciding what is "immoral" behavior.

Student and parents are OK with her attending such a school.

Girl willingly breaks school's policy, but doesn't want to suffer the consequences of her actions.

Father, who is on the school board, whines and quits because HIS daughter should be an exception to the rules he accepts and is charged with upholding.

Girl wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Girl and parents rush to media and then cry about backlash when people don't agree with their entitled attitude.

She should consider herself lucky the school didn't expel her when she got knocked up.

Depends. Some accept federal funding (especially universities) and are subject to Title IX. I've noted that some have used reporting of assaults and referred what should have been privileged information to honor code offices. I've heard of some religious schools withholding transcripts/diplomas from students who were excommunicated or left the religious order that operated said school.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I wanted to post about this news story, but I was worried that it would be against the "no religion" rule.

I've also been reading about this girl too.
http://people.com/chica/dress-code-violation-student-possibly-detained/

sailorstitch

I like how these stories always manage to mention that the "victims" are honor students with 4.0 GPAs or higher, as if that absolves them from any responsibility.

I doubt there would even be a story if the girl was a mediocre student who was barely passing.

 

[bcla]

A private school, especially a religious one, gets to make its own policies, even deciding what is "immoral" behavior.

Student and parents are OK with her attending such a school.

Girl willingly breaks school's policy, but doesn't want to suffer the consequences of her actions.

Father, who is on the school board, whines and quits because HIS daughter should be an exception to the rules he accepts and is charged with upholding.

Girl wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Girl and parents rush to media and then cry about backlash when people don't agree with their entitled attitude.

She should consider herself lucky the school didn't expel her when she got knocked up.

Depends. Some accept federal funding (especially universities) and are subject to Title IX. I've noted that some have used reporting of assaults and referred what should have been privileged information to honor code offices. I've heard of some religious schools withholding transcripts/diplomas from students who were excommunicated or left the religious order that operated said school.

 

[dotfurio]

I didn't read the article so I don't know how pregnant she would be for the ceremony, but I feel like they chose that school and agreed to the conduct code, so they have no room to complain. She could've transferred to public school or another school to finish out her year that would let her walk if it was more important to her.

Meanwhile my high school in the 80s had student co-op daycare we had so many teen moms.

 

[luvsJack]

That was her choice. She could have eliminated the problem and marched in the ceremony. She chose otherwise and must accept the consequences.

I'm not concerned about any message the school should be sending. Their message is quite clear, don't get pregnant. Don't like it? Don't attend that school.

Eliminated the problem? If she eliminated the pregnancy, you don't think that would have gone against their code?

My point was that the school should be worried about the message they are sending.

Look, I have a dd that wore a purity ring and made a vow with that ring, by her choice. (Not sure if she still follows that vow but she did through high school). Even at that, she started the pill in her senior year. I told her dad she would soon be 18 and in college, we had to be realistic. So I understand their "code". I understand what they want from these kids but, like us, they have to be realistic. And I just think they need to think about the message they are sending when they set down this "punishment".

Besides punishing her now is a little like shutting the barn door after the horse got out.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

I don't understand where the question is.

There's a code of conduct, she violated it, and now she lives with the consequences.

Where's the story?! The kid has a good GPA?

My kid's a honors student with a decent GPA and he plays multiple sports. He got mad at me one day and slammed the bathroom door open and cracked the wood. He filled, sanded, and repainted the door, with his own money on a Saturday at 7am. No pass for a good kid who makes a stupid mistake.

Consequences, children. They're there for a reason.

Then again, OTOH, kids before marriage is so acceptable now that I'm surprised they took a stand on it.