Posted on 05/18/2005 11:07:30 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A pregnant student at a Roman Catholic High School, told she could not participate in her graduation ceremony, announced her own name and walked across the stage anyway at the close of the program.
Alysha Cosby's decision prompted cheers and applause from many of her fellow seniors and dozens of others at St. Jude Educational Institute's Tuesday night ceremony.
But some murmured that her act was in poor taste and that it took away from the ceremony, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
The father of Cosby's child is also a senior at the school and was allowed to participate in graduation. His name was not released.
"I can't believe something like this is happening in 2005. I feel like we have regressed instead of progressed," 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."
Alysha Cosby announced her name and walked the stage after the last senior named in the program was called. Her mother and aunt, Debra Blackwell, were escorted out of St. Jude Church by police after Alysha Cosby headed back to her seat.
"I really came to support my classmates. Doing this was really a last-minute thing," Cosby said after her family left the building.
The school's guidance counselor delivered Cosby's degree to her house early Tuesday afternoon, but she still wanted to participate.
"I worked hard throughout high school and I wanted to walk with my class," Cosby said.
Cosby, whose name was not listed on the graduation program, was told in March that she could no longer attend school because of what were described as safety concerns. School officials told her to complete her class work at home.
School policy states that the administration can decide if a student needs to be homeschooled based on medical safety, physiological well-being and social issues.
But she was Queen of the Prom.
"Because it's all about me and my happiness!"
For what reason?
When I saw the headline my first thought was garden-variety Catholic-bashing in the media until I read this line.
I can think of about a hundred arguments on both sides.
On the one hand, it certainly isn't fair to ban the expectant mother from the ceremony but allow the father to participate. That's what used to be called the "double standard." Shades of Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter."
On the other hand, it doesn't set a good moral example to let a pregnant unmarried girl cross the stage for her schoolmates to cheer. Being a pregnant mother is a lot more visible than being a father.
On the third hand, you have to give the kids credit for not running out and secretly aborting the baby so their graduation ceremony wouldn't be messed up.
On the fourth hand. . . .
if this story is true and accurate - then I support the woman. Good for her.
MERCY!!!
Me thinks there much more to this story. Why were police at a Catholic school graduation? How did the police pick out these two from the hundreds of other family members in the audience? What did these two do to attract the police attention enough to be escorted out?
When I saw the headline my first thought was garden-variety Catholic-bashing in the media until I read this line.
The problem is we do not know if that latter line is true. We do know she is pregnant, but we cannot be certain who the father is -- nore can the reporter for The Advertiser.
So she defied the tenents of a catholic education and got to go up on the stage...good for her! She could have defied her church and gotten an abortion, then gotten the diploma, and no one would have known the difference.
You summarized my reaction perfectly as well.
Quite right. Either both were in or both were out of the ceremony.
I do too. For one thing, we can't expect to stop abortion in this country if we treat unmarried mothers like trash. Yes, it would be best if they were married, but it is better that be unmarried and have the child, than to abort it.
A similar thing happened at my Catholic High School class graduation but the outcome was somewhat different. 10 minutes before the ceremony was to start the Principal(a nun) pulls a girl from the line (pregnant - and showing)and announces to us that she will not be allowed to participate in the ceremony. Evidently, the Bishop was able to make it to the ceremony afterall. Our class President walks up to the Principal and says if she doesn't go we all don't go. Our entire class was only 75 students and we were all very close to each other. There was no doubt that we wouldn't have walked if she was pulled. They Principal was caught between a rock and a hard place. If we didn't walk she'd be embarrassed and if the Bishop noticed the pregnant girl then she's also be embarrassed. So principal just walked away, the music started to play and the cermony went off without a hitch.
JBR
Class of '75
So I guess only non-sinners were allowed to graduate? Must have been a quick ceremony!
If the Catholic Church is anti-abortion/pro-life and seeks to promotes the 'culture of life' why the hell penalize a girl who opted not to abort her fetus?
What is gained, after the fact, of denigrating or shunning a pregnant, unmarried teen from her graduation ceremony? Is that action going to stop other lusty teens from having sex? Perhaps it would simply encourage the quick and easy solution of abortion?
I am sure St. Jude's does not want to encourage 'underclass' behavior - getting pregnant in high school is a badge of womanhood, etc. ---- but there certainly seems to me to be valid arguments for more discretion on the part of the school and allowing the girl's priest and parents to deal with her rather than contributing to a public spectacle
Finally - if the young lady in question was banned from her graduation ceremony - the father sure as hades should not have been there either - complete double-standard that betrays the entire stance of the school on the matter.
I would have had her arrested.
Don't you think there was enough in & out by these two already?
ping to self for pingout.
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