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.
Should we stop reprimanding our children when they steal cookies from the cookie jar because they have a right to eat? When a child does wrong, there must be some disciplines that are in order.
I am sorry but this is another case of a teen stubbornly facing off with authority with no regard for principles. And to think she had her mother’s support makes it especially troublesome. Granted the girl completed her studies, and granted it was probably difficult. She will have many challenges ahead that I hope she successfully overcomes them without expecting that everyone will grant her special consideration because she chose not to adhere to any moral standards. She deliberately chose to participate in an act that she knew was a morally questionable activity, and certainly not condoned in a Catholic high school.
These kids who feel they can do whatever they want and not have to pay any consequences for their actions, and then hide behind some imagined “aura of political correctness,” that the public has to accept are only fooling themselves. They might get some temporary support, but they also become the target for more laughter and criticism.
What she did was morally wrong (let alone considered sinful by the Catholic Church), and to flaunt her protest in the face of those who disapproved, made it doubly wrong.
So many children are not growing up to be ladies and gentlemen anymore and are not learning to accept the error of their ways and make amends. They are like angry warriors always jamming their supposed “rights” down our throats, and expecting to be forgiven for their purposeful “mistakes” while never, ever showing any measure of humbleness or recognition that there will be repercussions for their defiance.
What a shame that she felt her rights were more important than the rights of all the other students who did not want their special day marred by one who chose to ignore the rules. This is typical of the liberal viewpoint and mantra: Everyone else is unimportant just so I have my way - my rights are paramount - and you have to swallow that or you are not being fair!
Would not a Roman Catholic High School be part of The Church?
Of the people I know who went to Catholic school, none were Catholics. They just had parents who could afford it, and it was viewed to be better than public.
Are you for real? I have a Catholic sitting in a cubicle 12 feet from me who thinks abortion is fine. How many of the other students in that commencement have broken Catholic tenets? My guess is pretty damn near all of them. I like the reasoning that has been stated that if you can't be pro-life and then shun those who choose life.
That picture is just gross. Yuck!
I suspect that the pregnant girl, if only having sex with her boyfriend and not the football team has a pretty good idea of who the father is.
Why is it that more than a few posters on this thread have made the assumption that the girl is sleeping with half the guys in the school and thus doesn't know who the father is?
Exactly,
The lesson I've gotten from reading this thread is if you're a teenager who gets pregnant, better to abort and no one ever know, than to own up to your mistake and catch heck from those who can see what other's have hidden.
You know how often I wish that fathers had some sort of blemish happen to them so that people knew they had a baby on the way too.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5stjudegrad29w.htm
Here's another article about it.
Apparently she was being homeschooled?
why does everyone seem to think its neccessary to post that pic every time the words pregnant and high school end up in the same article? warn people ahead of time, martin.
So you'd seen it before.
And were prepared to see it again.
Consider this your warning for next time, Miss Crankypants.
Your reply has nothing to do with my message.
The lack of honesty in the reason is laughable:
Though St. Jude is a Catholic school, Principal Johnny Mitchell said Cosby is not being "condemned" because she is pregnant. The school has not decided whether Cosby can take part in the May 17 commencement exercises, but Mitchell said he feels she should work from home due to "safety reasons.""I don't want to penalize or make any student feel ostracized because they are having a baby. But I am concerned about her safety," Mitchell said.
i wouldn't say that I was "prepared", per se. I always hold out the hope that somebody will forget to do it, just once, and assume it wouldn't be there. And thats MR. Crankypants to you.
"What a shame that she felt her rights were more important than the rights of all the other students who did not want their special day marred by one who chose to ignore the rules. This is typical of the liberal viewpoint and mantra: Everyone else is unimportant just so I have my way - my rights are paramount - and you have to swallow that or you are not being fair!"
Well said! IMHO, these situations almost always come down to what you said in your summary. Thanks. :)
My apologies for offending your very tender sensibilities.
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