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11/11/05

Teen pregnancy prevention show shot in redwood city

By Nicole Neroulias, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area

REDWOOD CITY - For eight months, 15-year-old Giana Blagdon had unprotected sex with her boyfriend. In the ninth month, the Daly City teen's luck ran out.

Deciding she couldn't go through with an abortion, she hid her pregnancy for months, finally transferring from Westmoor High School to the School Aged Mothers Program before delivering a baby boy.

Now raising a toddler without child support from her ex-boyfriend, Blagdon joined three other teen moms sharing their experiences Thursday afternoon at High Tech High School in Redwood City.

The panel discussion, brought by the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of San Mateo County to middle and high schools every few weeks, was taped for a weekly Japanese television show, "Broadcaster," whose Saturday program this week is on teen pregnancy in America.

Nearly 200 of the small charter school's freshmen, sophomores and juniors sat on the floor of the converted warehouse for the one-hour presentation. Some stifled giggles, some cooed when the discussion turned to the babies' names, but most grimaced at the descriptions of painful childbirth, vicious fights with parents and boyfriends, missed school dances and sacrificed sports-team and college opportunities.

"I wanted to go far away, study abroad. But all my resources are here," said Elaine Bartolome, 18, of South San Francisco. As they neared the end of their pregnancies, all four left their high schools to attend the School Aged Mothers Program at Baden High in South San Francisco and Redwood High in Redwood City. The program provides prenatal training and on-site day care for student parents.

Two panelists said motherhood had made them more committed to their education, but the consensus was that studying, like everything else, takes a back seat to caring for a baby. Each one has broken up with her "baby's-daddy," partly because of the stress of becoming parents and trying to support a family.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into until you have the baby," said Camellia Pittman, 20, of Menlo Park. She now cares for her 3-year-old son alone, while her 25-year-old ex-boyfriend serves an 8-month sentence in county jail on statutory rape charges.

For more information about the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of San Mateo County, call (650) 367-1937 or visit
http://www.teenpregnancycoalition.org.

Staff writer Nicole Neroulias can be reached at (650) 306-2427 or
nneroulias@sanmateocountytimes.com.