Parenting
Young Parent Alliance
Our Pregnant and Parenting Youth Initiative seeks to ensure support for young parents in attaining their educational goals. The Young Parent Alliance (YPA), a group of pregnant and parenting youth and allies, ages 20 and younger, advocates for programs and services in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that help young parents complete their education. YPA also develops ideas to increase public awareness of the challenges young parents face in their schools and communities.
Pregnant and Parenting Youth Have Rights
Reproductive justice includes the right to continue a pregnancy to term and become a parent. Youth who decide to become young parents should be supported in their decision. But pregnant and parenting youth face significant challenges as they balance the demands of completing their educational goals, caring for their children, navigating their own adolescence and trying to forge a safe and healthy future for themselves. Despite their struggles, young parents are resilient and versatile, working to achieve health and success for themselves and their families.
In many schools, young parents face stigma and discrimination from their peers and teachers. But according to Title IX, a federal law ensuring gender equity, students may not be treated differently because of their actual or potential parental, family, or marital status. The law specifies that students may not be excluded from an educational program or activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of their pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination, or recovery from pregnancy.
Bill of Rights
Created by YPA, the Pregnant and Parenting Youth Bill of Rights outlines several key rights young parents have to be successful students. All pregnant and parenting youth have the right to:
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Receive the same educational opportunities regardless of age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, and aptitude.
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Attend a safe and supportive school environment that promotes school retention, prevention of unintended subsequent pregnancies and completion of secondary education.
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Equal access to school programs and services that address their academic and social needs such as financial services for young parents wishing to re-enroll and on-site child care.
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Re-enroll at their respective schools if their attendance is disrupted by pregnancy or parenting.
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Voluntarily decide whether to continue their academic studies at their respective school or to be referred to an alternative school.
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Access school facilities and/or spaces, if available, that accommodate to individual needs and circumstances such as childcare and breastfeeding, etc.
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Know school policies regarding re-enrollment, maternity leave, child care and parental consent for their child(ren).
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Ensure continued communication with school administrators or teachers at critical moments during or after pregnancy, in the event of a parent or child’s illness, and while absent for other reasons throughout the academic school year.
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Create flexible, but reasonable, arrangements with school administrators or teachers regarding attendance, school work, test preparation, doctors’ visit and examinations.
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Foster a healthy pregnancy through proper diet (eating between/during classes, drinking plenty of fluids), emotional health (talking to psychologists/counselors about depression symptoms, isolation) and pre- and post-natal exercise.
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Homebound instruction within each school district where a staff of homebound instructors can provide the delivery of education at home or a hospital setting, due to a temporary disability or displacement away from school.
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Address their grievances to a specific school staff member when any or all of the aforementioned rights are violated.
Sign on the campaign to encourage CPS to adopt the the Bill of Rights. Please also read and sign a letter of endorsement as an individual or on behalf of your organization.
Young Parent Testifies to Chicago Public Schools
YPA member Terrance testified at the CPS Board of Education meeting on December 19, 2009. Terrance shared his personal story as a young father to encourage the Board and CEO to ensure supportive services for pregnant and parenting young people in school. Read Terrance's full testimony.
Resources
View fact sheets and policy briefs on young parent issues published by ICAH for public education and advocacy. For more information on the Young Parent Alliance, contact Pregnant and Parenting Youth Advocate Pleasant Radford, Jr.
