The Rights of Teen Parents

As a high school student in Los Angeles, CA, Cecelia (not her real name) was enrolled in a number of challenging honors courses. She took school seriously. She had to. She had plans for college, and she knew that only hard work would get her there.

So when Cecelia gave birth to a baby girl, she knew she had to find a way to keep on that path. She enrolled in a state program designed to help young parents like her finish high school. The program offered parenting classes along with childcare services. It also offered special courses designed specifically for teen mothers.

The way Cecelia saw it, there was only one problem: She didn’t want “special courses.” And to get what she wanted, she’d have to sue.

“I wanted to continue taking the college preparatory courses that I was taking before my daughter was born,” wrote Cecelia in a statement provided by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which represented her in a lawsuit filed against both the state program and Cecelia’s high school district. “That wasn’t possible under the way the program was being run.”

Program policy forbade parenting students from taking regular high school classes. If students wanted the child-care help and other services, they were required to stick to the program’s special curriculum. In other words, they were required to give up a high-quality education and take easier courses instead.

“I brought this lawsuit so that I could have the same chances and opportunities as everyone else,” wrote Cecelia. “Because I have a daughter, I need those opportunities even more.”

Title IX

Cecelia ultimately won her case, which was settled out of court, thanks to a federal law known as Title IX. Title IX prohibits discrimination against women who attend publicly funded schools. By extension, it also guarantees teenage parents — both girls and boys — the same rights as anyone else.

“Schools cannot exclude students because they’re pregnant, a parent, or had an abortion or a miscarriage or are recovering from any of these conditions,” explains Lee Che Leong, director of New York Civil Liberty Union’s Teen Health Initiative. “Unfortunately, that’s not something that all staff understand or are trained to understand.”

Most schools are now aware of the rights Title IX gives to teen parents, but stories of promising young students being pushed into less challenging GED (General Educational Diploma) programs by their teachers or administrators continue to surface.

“When they find out a student is pregnant, they don’t want it to be reported to the Department of Education,” says Pat Maloney, director of Teen Choice at Inwood House, a New York-based youth development program focusing on the issues surrounding pregnancy. “They don’t want it to show on their records. And there are still, unfortunately, some people who think that parenting teens cannot be good role models in schools — that they’re a bad influence on other kids.”

Your Rights

If you’re a teen parent, or you have a parenting friend, know your rights. You have the right to

- enroll in a GED program or a school specially suited for parenting teens, but you don’t have to

- attend school and go to class

- access all educational opportunities that other students have

- attend all school activities, including extracurricular activities and graduation ceremonies

- compete on school sports teams, unless your health care provider advises you not to participate

- miss school for legitimate medical appointments for you or your child

- take a leave of absence for pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery

- receive extra help and make up for missing homework assignments due to excused absences

- join honor societies and other academic societies

expect confidentiality when corresponding with school health care professionals

If you think you’ve been discriminated against because of pregnancy or parenthood, you also have the right to legal advice. Contact your local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (see www.aclu.org/affiliates) for more information.