OSCA Network A Professional Networking Tool for the Ohio School Counselor Association and Friends

Each month, our staff nominates and votes on a deserving student from each grade level to be recognized as Student of the Month.  These students exhibit a positive attitude, interact well with peers and are performing academically to their potential and beyond.  Last month, I congratulated another group of deserving students and submitted their photo to be run in the local paper.  One student in particular stood out in more ways than one.  She is an example of a school success story.  Her freshman year was nothing to be proud of.  She passed 3 of 12 courses, had over 40 days of absences, spent time in the juvenile detention center on more than one occasion and sat more in my office dealing with attitude and drama than in class.  Fast forward a few months, she is now earning straight A’s, has much improved her attendance and is demonstrating a cooperative attitude in class that rivals her peers.  So why is such a student now creating controversy over what defines a positive peer role model?  It just may have something to do with the fact that she is 8 months pregnant and noticeably so in the newspaper.  Her pregnancy was enough to prompt members of our community to contact the school board and express their contention that in no way should a fifteen-year-old pregnant teen quote “be admired as a positive role model”.  I hope I did the profession proud in advocating for this student and the value of our recognition program in my response to the administration’s request for clarification on the selection process.  I was reminded again by these complaints that there are still those people in our communities who would condemn a young person for their mistakes with much disregard for their character and circumstances.  Instead of applauding this young lady for accepting the responsibility of her pregnancy and committing herself to a better future for her child, they instead want to pass judgment and hide her from the world.  I actually was very aware of how pregnant she looked when I submitted the picture to the paper.  I made a choice to not retake the photo because I am not ashamed of this student, but felt she deserved to be treated no differently.  While I agree that teen parents do not deserve a tickertape parade spotlighting their situation, I believe they do not deserve to be cast into the shadows and looked upon in shame.  Advocating for student success is not always an easy or politically correct, but if we hold fast to the belief that ALL students are capable of both change and success, we can ensure that more students can experience the pride of being in the spotlight, regardless of what others may see.