This morning Mayor Carolyn Kirk, of Gloucester, MA, held a press conference (see below). It was the basic, "It's not our fault," speech. Teachers say it is the parents. Parents say it is the teachers. I can't imagine the brewing contempt these seventeen students must feel for all of these authorities to jam the channels of responsibility.
The most extraordinary thing is the search to be certain it is or is not a pact. Why is this the primary issue? What on earth does the pact have to do with it? And people keep talking about how did this happen. Seriously? I know how it happens. They know how it happens. I wish they all would read Self-Reliance by R.W. Emerson and have a conversation.
You can watch the interview below. You may not even be able to count how many times she called these teen mothers, children. You would think she is talking about premenstrual, pre-puberty humans who cannot cross the street without supervision. Oh, let me assure you, they know how to cross the street.
What is interesting to me is who are these 17 souls who insisted on incarnating in Gloucester and being raised by young adults who are infantilized themselves? Now they had the pact. They came in together. Their story is the one I want to know.
