What Does Garibaldi Mean In 'Shame To Fame'?

Pebbles Franks
Handelman
English 1101
24 June 2013
Shame to Fame: Teenage Pregnancy The Pregnancy Trap by Gerry Garibaldi creates the idea that society has become more accepting of teenage pregnancy (634-38). When Garibaldi learns all of his favorite girls are pregnant, he asks some of them, “Do you think getting pregnant when you’re a teenager is a good thing or a bad thing?” (635). One student, Nicole proudly states, “My mom and my grandma both got pregnant when they were teens and they’re good mothers” another student and mother, Maria says, “Nobody gets married anymore, mister” (636). None of the girls has a problem with being or becoming pregnant or unwed mothers. They become a “heroic figure” after getting pregnant as the fathers take on a “he-man” role for having impregnated the girls.
Peers of the young males view them as an adult after they have impregnated a girl.
They have no intention to marry the young mother or help raise the child. Most of the teenage fathers loose contact with the teenage mothers shortly after the child is born. The girls carry the attitude of being fine with not having help from the father.
Garibaldi gives relative stories of the difficulties he experiences as a teacher in an urban school in Connecticut. As a male teacher he must, “broker remarks” and “negotiate insults” due to “their anger toward male authority” (636). He finds times he has to keep his fatherly feelings at bay, having to put his authority as their teacher first.
In his theory, “This provision of services is humane and defensible, an essential safety net for the most vulnerable-children who have children.” There are many different types of aide these young mothers could qualify for, which he states as going from a “safety net” to “becoming a hammock”
(635-36).
Garibaldi states “Thanks to the Feds, urban schools are swimming in money” (634-635). With that statement and his prediction, “The money, the reforms, the gleaming porcelain, the hopeful rhetoric about saving our children-all of it will have a limited impact, at best, on most city school children”(635). One might conclude, the funding from the feds is used more for the building interior such as fancier toilet facilities and learning equipment, and less on the students within the school (634-35).
Reading The Pregnancy Trap it is clear, Garibaldi is passionate as a teacher and wants to help these teenagers. He tries to keep an emotional distance from them, he speaks of times he has contacted the young girls’ mothers with little help, because of those calls. It seems he feels trapped as a teacher, as well as the teenagers trapped in their own thinking and views of pregnancy (634).
I agree that society more openly accepts teenage pregnancy and unwed motherhood. Teenage and unwed mothers were a shame to their family, their peers, neighbors, and society, decades ago. In today’s society, teenage pregnancy has quickly turned that shame into fame. In a matter of months, one could become famous by pregnancy. Those who were not famous become instantly famous once pregnant, due in part to television shows, magazines, and the media. Teenagers become more popular by advertising their babies and infants. Without much notice from society, teenagers develop the insane idea teen pregnancy is ok. Many of these famous teens become pregnant and exploit themselves throughout their pregnancy, then their newborn right after the birth. Teenage moms are popular with other teenagers, male and female. They gain a false sense of security and confidence having a child at such a young age. Teenage moms receive more social acceptance from peers, parents, and teachers, assured that one way or another, their child will be well taken care of.
Parents may feel a certain amount of shame in their young daughters becoming pregnant or their young sons fathering a child. These feelings soon diminish once they realize society no longer beats them into quilt our shame for such occurrences. Many mothers of these teenagers are the product of unwed, teenage mothers. Maybe that is part of the “Pregnancy Trap”. These teenagers are not thinking in a logical sense. After knowing their own mothers struggles and sacrifices to raise them, they take pride in being a young mother.
Being a mother that had a child in my teenage years, I have unbalanced feelings on this topic. As I have an understanding in some of their thinking, such as the joy of knowing they have someone that now belongs and depends on them. It could be a false sense of emotions that a baby will fix the deep-desire to have someone to love without prejudice. These children are not thinking of their future or the babies, as to the struggles they will face, raising a child alone. They do not appear to logically analyze, what the child might feel. Children need a father in their life for support. Support is much more than money, fathers can help build character in a child, they can teach a child to respect and appreciate aspects of life females may not be aware they need. I question if the mothers know what they will tell their child when he or she asks about their father.
Politicians are willing to create acts, initiatives, and more funding for schools. They avoid the moral responsibilities. Teenage pregnancy is too personal of a matter for them to approach head-on, for fear of what society might think. Moral values, becoming dust in the wind. A wipe your face and keep smiling to keep winning supporters for votes. Coming up with new ways to test students and keep closer track of their progress.
Teachers spend more time struggling to balance the knowledge in a textbook and the positive aspects of moral values. Values once taught at home, now left for a teacher to distribute, while trying to keep a child focused on the education they need. At the end of a school year, teachers wonder how many teenage mothers will be back next year to continue their education.

Garibaldi, Gerry. “The Pregnancy Trap.” Readings for Writers. Ed. Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell and Anthony C. Winkler. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 634-638. Print.