Half of sect's teen girls are pregnant or already mothers
Categories: Teens & tweens, In the news
You didn't have to be a mother to feel the anguish that the children and mothers of the the FLDS sect were feeling when over 400 children were removed from their compound recently. Like Kristin and many others, I was conflicted over whether the state of Texas had done the right thing. It's no small thing, removing children from their parents, especially when so many of them were babies and young children. But as I watched video after video of the mothers in television interviews, I was struck by how vague and evasive their answers were. It made me wonder, what is really going on here?
Today, a few answers have started coming out. CNN is reporting that of the 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 that were taken from the ranch, over half are pregnant or are already mothers. This seems to be in direct conflict with information given by the sect, that teen girls were not forced into spiritual marriages.
In that same teen age range there are only 17 boys in custody. Among kids under the age of 13, there's a pretty even split of boys and girls on the ranch, but this low ratio of boys to girls in the teen years seems to lend credence to the rumor that boys (coined "lost boys") are kicked out of the group once they reach a certain age.
Obviously, the sect has some explaining to do. But instead of doing so, they're claiming that the girls are actually adults and that the state is wrong when they say they are minors. It's a question a simple birth certificate could answer, but I have a feeling that nothing in this case is going to be simple.
Recent Posts
- Weekend Fun and Games (7/03/2009)
- Kids and Extracurriculars - When Do You Let Them Quit? (7/03/2009)
- Twitter Follow Friday on ParentDish! (7/03/2009)
- Lush Lashes (7/03/2009)
- Abigail Breslin Makes $13 a Week (7/03/2009)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Monica 4-30-2008 @ 9:47AM
As the mother of both a teenage girl and a teenage boy, this story breaks my heart.
Children, at 14 forced to become adults, either through an arranged "marriage" or by being sent off on their own to survive as they will.
If it was a crank call that set this off I say hats off to the crank.
Reply
ame s 4-30-2008 @ 6:20PM
I think their interpretation of "force" is a bit skewed. They probably do not drag these girls kicking and screaming to the alter, which would obviously be force. Instead, they brainwash girls from the moment they can understand human speech into believing they will go to Hell if they do not marry when and whom their parents tell them. If the girl were to refuse, she would be cast out into the "evil" world the rest of us live in. That is the reason they can deny the girls are forced into marriage.
Reply
ame s 4-30-2008 @ 6:30PM
I'll second that!
What I find amusing is the alleged "crank" (I call her a life-saver, in some cases) caller was African American. Did anyone else notice that every single one of those people on that ranch are as white as white can be? Did anyone else read where the people on that ranch believe that only white people are "God's chosen" because evil darkens the skin? How ignorant and presumtious is that!? I'm reminded of some of my white trash redneck relatives we don't associate with any longer for fear they will go around spouting the N word in front of my children.
Reply