HS Senior Fakes Pregnant For A Project
By
Editorial Staff in
Amazing
On 18th September 2016
People pass judgement easily when they see a pregnant teenager. A lot of things come to mind, like how they have limited their opportunities, it’s not fair a baby is going to be raised by an inexperienced teen, and they should have used protection.
Pregnant teenage girls are often shunned from peers. Words like “slut” or “whore” are thrown around. Yet, many girls still show up to school everyday trying to make the best of their situation. 17-year-old Gaby Rodriguez is a straight-A student who shocked her school when her tummy began to grow.
As she began to wear baggy clothes and her belly began to expand, her life also changed. The teen began to write down everything that was said about her at Toppenish High School in Washington. She had the opportunity to speak to her school about her experience and what she revealed had everyone shocked.
Gaby Rodriguez' friends, teachers, and family believed for six months that the teen was pregnant.
Gaby's plan is to become a social worker but many believed that dream would never happen after her belly began to grow.
"A lot of rumors were spreaded everywhere.
Rumors were just that I was irresponsible. No college...it was bound to happen. I knew she would get pregnant. Doesn't she know she just ruined her life," says Gaby.
Except, Gaby was not pregnant. She was conducting a social experiment.
Gabby had to get the green light from her principal and the superintendent.
"I admire her so much. Her courage, her creativity, her strength. She's gone through so much...alienating some of her friends along the way or being alienated from her friends," says high school principal Trevor Greene.
The only people who knew Gaby was not pregnant were her close members and principal.
Her boyfriend's parents and six of her seven siblings were convinced Gaby was pregnant.
Gaby's project is called, "Stereotypes, Rumors and Statistics."
During a school assembly, Gaby stood up to address everyone.
"Many things were said about me. Many things traveled all the way back to me"
Gaby made notecards with all the comments made about her. She passed them around to the students and teachers. She followed this with pulling out her fake belly under her shirt.
Gaby shared that during the past six months she was left feeling alone and ashamed.
The teen's reveal left many teachers in tears. For students, it was a moment of reflection.
The 3.8 GPA student is not only using this for research for the school.
Gaby will be sharing her findings with her community leaders. She hopes this will help teens who are actually living through this experience.
There were mixed feelings in the school from relief to not liking being lied to.
Some of the students were impressed by her actions. "I was just astonished, but I was really proud of her. I felt like it was such a courageous thing to do," one of the students said.
Gaby gathered a lot of information in her research, and learned about herself.
Gaby realized that she had the courage to get past all the things that were said about her.
