Story by Liz Bravacos and Meghan Morris

Basic beliefs

Story by Liz Bravacos and Meghan Morris

One of them, a former captain in the Marine Corps, has thrown grenades, ridden in tanks and blown up plastic explosives. Now, as a teacher, she roars out a sudden, booming “oo-rah” that raises her students’ slumping heads instantly.

Another, a sophomore at West Point, listens intently as President Obama outlines his plan to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The cadet finds security in his future—a future that, as of now, looks like war.

A third, a senior and soon-to-be cadet, contemplates the road that lies ahead. After graduation, while his classmates race off to college and independence, he will choose to live a structured, regimented life at West Point Academy.

The experiences of these three individuals reflect various stages of life in the military. As the beginnings of reinforcements deploy to Afghanistan, The Spoke takes a look at the evolution of a soldier, represented by those in the Conestoga community: the high school student, the college cadet, the active-duty officer and the veteran. Though in different stages, all are united by their military service: an unconditional promise to fight for freedom.

Fighting the enemy

TV studio aide Art Phillips knows the experiences of war firsthand—he served in Vietnam for a year, from 1970-71.

Phillips’ decision to serve was directly influenced by his brother, who, at the time, had a family at home in America and was working in a dangerous combat zone abroad. Phillips said that he decided to send his brother home to his family, and the siblings switched places—his brother came back to the United States, and Phillips went over to Vietnam.

Phillips served on a riverboat near the Cambodian border where he helped train the Vietnamese army.

“I grew up quick—I became mature fast,” Phillips said. “It was a lesson in maturity, because I cared for a band of brothers and I learned teamwork.”

Throughout his service, Phillips said that he maintained his determination by focusing on his patriotism and, on the whole, has no regrets about the experience.

“The knowledge that I did it for my country got me through, because without each one of us it would have been more of a mess,” Phillips said.

Phillips said that he struggled most with the lack of technology for correspondence with his relatives. He could only reach the United States by mail because there were few phone lines in the brush.

Since that time, however, the means of communication between soldiers stationed overseas and their families at home have improved.

Jason Murray, a 1999 Conestoga graduate currently stationed at the Forward Operating Base in Gardez, Afghanistan, contacts family and friends through the Internet. Murray said that he often thinks of his wife and daughter as he patrols old ruins in the desert.

“I want to keep going to protect them,” Murray said. “If I’m not here fighting for them, then the chances of the enemy coming to the U.S. are greater. I would rather keep it on their homefront than on ours.”

Murray joined the Army shortly after graduating from Conestoga. As a military police officer, he helps train the Afghan police force to protect the citizens of local towns from dangerous radicals.

Murray often faces weapons and violence during his missions, a consequence of a job that social studies teacher Debra Ciamacca, a former captain in the Marine Corps, said she understands well. However, Ciamacca cautions students about the dangers of war.

“I don’t necessarily want students to go over to Afghanistan and get shot at, but I honestly think that if you decide it’s right for you, it’s one of the best experiences you could ever have,” Ciamacca said.

Ciamacca spent four years of active duty service after completing a Naval ROTC course at Penn State.

She worked as an adjutant in Camp Pendleton, Calif., where she oversaw about 300 guards for the Marines correctional facility. There, Ciamacca learned, among other things, her signature “oo-rah” yell, which she occasionally utilizes in the classroom to command students’ attention.

During her time in the Marines, Ciamacca experienced a full array of military training.

“I rode in tanks, flew in the backseat of a helicopter with my feet dangling in the air, threw grenades. I was an expert on the M-16 rifle; I was a sharpshooter with the .45-caliber pistol. I got to shoot a grenade launcher,” Ciamacca said. “Probably the coolest thing I did was blowing up stuff—plastic explosives— like in the movies.”

Ciamacca said that she draws from her experience with the Marines in an effort to teach students about the sacrifices soldiers make during war.

Joe Cash, a 2008 ’Stoga graduate, knows those sacrifices. Cash joined the Navy after realizing that he did not have the financial resources to study photography in college.

Cash trained and became a 8404 corpsman, a medical position in which he treats wounded soldiers during combat. His training has also prepared him to work with the Marines if he is deployed to a war zone.

“It’s not all fun and games. It’s just like any other job. We’re just normal people,” Cash said. “We have a different mindset about certain things, and we probably get paid less than a lot of people out in the civilian world. But we also get a lot of major benefits, so it balances itself out.”

One such benefit, in Cash’s view, is that the Navy will pay for his education after his years of service.

First, however, he faces deployment to Afghanistan within the coming weeks. While his time overseas will be challening, Cash said that he is looking forward to the opportunity to use his training in action.

Gearing up for battle

While the prospect of deployment may deter some from the military, senior Tyler Mazda is unfazed by his future of active service after he graduates from military school. Mazda received a letter of assurance from West Point Academy in early December, a school with which he felt an immediate connection after a visit in fourth grade.

“I could never see myself in a regular job, pushing papers in an office—that would be incredibly boring—whereas the military is so exciting,” Mazda said. “I want to do something for my country.”

Since his freshman year, Mazda has been involved with the Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer Air Force unit that protects and aids U.S. citizens. Mazda is part of the cadet program, which trains high school students to be future military leaders.

Mazda’s commitment to West Point signifies his start in the military. He said he is not concerned about the five years of post-graduation service it will require, and is undaunted by the dangers of combat.

“I wouldn’t join if I didn’t want to fight, so I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” he said.

Freddy Heitjan, a 2008 Conestoga graduate and sophomore at West Point, received the call of duty when President Obama came to the academy to address the nation on  Dec. 1. Heitjan was one of 4,000 gray-uniformed cadets in the audience when Obama rolled out his plan to deploy 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

“It was a big deal to see all of these people, who are some of the most important people in the United States government, sitting shoulder to shoulder with cadets,” Heitjan said.

Heitjan said that he was interested to hear Obama talk about the future, because that future applies specifically to him. Heitjan applied to West Point because he wanted to gain leadership and fulfill his civic duty. He said that he is prepared to take on responsibility and defend his nation.

At a different service academy, 2009 Conestoga graduate Mike Ackerman is preparing for a future in the military as well. Ackerman is a freshman at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, N.Y. He said that he joined the academy for the structured lifestyle and job security.

“I wanted to do something different. A lot of people I knew were going to liberal arts schools and that just wasn’t for me,” Ackerman said. “I think it’s a different experience than everyone else gets and, at the end of the day, I’m getting a job after graduation.”

Ackerman is majoring in business and will be on the seas in June to get more realistic sailing experience. He said that, although the Merchant Marines do not actually fight, their job is just as important in the nation’s defense because they supply troops with weapons and equipment.

Although Ackerman chose a military academy after completing high school, other  ’Stoga graduates have committed to the military by joining ROTC programs in which they train with the armed forces but attend non-academy schools.

Taylor Perkins, a 2009 Conestoga graduate, is a member of the Army ROTC at Marshall University in West Virginia. He hopes to participate in active service after graduation.

Service to the country can come in various forms, Perkins said. He thinks that there is a common misconception among high school students that, by joining the army, they must fight in active-duty combat.

“There are so many different things you can do in the military besides going around and shooting people,” Perkins said. “There are a lot more opportunities out there than just being on the front line.”

Beyond the front lines

Social studies teacher Tim Decker also served overseas, though he was not stationed in a combat zone. Decker was a yeoman, or desk clerk, in the Navy from 1984-89, during which time he sailed on three six-month Pacific cruises.

After graduating from high school, Decker lacked a clear plan for his future, and thus decided to enlist in the Navy. He said that, while his service in the military was a positive personal experience, he is hesitant to advertise the military as a post-graduation option to students, in light of the current situation in the Middle East.

“Since the Iraq war, I have not recommended anyone for the military. I’ve begun to discourage it only if they talk about it. I tell them the truth, what to expect,” Decker said. “There was a time before the Iraq war when I might encourage people, but now I don’t want anyone going into Iraq.”

Back in her classroom, Ciamacca reflects on the lessons learned from her years in the Marine Corps that still influence her character today. She tries to impress these values upon her students, values that include respect, persistence and, of course, her signature “ooo-rah” yell.

“When you’re a leader, you set the example, so if you ask someone to do something, it can’t be something you aren’t willing to do yourself,” Ciamacca said. “Excellence—always doing your best at all times—is one of the hallmarks of the military. Finally, never give up.”

Editor’s note: The Spoke would also like to recognize staff members Robert DeSipio, Lee Huzzard, Keith Nunnelee and Mark Tirone for their service in the U.S. armed forces.

Liz Bravacos can be reached at  lbravacos@stoganews.com.

This article appeared originally on pages 1, 4 and 5 of The Spoke’s Jan. 12, 2010 edition.

By Liz Bravacos and Meghan Morris, News Editor and Assistant Managing Editor

An uncertain era

After graduating from Conestoga, Andrew Siegele was sure of his future. Like many students, he planned to go to college, graduate and get a job. But he did not plan for what economists have called the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression.

Siegele, a 2004 ’Stoga graduate, expected to finish school at Maryland University in the fall of 2008 after majoring in physics. However, after watching his savings disappear during his senior year, he decided to reevaluate his graduation plans and started working part time. Siegele now plans to graduate in the fall of 2010.

The recent economic downturn has affected every part of the college experience—from applications to financial aid to post-graduation plans.

Decisions, decisions

As seniors begin the high-stress college application process, one topic is paramount: finances. Because the recession has changed job trends, once-hot fields such as finance are now laying off employees, particularly younger workers, bringing the total unemployment rate from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Seniors are worried, but they are not alone. According to the Princeton Review’s College Hopes and Dreams survey released in March, 67 percent of students nationwide reported that the economic downturn has affected their decisions about college.

Seamus Mullarky, senior editor of the “Princeton Review’s 371 Best Colleges,” said that he saw these concerns firsthand with the 13,000 students and 3,000 parents the publication surveyed.

“There’s so much financial concern because so many families are affected by the economy,” Mullarky said. “Households on every level are reviewing their income, and almost nine out of ten respondents said that financial aid will be necessary.”

Almost 90 percent of colleges have reported an increase in financial aid applications, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

“In the national picture, at least in regard to students, there are more students than ever who are applying for and eligible for financial aid for college,” said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research at NACAC.

Misty Whelan, the department chair of student services at Conestoga, said that more parents and students are concerned about the high cost of college.

“There’s definitely been a significant increase in questions about financial aid,” Whelan said. “This year there is also a considerable increase in the number of students applying to Pennsylvania public and state schools because students are looking for affordability.”

Whelan recommends looking at alternative options to four-year colleges, such as attending community college for two years and then transferring to a university for the remaining two years.

“There’s traditionally been a stigma attached to community college for Conestoga students, but it offers the same education as a regular college,” Whelan said. “It’s not as attractive to students because it’s not residential, but it can cut college costs in half. For instance, you can take a class with a professor from Villanova but pay community college cost ($5,000 per year), not $50,000 per year.”

Students’ worries

Though unemployment continues to climb, ’Stoga students are trying to remain optimistic about the situation.

“I’m a little concerned about the economy because it is so low now, and I know a lot of college graduates without jobs right now,” senior Caroline Mihok said. “I have confidence, though, that by the time I graduate, things will turn around.”

Senior Jake George believes that, in order  to succeed in this economic downturn, he must stay focused and determined.

“I see the current situation as a positive thing,” George said. “You can either sit around and mope about it, or you can work with what’s given to you.”

Post-graduation plans

Andrea Koncz, employment information manager at the National Association for Colleges and Employers, said that a recent survey showed that employers plan to hire 7 percent fewer college graduates in 2010 than were hired in 2009. Currently, the most popular job field for college graduates is education, Koncz said.

Koncz said that future employment trends are presently difficult to predict because the job market is dependent on economic recovery.

“If we start to see more demand for goods and services, it might create more jobs and hopefully [employment] would improve for new college graduates,” Koncz said.

Koncz said college applicants should major in what they enjoy doing, despite the state of the economy. Although technical fields like engineering and computer science currently pay the most, students should focus on their passions and not worry about finding a job in the “hot” field.

Patricia Rose, director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania, said that last year’s economic downturn took both students and companies by surprise, but that this year the University is cautiously optimistic about job prospects. So far, she said that recruitment is up considerably but the ideals behind the job search have changed.

“You have to remember that there is no perfect job,” Rose said. “Don’t fret if the job you want is out of reach, because your first job does not have to be your dream.”

Her strategies for job searches include broadening the geographic range of the job and networking. As jobs are growing increasingly scarce, word of mouth and personal recommendations can mean the difference between a buried resume and an interview.

Above all, Rose recommends looking at the bigger picture and staying positive.

“Really good students are always in demand,” Rose said. “The search may take longer, you may have to look broader, but there are jobs out there.”

Liz Bravacos can be reached at lbravacos@stoganews.com.

Printed originally on pages 1, 4 and 5 of the November 24, 2009 issue of The Spoke.

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Marcellus Oliphant is escorted into Devon District Court in April. Oliphant faces two dozen felony counts in connection with two local bank robberies. Evan Pioch/The SPOKE

By Henry Rome
Editor Emeritus

The hooded man and his accomplice entered the bank waving handguns. One of the men, wearing a ski mask, jumped over the counter and demanded cash, while the other grabbed an employee and threw him to the floor. The man held his gun to the employee’s head.

“The money was not worth dying over,” the robbers threatened, according to a police report. “Do you want me to make an example out of you?”

Shortly after 6 p.m. on the Friday night of Feb. 1, 2008, the men left the Devon branch of Wachovia Bank and got into the getaway vehicle, a red Ford Mustang.

According to police, the driver was Marcellus Oliphant, Jr., then a second-shift custodian at New Eagle Elementary School. Police charged Oliphant with this 2008 bank robbery, along with another “vicious” bank robbery of the Malvern Federal Savings Bank’s Berwyn branch in 2005, according to Easttown Police Lt. John Haggerty, the lead investigator of the robberies. In total, the robberies netted more than $125,000.

In both robberies, Oliphant was the getaway driver, according to police records. And in both robberies, other participants told police that Oliphant was the mastermind.

Oliphant was arrested in February 2009 and is currently facing two dozen felony counts, including armed robbery and criminal conspiracy.

Superintendent Dan Waters released a statement after Oliphant’s arrest announcing the robbery charges, though he declined to comment further for this article. After the announcement, The Spoke began looking into Oliphant’s time before and after he was hired by the T/E School District.

A four-month Spoke investigation found that Oliphant had accumulated a violent criminal record during the eight years he was a middle and elementary school custodian in T/E.

In one case, Oliphant was arrested on felony aggravated assault charges in 2004 and took vacation days while he was in jail until he could post bail, court and district records show. He never reported the arrest, as is required by district policy, records indicate. Efforts to contact Oliphant in Delaware County prison for this story were unsuccessful.

In situations like this, The Spoke found that school districts in Pennsylvania have limited powers to keep tabs on the actions of their employees and are almost entirely reliant on employees themselves to report their arrests.

For example, districts in Pennsylvania currently cannot force school employees to submit a background check beyond the one required for applicants. State lawmakers are working to change that rule and others in an effort to give school districts more tools to find out if their employees are criminals.

But the local teachers’ union and a civil rights expert are worried that tougher rules, while possibly making schools safer, go too far in infringing on the privacy rights of employees.

Both sides acknowledge that a change in the system would make students and schools safer. The question is how far the law needs to go to keep criminal employees such as Marcellus Oliphant on a close watch.

A ‘vacation’ in jail

Marcellus Oliphant was born Jan. 26, 1969. In the late 1990s, he spent about a year working for the district. Oliphant then returned to the district in May 2001 and re-sought employment, according to his employment application obtained under the Right to Know Act.

Oliphant began work at the district late in 2001 as a custodian at T/E Middle School. In November 2004, Oliphant had run-in with police in Willow Grove, about 20 miles northeast of Berwyn. On the Saturday night of Nov. 13, Oliphant and another man got into an argument. Oliphant then tried to shock the man with an “electrical stun device,” according to a police report. The other man then allegedly fired at least one shot at Oliphant with a handgun.

Abington police, who responded to the scene, said in their report the stun device apparently didn’t work and the handgun shot missed. The two men then proceeded to get into a fist fight before police arrived.

Oliphant was arrested and charged with two felony aggravated assault charges, along with other charges. According to court records filed in Abington District Court, bail was set at $10,000—and Oliphant did not come up with the money. He was then committed to Montgomery County prison.

When Monday and the work week rolled around, however, Oliphant had a problem. Reporting the aggravated assault arrest is required under district policy, but Oliphant did not report the arrest, district records indicate. Instead, he took two vacation days until he could post bail, district and court records show. (Oliphant later pled guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to two years of probation).

When it comes to reporting arrests in Pennsylvania, the burden almost solely rests on the employee to self-report, the investigation revealed.

In Pennsylvania, police are not required to notify school districts if they arrest an employee, The Spoke found. Local police departments contacted said they do not report to the employer if an employee was arrested, “unless the place of employment is part of [the] crime,” said Haggerty, of Easttown police.

In Oliphant’s case, neither the courts nor the police notified the school district, district records indicate.

Before he was employed, Oliphant submitted a criminal background check. But districts in Pennsylvania currently cannot force employees to submit subsequent checks.

The district was forced to rely on Oliphant to report his own arrest—but he did not, district records indicate.

Safeguard–or presumption of guilt?

A state lawmaker is working to toughen up those standards. Education Committee Chair Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, a Republican who represents York and Dauphin counties, has introduced a bill that sets forward new regulations on an employee’s obligation to report.

Among other provisions, Senate Bill 55 would make it state law that a school employee arrested or convicted for a misdemeanor or felony must report the arrest or conviction to their district.

T/E district policy currently outlines certain crimes—from felony illegal gambling to criminal homicide—when reporting is required, but also distinguishes crimes such as DUI where the employee must first be found guilty. Bill 55 would institute a blanket policy.

“I totally disagree with that,” teachers’ union president and social studies teacher Debra Ciamacca said.

Ciamacca said that reporting any arrest—without a conviction—can destroy an employee’s career.

“The presumption…is that they’re guilty,” Ciamacca said. “And how does the teacher ever get their reputation back?”

David Rudovsky, a civil rights expert at the University of Pennsylvania, agreed that the bill raises concerns.

“The problem is [that] there are a lot of people who are arrested and it turns out the charges are false,” Rudovsky said. “A lot of people jump to the conclusion if you’re arrested, then you’re probably guilty.”

Districts would need to craft “very rigid safeguards” so that district officials can get a “heads up on what may be a growing problem” while keeping the information confidential, he said.

Ciamacca said that district employees should have to submit to annual or biannual background checks because while the checks do reflect arrests, employees may have the time and opportunity to go through the court system and clear their record if they were found not guilty.

Currently, districts are not allowed to force employees to submit background checks, Piccola said in an interview in his Harrisburg office. Employees consent to the initial check as part of the employment process, but right now districts that are suspicious have almost no way of following up.

Bill 55 would change that. If the bill is voted into law, districts could compel employees to submit background checks if the district is suspicious. Employees who refuse to submit the checks can be fired, the bill states.

Piccola said he is not against requiring police to report to districts immediately if they arrest an employee. But requiring these reports was not included in the bill because he said they would be too “burdensome” on police.

However, the Pennsylvania State Police lieutenant in charge of background checks said with funding and a change in the law, state police could immediately notify school districts if an employee is arrested.

Along with undergoing a state background check, prospective school employees in Pennsylvania must also be fingerprinted, and those fingerprints are matched with criminal histories by the FBI, said Lt. Mike Gillelan, Director of the Pennsylvania State Police’s Criminal Records and Identification Division. School districts are then notified of the criminal backgrounds of their applicants.

If the state police had access to those prints, they would know immediately if that applicant is arrested in the state because local police departments are required to fingerprint people they arrest, he said. Local police then send the prints to the state police, who would get an immediate hit and could inform a district.

“I don’t think it would put an undue burden on us,” Gillelan said. “But financially it would.”

Funding would be needed to upgrade fingerprint storage systems, Gillelan said, and increased coordination would be needed between police and school districts.

An almost identical system to what Gillelan said could work in Pennsylvania is already in place in New Jersey, according to New Jersey State Senator Shirley Turner, the chair of the New Jersey Senate Education Committee.

Ciamacca said she is against that idea for the same reason she opposes mandatory reporting for all arrests by employees.

“I believe that teachers’ positions in the community would be irreparably damaged,” she said. “The presumption of innocence would not be assumed.”

In many ways, the burden still lies on the employee and district to take proactive steps, Piccola said.

“Some responsibility has to fall on the school district,” he said. “They can’t just hire somebody and sit back and not watch them or observe them” to see if they’re acting suspiciously.

Bill 55 left the Education Committee in March and was sent to the Appropriations Committee. Piccola said he hopes a vote will take place this month before the Legislature’s June 30 recess.

“Teachers cannot instruct, and students cannot learn, in an unsafe environment. We cannot achieve the goal of a quality education unless we provide a safe haven for learning,” Piccola said in a statement urging the Education Committee to approve the bill.

Piccola said the bill’s implementation is critical. “It plugs up a number of holes that are in the system right now—big holes.”

Henry Rome can be reached at hrome@stoganews.com.

The Spoke would like to thank the Student Press Law Center for its extensive advice on student press, public record and criminal law.

Junior Melissa Coolbaugh feeds her 4-month-old daughter, Peyton. Coolbaugh, 17, decided to leave Conestoga at the end of last school year in order to focus her time on being a mother, and now takes classes with an online charter school. Henry Rome/The SPOKE

In this special report, The Spoke takes an inside look at the life of one 17-year-old mother and explores how the issue of teen pregnancy plays a role within the Conestoga community.

By Seth Zweifler
News Editor

Morning has just broken, but it is all the same for Melissa Coolbaugh, 17. Her 4-month-old daughter, Peyton, had been growing restless throughout the night, though she now seems finally to have settled down for a nap in the living room of their modest Berwyn apartment.

Coolbaugh, whose dark bags under her eyes indicate a series of recent sleepless nights, decides to use this break as an opportunity to catch up on her schoolwork. She lifts the cover of her laptop and quietly begins an essay for her Language & Composition class. Her typing, steady and deliberate, continues for a few minutes without interruption. Soon, though, Peyton’s fussing returns. It is 8:30 a.m. — time to fix the first bottle of the day.

Slowly, Coolbaugh pushes the laptop aside on the navy blue couch, which she is using as her workspace for the time being. She rises, walking over to the pink-and-purple swing where Peyton is sitting, the baby’s tiny hands groping outward for attention. As she reaches down to pick up her daughter, she sighs and says, “I’ll have to finish the essay later. This comes first.”

Coolbaugh, now a junior, once lived a very different life than she does today. She was a national cheerleading champion back in the sixth grade, competing against some of the highest ranking teams from around the country. She had a close, lasting relationship with her boyfriend, one that she said has been a major factor in shaping who she is today. She was part of a tightly knit group of friends at Conestoga, never having to worry about spending a Saturday night at home.

Now, all of that has changed.

This past November, she gave birth to a 7-pound baby girl, Peyton Elizabeth Coolbaugh.

Motherhood at such a young age was never in the plans for Coolbaugh. She said

Henry Rome/The SPOKE

she started dating Peyton’s father during her freshman year at Conestoga. What once started as a casual relationship between the two, however, turned much more serious — quickly.

“We really hit it off soon after meeting,” she said. “Looking back, I think the two of us rushed the whole process of forming a meaningful relationship.”

At one point, Coolbaugh was taking no chances. She said that she took birth control pills every morning during a nine-month interval in which she and her boyfriend were sexually active.

“We were being extremely careful,” she said. “We took all the precautions we thought necessary to prevent anything from happening.”

Soon, however, Coolbaugh discovered some unexpected news. She first learned of her pregnancy in February 2008, midway through her sophomore year at Conestoga. For a brief time before that, Coolbaugh said she and her boyfriend grew distant, having very little contact with each other for a few months. So, when the two unexpectedly resumed their relationship in the beginning of January that year, she was not taking her birth control pills on a regular basis, a fact that she attributes as the cause of her unexpected pregnancy.

“I think it goes to show that one choice can have a lot of life-changing consequences,” she said.

Soon, Coolbaugh and her boyfriend had to make a difficult decision: whether they would go through with having the child. While this can often take teenagers in similar situations weeks to decide, Coolbaugh said the choice for her was relatively easy.

“I never even considered having an abortion,” she said. “I understand and respect that [having an abortion is] an individual decision that varies with the situation, but I couldn’t have lived with myself years from now if I had chosen to take that course.”

Then came the hardest part yet for Coolbaugh: how to relay the news to her parents.
Experts say that telling one’s immediate relatives of an unplanned pregnancy at such a young age can often be the most difficult part of the process, as it is a step into the unknown that can result in serious consequences.

“It’s an incredibly hard thing for a teenager to do,” said Lisa Fraser, the director of education and training with Planned Parenthood of Chester County. “Gauging what sort of reaction they might get can be next to impossible and having the support of their parents is essential.”

Coolbaugh said she waited a few weeks before telling her mother about the pregnancy. Then, one day in April, the news “just kind of came out in conversation.”

“I had the feeling that my mom already suspected something at the time, so telling her wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” she said.

A few weeks later, she approached her dad with the same news. This conversation, however, stirred up more fear for Coolbaugh, whose father had been the steadiest, most supportive figure for her over the past few years.

“I didn’t ever want to let him down,” Coolbaugh said, explaining how she battled with feelings of shame leading up to the conversation. “I knew that it would affect him just as much as everyone involved.”

Coolbaugh’s father, who himself had been a parent at the age of 19, said that he was upset with his daughter upon first learning of the situation directly from her.

“I was disappointed at the fact that it had happened,” he said. “I knew from experience that she had a long road ahead.”

Despite his immediate reaction, however, Coolbaugh’s father remained supportive throughout his daughter’s pregnancy and is now the closest family member she has.

Henry Rome/The SPOKE

The nine months during her pregnancy were trying times for Coolbaugh. She and her boyfriend went through an unpleasant breakup, reaching a point where communication between the two became virtually nonexistent. As a pregnant teen looking to all avenues for support, she said that the absence of her baby’s father, who could not be reached for comment for this story, was particularly difficult to accept.

“I think we were both scared, emotional people,” she said. “I needed him to be more than he could be at the time, and we grew very distant.”

Health teacher Marcia Mariani said she has seen the absence of the baby’s father during a teen pregnancy become a growing trend, both at Conestoga and across the country.

“There seems to be a double standard when it comes to the level of responsibility for the male in the relationship,” she said. “It’s not just the girl’s problem — both of them are involved, and both of them need to play an equal role throughout the process.”

On top of her rocky relationship with her boyfriend, Coolbaugh also had to make the decision at the end of her sophomore year to leave Conestoga.

“There was no way that I could raise a baby and continue going to school at the same time,” she said.

Coolbaugh also said that she experienced a long period of uncertainty about her future during the pregnancy, stemming from the fact that she did not fully comprehend what was about to happen.

“During those first few months, I knew that I was pregnant, but my grasp on what that truly meant was very limited,” she said.

“It’s hard for somebody at such a young age to wrap their mind around the fact that, in a few months, they’ll be a parent,” said Tristin Ruby, the director of adolescent services with the Family Planning Council in southeastern Pennsylvania. “It takes time.”

A fresh start

When Coolbaugh gave birth at Paoli Hospital on Nov. 21, 2008, however,

Henry Rome/The SPOKE

reality sank in. Not only did her more than 17 hours of labor result in a new baby girl, but she and her boyfriend were able to start repairing their relationship, something they are still working on today.

“That day was like the start of a new life for me,” Coolbaugh said. “I think it really took that to bring everyone together and put things in perspective.”

Still, Coolbaugh said that she faces challenges on an everyday basis. Because her parents are divorced and she lives solely with her father, it has been difficult for her to develop her own personality as a mother without a female role model to look up to.

While she said her father has been helpful throughout the entire process — providing her with whatever she needs to look after the baby — she said she often feels very much alone, having nobody with whom she can confide her thoughts and feelings.

“Not having somebody there who I can look up to or talk with on a regular basis is tough,” she said. “I’ve had to fend for myself a lot.”

The most notable change, though, is the fact that Coolbaugh must now live every aspect of her life with her child in mind.

“With whatever I do, I have to think of [Peyton] before I think of anything else,” she said. “It’s taken some getting used to.”

Because she has to be available for Peyton around the clock, Coolbaugh can no longer socialize with her friends who still go to Conestoga, many of whom she has lost contact with over the past few months. Ever since she first learned of her pregnancy, trying to make her friends fully comprehend the reality of her situation has been “a major challenge.”

“Nobody at Conestoga could relate to being 16 and having a baby,” she said. “A lot of my friends still don’t understand today, and that’s been frustrating at times.”

Despite these changes, however, Coolbaugh is still looking to graduate from high school in 2010, the same time when current juniors at school will do so. She is enrolled in an online program, the Agora Cyber Charter School.

Although having a baby has caused an irregular schedule for schoolwork, earning her high school diploma is a goal she has had for years. She feels that while some aspects of her life have changed, many of her former aspirations are things she still must work to achieve, out of respect to herself and her daughter.

“My goals haven’t really changed,” she said. “I know that I’ll have to go about achieving them in a different way now that I’m a mother, but I want to finish up in the same place as I once thought. I’ve learned to deal with that sort of uncertainty, and I think I’m all the better for it.”

A growing perception

Coolbaugh’s optimism aside, the realities of teenage pregnancy are sobering.

In Chester County alone, the reported yearly pregnancy rate currently stands at 13.8 per 1,000 for women age 15-17 and 49.7 per 1,000 for women age 18-19, according to a demographic analysis conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. According to the U.S. CDC’s final numbers for 2006, which were just released at the beginning of this year, the teenage birth rate has increased 3 percent, putting a stop to the 14-year decline that took place from 1991-2005.

Experts attribute this rise, in part, to what seems to be a lessening of the social stigma that once went hand-in-hand with teen pregnancy.

“It seems as if barriers associated with the issue are slowly going away,” said Ruby, of the Family Planning Council.

While Conestoga’s collective curriculum stresses tolerance and acceptance, students who had to make a similar decision to Coolbaugh’s in the past say they have not felt this level of comfort at the school.

A Spoke investigation into teen pregnancy at Conestoga revealed that at least three students have elected to have an abortion in the past year. Apart from the fact that motherhood at such a young age is a daunting task, all of these students reported that their fear of a negative social perception played a major role in influencing their decision.

“I was scared of what my friends would think, what my teachers would think if I went through with it,” said junior Mary Jones, whose name was changed in this story to protect her identity. “Just from my knowledge about the school atmosphere, I definitely feared [...] a prevailing negative perception if I chose to keep the baby.”

“I didn’t want to be labeled as ‘that pregnant girl,’” said senior Sharon White, whose name was also changed for this story. “In an atmosphere like this, there’s a strong chance you’ll be singled out if you revealed something that wasn’t socially acceptable.”

While Coolbaugh only attended Conestoga during the first few months of her pregnancy, others have experienced what it is like to be a student throughout the entire nine-month period.

Michele McCloskey, a member of the Conestoga Class of 2007, became

Michele McCloskey, a recent Conestoga graduate, became pregnant during her senior year at school. She ultimately decided to give the baby up for adoption. Henry Rome/The SPOKE

pregnant during her senior year at school. While her immediate reaction to the news was to have an abortion, she soon discovered that it was too late to follow through with such a decision.

McCloskey, who eventually decided to give the baby up for adoption, experienced firsthand the various perceptions that come with the territory of being a pregnant teenager at Conestoga. She said that, though her immediate friends and family were supportive of her, she sensed an underlying disapproval of her situation throughout the school.

“Whether people say it or not, it’s frowned upon here,” she said. “You’re pretty much expected to have an abortion. Getting pregnant is not supposed to happen at Conestoga.”

Teen pregnancy, Hollywood style

In addition to changing perceptions surrounding teen pregnancy, experts also cite the issue’s portrayal in pop culture as a cause of its rising rates across the country.

“Its appearance in Hollywood definitely has an influence on some students,” said Ruby, of the Family Planning Council. “They see what’s on TV and try to imitate what they view as a social norm.”

Teen pregnancy has been a hot plot topic lately for such movies like the 2007 box-office hit “Juno” and ABC Family’s growing TV attraction of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

Adding to a growing discussion, the same fascination with teen pregnancy has begun to enter the realm of real life. Headlines and photos of young, pregnant celebrities — such as Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin — have been splashed across the tabloids are often the main topic of conversation in the school hallway.

This fact in mind, health teacher Marcia Mariani said that recent revisions to the high school health curriculum, which she described as “abstinence based,” have been aimed at trying to make such topics like teenage pregnancy and sex education more accessible and open for discussion.

“We have to acknowledge reality when we talk to students,” she said. “It’s a fact of life that high schoolers have sex, and that needs to be expressed in the classroom as well.”

Despite how teen pregnancy has been portrayed in pop culture, Coolbaugh doesn’t seem to be letting others define how she lives her life.

“I can’t say that I could have seen myself where I am today a few years ago, but I think I’m stronger because of everything that happened,” Coolbaugh said. “I love [Peyton], and that’s really all that matters.”

Coolbaugh, now cradling her 4-month-old daughter in her arms, begins to give her the bottle of formula, the first of many to come that day. She pauses, using her sleeve to clean off the residue that the bottle has left on Peyton’s smooth, glossy cheek.

Henry Rome/The SPOKE

“This is the worst part,” she says with a laugh.

As she’s done so many times before, however, she manages to finish the motherly task. Nearing the end of the bottle, Coolbaugh looks up. She stands, gives a wide smile and says, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Seth Zweifler can be reached at szweifler@stoganews.com.

Printed originally on pages 1, 4, 5 and 6 of the March 27, 2009 issue of The Spoke.

In this special report, The Spoke takes an inside look at the lives of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) high school students–at their struggles, their hopes and their courage–and at how sexual orientation influences our school as a whole.

By Seth Zweifler, News Editor

Shortly after the 2006 school year began, an eighth grader named April Dunlop delivered a message that would change her life forever. The declaration was quick, Dunlop recalls; something along the lines of a simple “I’m bisexual” was all she needed to say to a few classmates.

Word spread like wildfire. In a period of no more than two months, Dunlop said, all but one of her close friends she once had distanced themselves from her, a fact that she directly attributes to her decision to come out.

Dunlop’s choice to reveal the truth about her sexual orientation was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she said. “I had absolutely no way of knowing what people would think. It was a blind leap.”

Dunlop, now a sophomore, is one of a small group of openly LGBT students at Conestoga. Each of these students has a story, behind which lies an internal struggle to come to terms with their true feelings.

In Dunlop’s case, her introduction to sexual orientation came at a young age. For years, she said, she was brought up by her Christian mother to believe that any attraction between two people of the same sex was not only wrong, but immoral.

Then, during the summer before entering seventh grade at T/E Middle School, Dunlop met an openly gay male at a summer camp she was attending.

“That experience really helped me see that this lifestyle was OK, that these were still people,” she said.

Upon entering eighth grade, Dunlop came to the realization that she was bisexual, and decided to waste little time in telling a group of close friends. In hindsight, she feels that her decision was made “before I was probably ready to deal with the whole situation.”

During that year, Dunlop said that she would often skip school because of the “hostile learning environment” she faced, a trend which experts view as common in teens who decide to come out during grade school.

“Students who have just come out are among the most likely to miss school because they don’t feel safe in a social setting,” said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesperson for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students.

In its most recent survey on school climate, GLSEN reported that 32 percent of LGBT students have missed at least one day of school in the past month because of feeling uncomfortable in a school environment.

“Many LGBT students end up deciding that they can’t deal with the constant negativity they hear and choose to completely avoid the problem,” Presgraves said. “I think that’s one of the most revealing statistics out there as to how these students are treated on an everyday basis.”

Throughout the tail end of middle school, Dunlop said that it felt like her sexual orientation was scrutinized by almost all who knew her, whether it was to her face or behind her back.

“It felt like everybody in the world knew,” she said. “When I would walk into a room, it would go quiet and seem like everybody was staring at me.”

Soon after, she faced one of her greatest challenges yet: telling her mother. Dunlop had been “uneasy” to do so for some time, as her mother did not advocate the lifestyles of openly homosexual or bisexual individuals, but knew that she had to let her know eventually.

“When I told my mom that I was bisexual, she said that she’d be supportive of me, but didn’t see herself changing her views on the issue as a whole,” she said. “That wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to hear at the time, but it was somewhere to start.”

After living more than two years as an openly bisexual teenager, Dunlop said that she never could have predicted much of what has happened, but does not regret the decision she made to be honest with her parents, her peers and herself.

“It’s been a rough few years, but I’m proud of the fact that I stayed true to myself,” she said. “I’m not one to change who I am to fit in with the crowd.”

For other openly LGBT students, the coming out process was one that stretched over a longer period, and was fraught with other complications.

Senior Jon Phillips, an openly gay male, said that he first realized he was homosexual when he entered seventh grade. At first, he said, he thought that it was simply a phase, and thus decided to keep quiet. Until December of his junior year, Phillips kept his true sexual orientation hidden, often lying to friends and family members in order to postpone the moment at which he would have to reveal the truth.

“I wanted to tell them, but I couldn’t bring myself to take that risk,” he said.

Midway through his junior year, however, Phillips grew tired of answering the ever-growing question of “Are you gay?”—which stemmed from his hinting to a few friends that he “might” be homosexual—with an emphatic “no.” He knew that it was time to tell his friends and family.

After using a group of close friends to gauge what sort of reaction he would get—which turned out to be overwhelmingly positive—Phillips decided to take the next step.

In May 2008, he sat down with his parents and let them know that he was gay, a fact that he had known for years.

“That was probably the hardest step of the process,” he said.

After what he called a “successful” conversation with both his mother and father, Phillips reached out further, this time sending out a mass notification on Facebook to some of his more distant friends.

In the days that followed his decision to send out the notification, Phillips said that he received numerous responses, most of which were in a positive, encouraging tone. What was particularly unnerving to him, however, was the fact that many of those who received the notification did not respond.

“That put me on edge,” he said. “I wasn’t really sure what to think at the time.”

In hindsight, Phillips feels little regret in his decision to come out.

“It’s not something that I could have kept hidden forever,” he said. “The time was right for me to come out, and now I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

A hostile environment

While the school and others throughout the community have made strides to provide support for openly LGBT students in the district, recent trends suggest that there is still work to be done.

Principal Tim Donovan confirmed that “multiple” student suspensions have been handed out since the start of the school year on the grounds of discrimination to openly LGBT students.

Dunlop said that she experiences some form of harassment—typically verbal—on an almost weekly basis at school. Apart from one particular incident, she said that she tends not to report these occurrences to the administration.

“There’s not much they can really do,” she said. “People will say what they think, regardless of what the consequences might be.”

Dunlop said that she has frequently been approached at school by various students who verbally taunt her, oftentimes with the use of the word “dyke,” or others of similar effect.

“It always has an impact on me, whether I show it on the outside or not,” she said. “By now, I’m used to it.”

A safe haven

For openly LGBT teenagers, the various social challenges faced during high school can be immense. In the district, however, many of these students have found acceptance with the Conestoga Gay/Straight Alliance, a group designed specifically to address and inform students about the role of sexual orientation in society.

Started nearly a decade ago, GSA’s evolution at Conestoga has been well-documented. However, club adviser Trevor Drake said that not all has been easy over the years.

“We received some opposition from the start,” he said. “At the time of our formation, the idea of a GSA at Conestoga was not supported by an overwhelming majority.”

After a year of negotiating with the school administration, Drake said that GSA was ultimately made an official school extracurricular activity.

While GSA is noted to be fairly outspoken at school, its membership count compared to that of other clubs is relatively low. According to club officers, GSA currently has 20 active members, a number which has remained fairly stable since the club’s formation nine years ago.

Drake feels that this unusually small number may indicate a growing fear that many students have when associating themselves which LGBT issues in school.

“There seems to be a social stigma attached to GSA,” he said. “There are probably other factors that explain our low membership, but I feel that many students may be scared about what it can do to their reputation.”

Club members, many of whom are heterosexual, say they have encountered numerous students over the years who have wondered aloud why they chose to publicly associate themselves with these issues.

“People don’t understand why [I’m in GSA],” club officer Katherine Law said. “I’ve had people come up to me and ask if I’m a lesbian. They just don’t understand that I could be doing this because I’m passionate for the cause.”

Over the years, Drake said that GSA has advocated for the district curriculum—specifically that in the health field—to cover the issue of sexual orientation more thoroughly in a classroom setting.

“It’s something that needs exposure whenever appropriate in order to highlight the differences that are around us every day,” he said.

According to Delvin Dinkins, district health curriculum supervisor, the issue of sexual orientation is not explicitly covered until students enter Health II—typically in their junior year—in the high school.

“There are complex topics that are more appropriate for an older grade level,” Dinkins said.

Dinkins explained that the health curriculum at the elementary and middle school level is more broadly designed to “try to create an inclusive environment where students can develop healthy attitudes to differences.”

“Our philosophy is that this idea of inclusivity transcends all types of differences students may have,” he said.

Experts and advocates of LGBT issues within education, on the other hand, feel that the fact that homophobia is still prevalent within the community indicates that students have not taken much from this education. Many recommend that the key to fixing the problem is to introduce the idea of sexual orientation earlier in school, in order to provide students with a true perspective on modern society.

“Homophobia is learned,” said Lisa Fraser, an education specialist with The SPOT, a West Chester center for LGBT students to learn and socialize in a safe environment. “If you can work with young people earlier and integrate it with regular elementary education, you can start to undo some of the negative perceptions that students get.”

While not expressly forbidden from mentioning sexual orientation in district middle schools, health teachers in grades 5-8 say that such topics in the classroom have become almost nonexistent.

Middle school health teacher David Hardy said that LGBT issues in class are “not up for discussion.”

“Our family life [unit] is a very, very tight unit,” he said. “The bottom line is we don’t cover it down here in the middle school.”

For those like Dunlop, however, their sights are set on the future, looking to a time when LGBT ideas will gain a broader tolerance and acceptance in society.

Dunlop hopes that time will come sooner rather than later. For now, she—and others like her—are turning to various social issues that were once considered controversial.

“We’ve seen similar controversies with women’s rights and segregation in our history,” Dunlop said. “To me, this is just another social hurdle that we will one day work together to overcome.”

Seth Zweifler can be reached at szweifler@stoganews.com.

Appeared originally on pages 1, 4 and 5 of The Spoke’s Dec. 17, 2008 edition.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

It’s addictive, illegal and growing. It’s not marijuana or alcohol. It’s sports betting and gambling, and it’s a nationwide problem.

By Henry Rome and Seth Zweifler, Managing Editor and News Copy Editor

One student got interested because his friends were doing it. Another began because it “enhances the game.” Some started just because they needed money. Whether money was the goal or not, cash seemed to flow in and out by the hundreds at Conestoga, while students, either in large groups or among friends, gambled on sports.

Most of these gamblers were male students who knew that their actions were illegal. But they continued anyway, betting on a number of college and professional sports. Some bet $100, $200; one even bet $500 on football and basketball teams over the years.

A recent investigation by The Spoke revealed that a student gambling operation was uncovered at Conestoga in mid-December. At the time of The Spoke’s investigation, police were investigating at least one student’s gambling actions at Conestoga, a member of the Tredyffrin Township Police Department confirmed.

The Spoke interviewed students—from all grades—believed to be involved in different forms of gambling at Conestoga. All were interviewed under the condition of anonymity, to protect the students from possible criminal prosecution.

In order to take a broader look at the different aspects of student gambling both locally and nationwide, The Spoke investigated gambling among students —in Conestoga, at local high schools and at colleges—and anecdotal evidence revealed that gambling is growing in popularity at all of these levels. Studies conducted by researchers and medical professionals confirm that gambling is popular amongadolescents nationwide, as well. Adolescent gambling is illegal, addictive and growing at rapid rates. And despite its prevalence and addictiveness, adolescent gambling seems to be receiving little attention from local schools, local parent organizations or the mass media.

At Conestoga

The school administration denied The Spoke’s requests for details into this school year’s most recent gambling case. After repeated attempts at acquiring information, requests were filed under Pennsylvania Open Records Law. The school cited student confidentiality laws in its denial. A student, who police said in early January was under investigation, had not been charged by that point, a juvenile court legal supervisor said. The legal supervisor later refused to provide information into the case.

But despite limited official details into this case, it is clear from The Spoke’s investigation that Conestoga students did bet on sports.

Students said they mostly bet in smaller groups or among friends, though some did confirm that a more organized sports betting ring existed. And as March approaches and March Madness for college basketball begins, many students fill out brackets, placing bets on their predictions.

It’s all gambling, and it’s all illegal.

The students The Spoke interviewed said it was easy to start gambling. One student said getting involved was as simple as just knowing someone, and then contacting them with the bet. One Conestoga student said he started sports betting last year. He said that gambling, for him, has “nothing to do with enjoyment or fun.” And despite the fact that unlicensed gambling is explicitly prohibited by law, he said that “you would never get caught, [and it’s] not a big deal [if you are].”

But in any case, whether in larger groups or among a small group of friends, any form of gambling, without a license, is illegal in Pennsylvania, said Lauren Bozart, Assistant Press Secretary of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Students caught gambling at school could be subject to disciplinary action. While Principal Tim Donovan would not confirm that gambling had occurred in the past school year, he did say that “if the exchange of money took place, then that would automatically be a suspension.”

Conestoga does not explicitly mention gambling in the Code of Conduct, though Donovan said that as with any issue, an addition to it is not out of the question. Similarly, West Chester B. Reed Henderson High School does not mention gambling in its policies but participating in illegal activity is against school policy, Principal Marc Bertrando said.

Unlike Conestoga and West Chester B. Reed Henderson, some other area schools do address gambling in policies.

Radnor High School’s Code of Conduct contains mention of gambling, Radnor Assistant Principal Jeffrey Smith said.

Malvern Preparatory School also addresses gambling in its rules and regulations. According to the school’s website, gambling warrants “five demerits and five detentions,” which is on the same level as cutting class for the first time or forgery.

There is also no specific mention of gambling in the Conestoga curriculum, though Donovan said that Conestoga is teaching students broadly how to deal with different scenarios they encounter.

“Conestoga students and T/E students are very well educated on a variety of issues, and what it comes down to is choice,” Donovan said.

However, statistics and interviews show that some Conestoga students are making the wrong choice.

Analysis of the most recent Pennsylvania Youth Survey available (2005) shows that while gambling in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is not nearly as prevalent as alcohol use, it rivals other addictive activities such as cigarette smoking and cocaine and marijuana use.

The 2005 survey asked students several gambling-related questions ranging from whether students had “gambled for money in [the] past year” to whether they had “spent more than meant on gambling in [the] past year.”

The Spoke compared “gambling for money in the last 30 days” survey results with the drug and alcohol use in the last 30 days survey results, and found that gambling is rivaling other addictive drugs at Conestoga.

According to the survey, gambling for money is significantly more prevalent than cocaine. At Conestoga, nearly 22 percent of seniors reported to have gambled in the last 30 days, as opposed to only 7 percent of this group that reported to have used cocaine in that same time frame.

The use of marijuana, statistically the most prevalent drug in T/E behind alcohol, on average also falls slightly below student gambling, according to averages of results from grades 6, 8, 10 and 12.

The 2005 survey marked the first year the survey included questions about gambling. The gambling questions were added to “establish a base-line of adolescent gambling behaviors which could be monitored over time and serve as sound measurements,” said Dawn Petrosky, a spokesperson for the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the group that runs the survey.

A nationwide trend

Across the country, studies show that adolescent gambling has grown at alarming rates.

“There is ample research demonstrating that 80 percent of teenagers gamble,” reads the Web site of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behavior, based at McGill University in Canada.

A 2006 study published in the journal Psychiatry also found that unlike adult gambling, teen gambling is largely centered around socializing rather than making money. The Spoke’s interviews confirm that among some, socializing is a main motivation.

The fact that gambling among teenagers can be a social activity makes it less of a big deal, especially if the participants are having fun, some say. Not so, say the experts.

“Public perception and knowledge is misguided largely as a result of the promotion of gambling as a harmless form of entertainment and enjoyable activity,” the Centre’s Web site said.

Whether socializing is a motivation or not, it remains clear that gambling among youths has grown, and researchers largely blame this issue on a society with changing values.

“Although opinions vary about gambling, in general a negative sentiment toward gambling has shifted to one of tolerance and acceptance,” reads an edited volume about pathological gambling.

Teenagers are especially prone to gambling, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling, because of the mentality that follows with being a teen. Teens live in the moment, are technologically literate, are developmentally high risk takers and have poor control over impulsive behavior, the group said, all leading to an increased likelihood of gambling.

A life-altering addiction

What doctors say is most troubling is how addictive gambling can be.

“There was somewhat an addictive part, but I had decent control for the most part,” one Conestoga student said. Additionally, this student said he could call it quits from time to time, but then he added he usually picked it back up again once he acquired more money.

The Psychiatry study found that gambling at an early age might influence mental health later in life. Those who gamble are more likely to use, abuse and become dependent upon alcohol later in life compared to their non-gambling peers.

Gambling is also a problem on the college campus. Colleges may soon see this new crop of high school gamblers entering campuses with gambling on the mind.

One Conestoga student interviewed said that he bet $200 and won $350 this football season. Why? It makes it “more fun to watch” sporting events. But, even when he said he knew that unlicensed gambling is illegal under Pennsylvania law, he said he will most likely continue betting in college because he has “good experience.”

Some local colleges have policies in place to deal with gambling on their campuses.

Delaware County Community College’s student handbook categorizes “gambling on college-owned or controlled property” as a “minor violation”— the same level as shoplifting and excessive parking violations.

What to do

The issue of high school gambling is complicated and far-reaching: it’s illegal, addictive and growing. But, how do schools and communities address the issue, and how do they prevent it?

According to the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behavior, an essential tool to combat youth gambling, as with many other addictive problems, is education. Increasing knowledge about the nature of gambling and its risks are what the group suggests as a course of action.

But gambling is not addressed, proactively, by the school or by local parent organizations. 

The co-chair of the parent group Area Residents Caring and Helping (ARCH) Ellen Moeller said the organization recognizes the issues surrounding youth gambling. But she said the organization, despite working to eliminate alcohol and drug use among minors, does not address youth gambling.

Perhaps the most powerful way to combat high school gambling is to recognize its presence in classrooms, hallways and homes. Some students The Spoke talked to said they’d continue gambling. Some said they would not. And one had advice for anyone thinking about gambling: “I’d like to tell everyone to be careful because it can get out of hand real fast.”

HOW THIS STORY WAS REPORTED

This special investigation was compiled from a monthlong investigation into high school gambling by Spoke editors, who talked to students, school, district and state officials, community leaders, law enforcement officers, court personnel and medical professionals.

The Spoke would like to thank the Washington, D.C.-based Student Press Law Center for its extensive legal advice on student press and public record law.

Investigation editor: Henry Rome

Written by: Henry Rome & Seth Zweifler

Reported by: Sonia Khandekar, Henry Rome,

Jonathan Yu, Alice Zhang & Seth Zweifler