Jul 8, 2008 9:41 pm US/Eastern
Salem Adds To Gloucester Teen Pregnancy Banter
SALEM, Mass. (WBZ) ―
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As part of Salem's Willows Fourth of July Horribles Parade, some made fun of Gloucester's rise in teen pregnancies.
WBZ
As the city of Beverly takes a lot of heat for its "Horribles Parade," which mocked Gloucester's recent spike in teen pregnancy, another North Shore town has joined in with the banter.
As part of the Salem Willows Horribles Parade, some made fun of the pregnancies in Gloucester. Seventeen girls at Gloucester High School are pregnant.
WBZ obtained video of the parade, which isn't as graphic as the tapes that have caused controversy in Beverly Farms.
Watch:
Raw Video of Salem's parade Watch:
YouTube video of Beverly parade
"Horrible things are always done in the horrible parade," said Salem resident Wendy Atwood. "I feel like they always look to cross the line, but that's the goal – to cross the line. And the reality maybe is worse than the parade, I'm afraid."
In Salem, some say a parade is no place for throwing stones at Gloucester when they have their own problems.
"I think that's kind of insulting to those girls," said Salem resident Megham Wilkins. "They shouldn't have put their problems in the parade."
Wilkins and Kaitlyn Christiansen, who both work in the Willows, point out that Salem High School has its own pregnancy problems.
"It's kind of hypocritical for people in Salem to be making fun of people in Gloucester when there's a huge problem in Salem," Christiansen said.
The Department of Public Health reports between 2000 and 2006, 93 Beverly teen have gotten pregnant, while 123 girls got pregnant in Gloucester. During the same time period, 220 teenagers from Salem got pregnant.
Wilkins said she would like to see teen pregnancy prevention come out of all the controversy.
Gloucester's mayor didn't have a comment over Salem's display. Salem's parade committee told WBZ it didn't intend to offend anyone.
"Our Horribles Parade has been a long neighborhood tradition," said Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll. "I think there are lots of things being spoofed. I am regularly spoofed."
Driscoll sat as a judge in the parade.
"I can understand how the people of Gloucester might feel but this is not a statement about Salem or how we feel about Gloucester or a community statement whatsoever," she said. "It's really about individuals who were acting of their own accord."
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