Teen girls looking at car
IN PHOTO: Onlookers gaze at a Maybach hired to take part in a parade of "supercars" for Morpeth School graduation day, on Rickman Street Estate in Tower Hamlets, east London on June 21, 2013. In the east London area of Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived parts of the city according to government statistics, a trend has arisen which sees many 16-year-olds at local schools spending large sums of money to rent increasingly flashy cars for their National Record of Achievement (NRA) ceremony, an event roughly equivalent to a prom celebration. The teens, who are too young to drive, are chauffeured around the neighbourhood and attend the ceremony at school, often before spending a night on the town. Picture taken June 21, 2013. Reuters/Olivia Harris

Student parents from Santa Fe National High School expressed their hurtful feelings for not being given their traditional section in the school’s latest yearbook. The school, which has been known to have a Teen Parent Center, supports teen parents whilst they take on their high school education.

It has been a tradition for these student parents to have their photos taken with their child every year. These are then included in a section in the yearbook, where their group is being featured. Although this practice has been recognising the group as a whole, the yearly activity shows the support of the school to the teen parents, said senior student Naomi Roque.

“Every year we look forward to taking our picture for the yearbook,” Roque said. “It was somewhat hurtful, that’s an opportunity for us to look back and show our kids this time that we’re going through.” This was what Roque had to say upon learning that the yearbook coordinator decided to exclude their particular section from the yearbook. For her and for many others, they just could not understand why this had to happen.

The district then explained that the move was not intentional at all. "In previous years, teen parents were distinctly grouped together within a separate program on the school site," said spokeswoman Latifah Phillips. “This year, there has been an effort to include the students in regular high school programming.” She further said that all students were featured in the yearbook as individuals. If the teen parents or other groups wanted a specific feature on their organisation, they could coordinate with the yearbook staff.

Roque is hoping that the statement released by the district was accurate. This is because recognising their group would create a positive and inspiring message to the batch of students next to them. She believes that if other kids, who are currently struggling also seeing those kids with babies are able to do it, then they too can make it.

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