New doco sheds light on NZ’s teen mums
‘‘I had the status of head girl, I was captain of my basketball team and I wanted my mum to be accepting of it.’’
Dru Brown
Falling pregnant as head girl wasn’t part of the plan, but at the age of 17, life for Dru Brown took a turn. In 2017, Dru was four months into NCEA level 3 at Fraser High School, Hamilton, when she found out she was six weeks pregnant.
Then came a tough decision – would she keep her baby?
‘‘I wasn’t sure what to do,’’ she said.
‘‘I had the status of head girl, I was captain of my basketball team and I wanted my mum to be accepting of it.
‘‘I questioned whether I wanted to go ahead with my pregnancy or not,’’ Dru said.
Dru was able to continue participating in school life almost as normal after Fraser High School principal Virginia Crawford lent her support.
‘‘Virginia said to me this [pregnancy] doesn’t stop you from being head girl and we will support you throughout the journey.’’
Dru graduated from high school in November 2017 and gave birth to Areka the following February.
But not all student pregnancies get that sort of support. Many teenagers are forced to decide between education and motherhood.
Fraser High School set up a teen parent unit, He Pua¯ awai, to help teenage mothers.
The unit encourages young mums to stick to their studies. They can hit the books and bring their baby to school.
A new two-part documentary on TVNZ1, High School Mums, follows the young women who seek help from the teen parent unit.
Leader of curriculum at He Pua¯ awai, Lee Marchioni is a role model. Pregnant at 17, she knows just what the girls are going through.
Marchioni said it was a space where pregnant students and new parents are encouraged to keep up with their schoolwork.
Educating as many as 30 students the ‘‘teen parent unit is about improving education outcomes, increase engagement, achievement in education and transition to further employment or education,’’ she explained.
‘‘Being in high school while pregnant is not fun. They need to be proud of it, not ashamed of it.
‘‘We are not about supporting teen pregnancy, it’s about supporting those it happened to,’’ Marchioni said.
Teen mothers right across Hamilton are able to enrol in the unit.
‘‘Students don’t age out. They would have lost time during their teenage years having a baby and being on maternity leave, so they need a longer time at school to finish off their qualifications.
‘‘The transition from the unit out into study is very important. Students need support even when they leave the unit,’’ Marchioni said.
Fifteen-year-old Cierrah Puke was halfway through NCEA level 1 at Hillcrest High School when she fell pregnant and decided to join the parent unit.
‘‘This is when I met Lee and she had heaps to offer me. I was able to continue working on my education and since then I gave birth to Jonah, achieved NCEA level 1 and 2 and now I’m half-way through NCEA level 3.
‘‘Sometimes you need a solid foundation to flourish in other places and I didn’t find that until I came here.
‘‘Jonah motivates me to keep going. I can look back at the previous years I have been here and see how much I have achieved.
‘‘I’ve been set up really well here, not just in education but also as a mother,’’ Cierrah said.
After her parents separated at a young age and years of child abuse, Cierrah said she was searching for emotional support.
‘‘I started to have broken relationships with both my parents and then ended up searching for love and attention in the wrong place, and that’s how I ended up pregnant.
‘‘I fought in court against Jonah’s dad for full custody and protection orders at the age of 16’’.
After counselling sessions at He Pua¯ awai, Cierrah is now focused on pursuing her own career in counselling.
Cierrah has since rebuilt relationships with her family and reconnected with her parents.
After Dru graduated from high school she joined the unit in 2018 to get her university entrance credits.
‘‘I did this last year, but I recently moved to Australia where I am working as an assistant educator at a daycare centre.
‘‘My aunty offered me a job and I was able to incorporate my goal of travelling with baby and trying to give him the best life possible.
‘‘I’ve been separated from Areka’s father for a while, but he has a good relationship with his son,’’ Dru said.
For other teen mums like Dru and Cierrah, there are 25 teen parent units across NZ.
High School Mums begins Tuesday, June 16 at 8.30pm on TVNZ1.