Bristol Palin's pregnancy was an open secret back homeBY NANCY DILLON, VERONIKA BELENKAYA and TINA MOORE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
He's a superhunky bad-boy ice hockey player from cold country; she's a chestnut-haired beauty and popular high school senior.
The all-American teen twosome will make GOP vice presidential pick and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a grandma at age 44 - just in time for Christmas.
Doe-eyed Bristol Palin, 17, and ruggedly handsome Levi Johnston, an 18-year-old self-described "f---in' redneck," have been dating a year, locals in Wasilla, Alaska, told the Daily News.
And the pregnancy? An open secret in the close-knit town of 9,780.
PHOTOS: MEET SARAH PALIN AND HER FAMILY
Bristol Palin, now a senior, was frequently seen cheering her young beau from the stands. Levi is also a senior.
Wasilla mom Jennie Johnston, whose son Jade played hockey with Levi, saw the young couple in January at a game.
PHOTOS: SARAH PALIN THE LATEST BEAUTY QUEEN TO HIT BIG TIME
"She was in a cute little outfit like young girls wear," said Jennie Johnston, who is not related to Levi. "She was with Levi."
She said her son told her the two were already engaged.
"They've been together quite a while, more than a year," she said. "I hope everything comes out well. These are local kids."
Johnston, broad-chested and wearing a No. 15 jersey, can be seen in photographs hitting the boards as a Warrior in action.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE RNC
A closeup shot shows the handsome teen with a light dusting of whiskers on his chin - his dark brown hair curly and wet.
"Levi has got huge potential," Jennie Johnston said. "He's a smart kid."
Sarah Palin admitted yesterday her "beautiful daughter" Bristol was five months pregnant and would marry Levi. The baby is due in late December.
In a photo taken on Aug. 28, Palin holds her infant brother Trig close to her belly during a campaign rally where Sen. John McCain introduced her mom as his running mate.
The campaign released word of the teen's pregnancy to knock down claims on Internet blogs that the teen - not her mom - secretly gave birth to Trig, who has Down syndrome.
Well-liked Warrior
Wasilla Warriors' coach Bill Sturdevant said he never believed that talk.
"He was the same kid from the beginning of the season to the end. No signs of anything like that," the coach said.
"He was a good kid to be around, with lots of friends. He was well-liked."
A telephone number for Levi Johnston's parents, Sherry and Keith Johnston, was disconnected.
Bristol's pregnancy was no secret in the town that lies wedged between two mountain ranges.
The mother of one of Levi's friends, who asked not to be named, told The News that locals knew about Bristol's pregnancy for weeks.
Besides his hard play on the ice, Levi Johnston was also a bit of a hell-raiser off it - another reason Bristol may have been smitten.
State troopers popped Johnston last year for snagging some king salmon out of season in Moose Lake, records from Alaska wildlife enforcement show. He had to pay $370 bail.
On his MySpace page, Johnston proudly declares: "I'm a f---in' redneck."
"I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing," he says on the site.
He also warns that if anyone messes with him, "I'll kick ass."
The Web site, before it was removed, appeared not to have been accessed for a year.
On it, he admits to having a girlfriend.
On the part where it asks about children, he wrote, "I don't want kids."
Mark Okeson, the assistant principal at Wasilla High School, told the Chicago Tribune that Bristol started her junior year last fall, in the town where Sarah Palin grew up.
He said Bristol inexplicably transferred to an Anchorage high school midyear, leaving Levi behind.
"I never heard the story why," he said.
[email protected]
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican_race/2008/09/01/2008-09-01_bristol_palins_pregnancy_was_an_open_sec.html:bluebox: :bluebox:
This NY Daily News article sounds too cute about the unplanned high school teenage pregnancy of Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston. However, there is no mention that one or both of the teenage parents are not attending school any more. Pregnant teenage moms often times never finish their high school education. As a result they are often stuck in low wage jobs committing themselves and their offspring to poverty. Childhood is over when a teenager becomes a parent. These teens will never share important social experiences other teens have. Essentially a teen parent is a child having a child. This article fails to mention of what happens to most teens who drop out of school following their pregnancies.
Teenage pregnancy is not good for babies either. More babies born to teen moms have disabilities than those born to mothers in their mid twenties and early thirties. Infant mortality is higher for those babies of teen moms. Teen mothers giving birth also experience more complications than moms in their mid twenties and early thirties. No, there is no mention of the health consequences to teenage mothers and babies in the NY Daly News puff piece.
You may have guessed I strongly resent this New York Post article that makes teen pregnancy among two high school aged teens sound as easy and practical as Barbie and Ken having a baby. The article is a pure republican spin to cover the failure of the far-right’s abstinence only programs among a child of one of their faithful. Clearly this is a failure of the abstinence only programs, not of the child.
Furthermore, the article feeds the unrealistic fantasies especially of teenage girls in its glorification of teenage pregnancy. Teenagers particularly are so hungry for attention. Studies have shown that teenagers identified their most important goal as teens is to become famous. The NY Daily News article places Bristol and Levi on a public pedestal and makes them sound cool, glamorous and carefree scaling the heights of role models – but in reality this article serves the idealization of teenage pregnancy among vulnerable teens.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
