I’m sure most people have heard by now of the 17 pregnant girls at Gloucester High School. Yes, that’s 17 soon-to- be-moms all under age 17!  Many of the expectant teenage moms confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together.   One girl even fessed up that the father of her unborn child is a 24-year-old homeless guy!  A homeless guy! Whatever happen to the days when teens avoided getting knocked up? Why are children purposefully having children?

School Superintendent Christopher Farmer told CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller the teens feel, “Motherhood gives them status.”

“It sort of gives you the impression of being an adult, an independent. It may give you an opportunity for unconditional love and attention from the baby and also that you give to the baby,” Dr. Elisabeth Guthrie, a pediatric psychiatrist, observed to Miller. [CBS News]

Of course there are those folks who argue that it’s the fault of the media for “glamourizing” pregnancy.

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We’ve been featuring some videos from the Burma Can’t Wait campaign including those from Sarah Silverman and Will Ferrell. Yesterday’s video starred Ellen Page from Juno sharing a powerful message about dictator Than Shwe and how he has terrorized the people of Burma behind closed doors (his most recent crime is denying aid to desperate victims of the Burma cyclone).

 and visit http://www.burmaitcantwait.org/burmaitcantwait/ to join the cause.

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While most folks are buzzing about who will win at the Oscars, some Hollywood favorites already received honors this weekend at the Film Independent’s Spirit Awards.

Over the last two decades the casual Spirit Awards has become one of the hottest events in Hollywood. Honoring films that are independent and low-budget, eligible films must be at least 70 minutes in length and cost of the completed film, including post-production, has to be less than $20 million. Hosted by Rainn Wilson of “The Office”, this years show aired live yesterday on Independent Film Channel and again last night on AMC.

“Juno” cleaned up at the ceremony winning for best feature film, best actress honors for Ellen Page and best first screenplay for Diablo Cody. Page and Cody are also nominated for Oscars, along with director Jason Reitman.

“I’m Not There”, one of Heath Ledger’s last films won two honors.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Several topics really stood out this week, including the Oscars as social advocacy inspiration, civil rights and Black History Month, and lots of hot news on entertainment going Green. Check out our most popular posts of the week on these subjects, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Happy Belated “Freedom to Marry” Week!

Rosa and Raymond Parks: Valiant Valentine #5

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Nicole:

Top 10 Oscar Picks to Inspire Social Action

Cornel West: Black Thoughts On Black History Month

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Giulia:

H&M’s “Fashion Against AIDS”

Ed Begley Jr. Goes Green

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Gina:

Top 10 Best Picture Winners That Inspire

Remixing “Chicago 10″

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Kerry:

How To Set the World On Fire Without Burning Out

Eco-Brokers Cater to Green Homebuyers

The 80th Annual Academy Awards are almost upon us, and I’m sure you all have your favorite films that you’re routing for. We here at TakePart have our fave films too, of course based on their relevance to social action and advocacy. Check out our picks for these top 10 Oscar categories, and how these films have left the world a bit of a better place than before they arrived on the big (or little) screen!

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Actor in a Leading Role: Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah

Tommy Lee Jones gives an incredible performance as a war veteran searching for his son, a soldier who recently returned from Iraq, but has now mysteriously disappeared. The shadow of the Iraq war is cast across several films that have been nominated this year, but Jones’ moving performance highlights the emotional and spiritual battles soldiers and their families must face long after they’ve come home from the combat zone.

and find out what you can do to help Veterans for Peace seek justice for veterans and victims of war, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

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Before people start discussing whether or not the Oscar’s will even happen - I think we should all sit back and enjoy the nominations - they aren’t half bad:Best Picture : Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men and There Will be BloodBest Director : Julian Schnabel, Jason Reitman, Tony Gilroy, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and Paul Thomas AndersonBest Actor : George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones and Viggo MortensenBest Actress :

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Conservative Virginians are fighting back against their own Governor after he slashed funding for abstinence only education. Timothy Kaine eliminated 275,000 from the state’s budget that was set aside for programs that taught high school students abstinence as a form of sex education and pregnancy prevention. Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell seemed slightly confused about the idea of “separation of church and state” when he expressed his surprise at Kaine’s actions:

“He is a Catholic, and I am a Catholic, and I know our church teaches abstinence,” McDonnell said of Kaine. “I am puzzled by his decision.”

Both parties cite different studies to back-up their claims that teaching kids not to have sex works or doesn’t. On the other end of the sex-education spectrum in New York City, Dr. Michael Carrera has implemented programs across the boroughs that work to empower young women and educate them about their bodies through a community and skill based curriculum. Young people starting at age 12 can participate in programs designed around Carrera’s plan in approximately 20 states throughout the country.In Queens NY, teens at the Jacob Riis Settlement House use Carrera’s ideas in their Project Excel program and just finished their first collaborative CD, “The Triumph - Our Journey, Our Story.” There may not be a study to prove the program’s effectiveness but take a listen to some of the amazing tracks on their myspace page - they’re proof enough that empowerment and creative expression is never the wrong way to go.The debate between how to best prepare America’s teens when it comes to the facts of life is one that will most likely continue for years to come - in the meantime maybe the officials in VA should put their feelings aside and all meet for a date to see Jason Reitman’s latest film Juno when it’s released later this winter, the film has been getting a ton of positive buzz since it played at Toronto earlier this fall: