Teen Pregnancy, Suicide Sparks Menahga High Yearbook Controversy

A Minnesota school district is facing suicide and teen pregnancy head on.

Stephanie Myer is on the verge of graduating from Menahga High school. She's had tough times, like having her daughter in the middle of the school year.

"She's my whole world," Myer said.

Myer says, she never thought about dropping out of school. So she buckled down and is doing what's needed to graduate. To celebrate her efforts at the end of the school year, she decided to take her senior pictures with her daughter. But, Stephaine says she's been told the picture will not appear in the yearbook.

"It's supposed to be of who you are and what you represent and you finally get something you really like and you want to show people but you can't because they don't think it's right," Myer said.

They being Mary Clum, the Superintendent of Menahga Public Schools. Clum says Myer would be breaking tradition.

"We've never had a student with anyone else and we don't see a reason to start now since it's the senior composite," Clum said.

This is not the only controversy plaguing the northern Minnesota school and its yearbook.

Peggy Havnes' son Kyle committed suicide in January. She says students want to put a memorial page in the yearbook for Kyle. Havnes says the district has told her no.

"I don't think the district should choose 100 percent what the kids want to have in their yearbook. I think the kids should have a lot of say on what's going to be in there," Havnes said.

Clum says statistically it isn't smart to glamorize suicide nor teen pregnancy.

"This is a new precedent for us ... so obviously we need to look at our policies because we have never had to address this before," Clum said.

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