Oprah: Jessica Coleman - A Harsh Reality

I decided to do some channel surfing about 20 minutes ago. I landed on Oprah. She was interviewing Jessica Coleman, an teenage inmate who was prosecuted for the death of her newborn baby.

It was disturbing to watch this woman. How could she hide that she was pregnant? How could she kill her own child by crushing its skull and stabbing it to death? How could she then stuff her baby into a bag, and in her closet, to throw away later in a lake?

As she described her story, she did not cry. Instead, she attempted to look sad and "bothered". However, we know better.

The saddest part? Of her actions, she stated, "It wasn't intentional" -- a typical excuse by troubled women to deny accountability for their own sick and cruel actions toward others. I'm sorry, but she had all intents and purposes to KILL her baby! There is always intent, and this is a sly and deceiving way of "wiggling out of" liability toward others.

This is the icing on the cake. Just when I thought I'd seen and experienced everything, I was blown away by her story. Surprised? Not in the least. However, I fear for the health of our future offspring. We are failing as people, as a continent, as a society, and as a world.

This is beyond heartless. Unfortunately, there are so many others like her. I seriously doubt these women will ever learn about accountability, respect, etc. when it comes to other human beings and basic courtesy and respect. Somehow, these women have grown to believe they are immune to accountability and honesty. Fortunately, this woman's actions caught up to her: She's in a maximum security prison.

I have serious doubts that this woman will ever change. Even after prison, Jessica will emerge the same troubled woman she is today. She will live a life of repeat misery, repeating the same actions time and time again. Just as she killed her baby in cold blood, she'll always deny herself of accountability to protect her own sick and demented, yet fragile and dark state of mind. To add insult to injury, she later proclaimed that she would like to be a mother again. Sounds like a bad idea to me.

The moral of Jessica's story: "What goes around, comes around"

 

I remember this story. I see it a bit differently. I agree what this woman (and her boyfriend) did deserves punishment, but I sympathize with her and many other girls (she was in the 10th grade when this occurred) who grow up in an atmosphere that leaves them few options. I remember that her family was so religious, that had people known she was pregnant, she would have been persecuted and possibly disowned by her parents. Had she gotten an abortion and people found out, she would have been persecuted and possibly disowned by her parents.

I didn't see the Oprah show, but read this story to get a different viewpoint. She seems very remorseful to me.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=1685080&page=1

A few more points:

And how do we know better? Because she didn't cry doesn't mean she is not remorseful. People handle remorse differently. I can't imagine how many times this woman has to tell this story. I wouldn't expect her to cry every time, even if millions of people are watching.

I don't agree. It isn't always intentional, although I believe it was in this case. I think she killed her baby out of fear, but I feel she felt she had no other choice. Your statement is a bit misogynistic. There are many troubled men who make the same excuses for their fear, including her boyfriend.

I agree. We are failing as a society. Why is it so hard in America in 2006 to spread the message to hormone-filled teenagers that abstinence is best, but if they fail at abstinence, there are easily-accessible contraceptives? This should be taught in sex-ed classes in every public high school in each of the 9th - 12th grades. There should be public services announcement on local radio and TV shows in every market. The greatest disservice we can do to our youth is to preach abstinence only/no contraceptives/no abortion lessons and at the same time, give them every sign that they will be ostracized if they become pregnant.

My point is that we need to make sure that our young people know what options they have regarding sex and pregnancy -- abstinence, contraception, abortion, adoption, etc.

This girl felt she didn't have a choice. Thank God for organizations like Safe Haven.

Seems like this woman has accepted responsibility and wants to make sure girls who find themselves in similar situations know that they have options. Looks like she is trying to help assure that we don't continue to fail as a people/society/continent/world.

But again, what's up with the woman-bashing statements, Bro? How many cases have we heard in the past decade about men who have killed their children (most of the time as a tool of revenge against women) and not accepting responsibility for their actions?

Where's your faith? She is going to do her time. I certainly hope she will come out a better person. That's what prison should do, right? I hope she is able to continue to use her story as an example of what not to do. And I hope that she is able to become a good mother some day. It looks like she is headed in that direction. Hopefully, most people won't be as impenetrable and unforgiving as you are.

 

Great response, Spindip!
I could not have answered better.
My fave sex-advice columnist, Dan Savage, would probably blame this girl's "no options" situation on the American Taliban’s war on sex!
Read up on it folks! It's a SCARY thing!
Glad I live up North from y'all!

 

Is this Dan Savage of "Savage Love?" I read his column sometimes. I'll start reading it more often and paying better attention.

 

Yup... the one and only!
I love his POV on a lot of stuff.