High school yearbook devotes page to teen parents, sparks controversy

An Arizona high school's yearbook devoted two of its pages to the student body's teen parents, and the decision is causing quite a bit of controversy.

Mesa High School student Yesenia Corral had her daughter when she was 13 years old and was one of the people featured on those two yearbook pages. KPNX explains, "While the principal has stayed busy fielding calls from angry parents, Corral says she is not going to let those parents diminish what she has been able to accomplish as both a mom and a student."

"You live with the choices that are made," Corral explains.

"I don't feel like someone's gonna look at the page and be like 'oh now I want a baby because they got a yearbook page, no,'" Corral told NBC.

Still, an angry mother said, "I don't view teen pregnancy as student achievement that should be displayed in a yearbook."

Although Mesa High School officials have mostly stayed quiet on the subject, KSAZ did obtained a statement from the school, which said,

"The material presented reflects choices made outside of the school environment. The feedback received about the subject matter will help refine the judgment used when determining the content in future yearbooks. "

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2011, "Arizona was ranked 15 out of 51 (50 states + the District of Columbia) on 2011 final teen births rates among females aged 15-19."

The editor of the yearbook says she felt inspired by the parents and thought the pages would be helpful for anyone going through their own struggles.