A 13-year-old boy from Britain becomes a father, sparking a social, political and privacy debate in the media.
Maisie Roxanne was born Monday February 9th to 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman and Alfie Patten, who is just 13 years old. The Sun broke the story last week, and is now reporting, two other teenage boys have come forward, claiming to be the father. (The Sun)
We’re tracking reaction to the Sun’s coverage from Sky News, the BBC, the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Times.
From the social perspective, Sky News reports sexual activity among teenagers is common.
“Weighting 7 pounds, 3 ounces, Maisie Roxanne was born here at Eastbourne District General Hospital on Monday night, after a five hour labor. Until then, Chantelle had been attending the Cavendish school nearby, where fellow pupils say, outside school, young teenage sex is nothing out of the ordinary.
‘It’s not greatly unheard of, so I don’t think anyone’s really shocked by it in that sense.’” (SKY News)
Recent government figures show that around 39,000 girls in Britain under the age of 18 became pregnant in 2006, causing the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Western Europe.
The BBC talks to the Conservative Party Leader, David Cameron, who expresses concerns about the issue.
“It is really worrying that in our country today you’ve got children having children and obviously we all hope that these very, very young children will grow up and be good parents, but frankly parenthood isn’t something that they should have been thinking about. That’s what’s gone wrong and we’ve got to put it right.” (BBC)
The Daily Mail agrees not enough is being done to discourage teenagers from becoming sexually active.
The paper says providing benefits to teenage parents sends the wrong message.
“There has been a profound loss of the very notions of self-restraint and boundaries of behavior, promoted from the top by narcissistic liberals and funded at the bottom by welfare benefits which cushion people from the consequences of their actions.” (The Daily Mail)
The Guardian doesn’t see this as a social issue, but a political one.
“There will be plenty more Alfie stories - testaments not to a worsening ‘broken Britain’ but to a low tax, weak social policy century that [the Labour Party] has only started to improve.”
The Times takes a different view on the teen parents saying it raises much larger issues.
“Alfie, a child, has become a pawn in a misleading argument. He is a child whose privacy had been violated and whose welfare we simply don't care about, except in so far as he entertains us or reinforces our pleasurable outrage… what are we playing at?” (The Times)
Why do you think teenage pregnancy is worse in Britain than in other countries? Who should be responsible? Should teenage parents be protected from media scrutiny? Please share your thoughts with us on newsy.com and be sure to check out our sources.
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