Teenage girls are Smoking in the UK to have 'Smaller babies', Should we just give up hope now...?

Question

I mean, what future has the world got with brainless tw@ts like this running around???

Apparently its because they dont want the PAIN of childbirth....

But obviosly want the Benefits ££'s and Housing....

Answer 1

You're so right. What a total mess we're in. The controversial topic of the teaching of sex education in schools reared it’s ugly head again recently, as a schoolgirl who became pregnant at the age of 11 after a drunken one-night-stand is set to break the record for being the UK's youngest mother.

Now aged 12, she has told a national newspaper how she is "really excited" about the prospect of having a child after losing her virginity to a boy aged 15 in Edinburgh. And, I suppose what is equally worrying is that this silly girls mother has told the world how proud she is of her daughter! Sadly, this kind of idiotic family is becoming increasingly the norm in this country, where lack of proper health education and enforcement of the underage sex law is all but non-existent.

One of the questions which has been raised is whether it is the responsibility of the parents or the schools to educate children on all matters sexual. It does seem to me that predominantly it should be the parents who ensure that these youngsters know what is what. They should also be warned about the total illegality of it all, and informed that there can be very detrimental circumstances attached to the act of underage intercourse. The fact that this child is having a baby displayed to me what a clear lack of parenting skills her mother must have, before she opened her mouth to the national press announcing how proud she was of her daughter.

Proud? Of a twelve-year-old girl who should be thinking about dolls, her favourite pop stars or planning fun outings with her friends in the summer holidays? Proud that all her teenage years will be devoted to motherhood rather than enjoying adolescence? Proud that her daughter apparently consented to sexual intercourse with a fifteen year old boy when she was just eleven years old, in spite of the fact she was intoxicated at the time?

I’m truly shocked as to the whole incident. It is terrifying.

Further information came out about the girls’ mother too. She lets this pregnant little daughter of hers smoke 20 cigarettes a day! True! Does this woman care anything at all about her daughter? Why aren’t the authorities asking certain questions of her? Why her daughter is sleeping around and smoking? And who is paying for these cigarettes? At about £5 a pack, that’s £35 a week, around £150 a month. What kind of eleven-year-old girl can afford that? Most likely mummy is paying for them out of her benefits (i.e. us, the hardworking taxpayer! Again!)

Yet it does raise the question- when is the right time to educate kids about sex? If it’s too early, will that prompt them to explore the practical side of it themselves and cause further childhood pregnancies? If it’s too late, then will all the mistakes have already been made by the time the child gets to learn about it properly.

All children develop and mature at different rates, so surely this rules out an appropriate time to teach them this in schools. Year 9, let’s say, will have a broad range of maturity- some of the kids will be positively immature (either mentally or physically) and others will be more mature.

The TIMING of the old birds and bees lecture must be judged by parents, who should explain that couples who are in love and want to share an experience together do make love to each other when both of them feel that the time is right. The issues of protection against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases should be approached as well.

Education needs to also examine life beyond sex. For instance, what pregnancy is like, the difficulties of child-rearing etc. My son was born when I was just turning 24, and I can remember what a struggle it was, and I was just the father- I didn’t have the responsibility of giving birth, breast-feeding etc. I was just chief nappy-changer and bottle wash- and I can remember what a constant 24/7 job it was. If I struggled to such a degree with a partner and parental help, how’s this little twelve-year-old girl going to manage?

Don’t get me wrong, for me, parenthood has been very rewarding. My son is a great lad, the most important thing in my life, and I’m incredibly proud of him. I wouldn’t change him for the world. But the work, stress, worry and cost that goes into it must also be taken into consideration. And that is what I have difficulty believing a pre-teen mother can cope with.

“But Craig,” I hear you say, “this girl will have assistance, surely, from her mother.” Damn right, she will, and that makes me more worried. We’ve already examined what kind of a parent SHE is!

If I ever have any daughters and one of them had sex or got pregnant at this age, I certainly would not be telling everyone how proud I am. I’d probably go and crawl under a rock somewhere, afraid to show my face, ashamed of my inadequacies and failings as a parent!

No doubt, this ‘gymslip’ mother is saying she is ‘excited’ and looking forward to being a mother. Forgive me, but I believe that this is all just a front. I think that behind the façade is a frightened little girl, wondering what the hell is going on.

Things like sex and relationships are subjects which must be broached by parents and schools. Sex goes way beyond intercourse, fertilisation and childbirth. There’s the emotions, commitments and responsibilities that goes with it.

If the basics are taught at the right time by the parents, then the biology of it all can be explained in schools (probably when the pupils are 14 or 15).

Children having sex must be frowned upon, and dealt with much more seriously than it is being dealt with at the moment in this country. Since this worrying story made the national news, that boy of fifteen has been charged with statutory rape, pending further investigations. I am of the opinion that he will get off scot-free, as the girl has made no official complaint about the incident. The law says that a girl under sixteen CANNOT legally consent to sex, so therefore he technically raped her. However, the fact that she is bragging of her great achievement in the press, posing for photos with mummy dearest and telling the world how excited she is about motherhood leads me to the conclusion that the relevant authorities will not charge this boy at all. What kind of a message does that send to other children who feel like dallying in this grown up world? That it’s fine? That the taxpayer will pay for the upbringing of any unplanned children from these silly trysts? Of course it does. And this is something that needs to be addressed. Legally, it already has been, but in reality do you think they’ll imprison this boy or put him on the sex offenders’ register. I am having serious doubts about it, though I hope I’m wrong.

The angry part of me right now is screaming, “The result of any underage sex should be taken into care and put up for adoption, as clearly this girl and her mother have no idea on how to raise it properly!” Of course the argument against this is that the child will grow up away from her biological mother, and raises the point that this may be punishing the only person who is truly innocent in all this, and that is, of course, the baby. In this case, however, having learned about this girl and her mother, I truly believe that this baby will be much better off away from this twisted, incomprehensible little family.

As a deterrent to other silly little children, as the girl has made NO complaint to any authorities, the CPS should be prosecuting HER girl for underage sex and confiscate any fee she was given for the interview with the press under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and the boy with statutory rape and placed on the sex offenders’ register. I suspect if the authorities were to take prosecution more seriously the rates of underage pregnancy would decline rapidly.

The idea of one-night-stands needs to be addressed to the youth of this country as well. They need to know that they are dangerous and can be emotionally (and in some cases physically) damaging. They need to be taught more respect for the act of lovemaking. It’s not a shag, or a bonk, or whatever they call it these days. It’s a physical display of true love between two people, and that is the ideal which needs to be pushed to the children.

A child of this age becoming pregnant in the civilised world was unheard of as recently as thirty years ago (maybe less), which raises the question; where the hell has society gone wrong in the meantime? Do we blame Hollywood, the ‘liberal’ sixties, fashion and glamour magazines, the music industry? There must be something at the root of this increasing problem. The big question is; what?

One of the articles seems to sum it up. Her 34-year-old mother is pleased that she is going to keep the baby. There has been no mention at all of a father and the kid already smokes 20 cigs a day! It has to be said that in some sections of society it would seem that a baby is the latest fashion accessory, (sad but true) and it also allows single mothers to get council housing by jumping the queue. There's something seriously amiss here.

Perhaps it would help a little more if the media stopped focussing so much on news stories like these and adding a certain amount of ‘celebrity’ to the issue, with headlines which seem to be almost applauding ‘Britain’s Youngest Ever Mum’. Then maybe people would stop craving this kind of attention. But most importantly, parents need to be more responsible and educate their children (be they boys or girls), and then perhaps it would help if society provided more for young children to do in the evenings and weekends. When I was young playing games in the street was great fun, but nowadays kids won’t do that, the main reason being that there are too many nutters and weirdoes around. Youth clubs and social clubs should therefore be more available. I really think though if the media stopped focussing on the negatives and started to acknowledge all the great things young kids do these days then kids would be encouraged to follow. It's all attention at the end of the day and by the looks of this case, attention is something both mother and daughter enjoy. I feel sorry for this new baby!

The benefits system in this country makes it far too easy, nay, encouraging for children of increasingly young ages to have sex and become pregnant. It is the lackadaisical attitude taken by the law enforcement agencies in this country and the government’s inability to make life difficult for these young mothers (it’s an escape from having to find employment, buy a home, etc. and it’s us, the taxpayers funding it!)

Makes me wonder what would happen to this girl if she lived in the 16th century?

And to send a few more shivers down every anxious parent’s spine, the story I’ve just outlined made the news a day after I found this article, which I was originally going to focus on in this weeks’ commentary:

A nine-year-old boy has been charged with rape, police have said.

It is understood the alleged offence took place in the Dundee area last autumn.

A Tayside Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that following an allegation of rape, a nine-year-old boy was arrested and subsequently charged.

"A report was sent to the procurator fiscal.

"This is an active case and it would be totally inappropriate for us to make any further comment."

A Crown Office spokesman in Edinburgh said the case had been referred to the Children's Panel Reporter.

What the hell is going on these days? Coincidentally both of these stories happened in Scotland- are the kids just sexually active far before their time up there? What exactly are they putting in the haggis?

Of course, it is purely by chance that these two stories emerged within days of one another and in the same small country, but it has made people truly sit up and realise that unless action is taken now, then we are simply in for more and more of the same.

Answer 2

I sometimes feel we should give up now! A friend though he couldn't catch anything if he only did it the once and had a shower afterwards (he was just a friend and nothing more, thank goodness!) have you ever heard anything as ludicrous!

It's a self-seeking attitude to say "to hell with it, i'm thinking of me alone not another person / baby etc". if they don't want to put up with the physical changes that occur when they have a baby they shouldn't get pregnant, end of! Also it is easier to quit smoking in your teens.

I agree with you, they are completely brainless...

Answer 3

My friend did this 20 years ago and has a very sweet and retarded son and a cute chronically asthmatic daughter.

My mum never smoked when she was pregnant with me or my brother, but made up for it after we were born and consequently I smoked pretty much from the moment I drew breath.
M brother is asthmatic and I suffered a stroke aged 37.

It seems to me that years ago we were misinformed about the dangers and smoking was, if anything, glamorised.

These days kids are just being selfish and I'm boiling with rage that I'm going to work to support them and their 'needy' kids (not the kids fault, I know) while they think they're being bl**dy clever.

Sorry but I just want to slap them so hard

Ah man, you've got me all upset again

Answer 4

No,. lets try getting govt to stop making having babies a career choice.
Its so so sad cos the kids are born into a horrible reality
I blame posh spice lol
I have tried for many years to have a child, im now to old
It truly breaks my heart when I see these little babies in the hands of children who are not much more than babies themselves, when I could be such a good mum and offer so much.

Answer 5

I felt sick,stupid idiot teenage mums,they make the worst parents in the world,they dont care about anything but themselves,bet they will even smoke round their babies after they're born too...I personally had a premature baby at 33weeks & it was no less painful than his 7lb brother..they are dumb & probably the product of feckless parents themselves..shame on them.

Answer 6

I know, I was flabbergasted. I can't add much more to what you've already said.

I once saw a man on TV talking about humans evolving into two different types, the stupid and the clever. He said it in a more scientific way but hell, the dude has a point!

Answer 7

I agree its ridiculous. Why do they want to have a baby in the first place? I think we need more awareness on this.

There is hope though. Once I worked as a substitute teacher for a year. It bothered me the way some kids in their early teens act. A senior teacher once told me "some kids will stay stupid all their lives and still survive". Dunno.

Answer 8

Yeah probably. In their ever lasting and somewhat immature quest for maturity they now smoke, before, during and after pregnancy. The joys of the youth of today. I'd personally slap a pregnant woman if she was smoking, dumb woman.

Answer 9

Totally hear you. I was really disgusted when I read that report. What a bunch of idiots. Somehow evolution hasn't taken them out of the genetic pool. I have to think there is a reason why not.

Answer 10

Absolutely.

20 years a go I believed we needed to introduce an intelligence test before people had kids.

Haven't seen much since to change my mind.

We need to help Darwin out a bit

Answer 11

All I can think of is the Monty Python skit with the Catholic slum kids singing;

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate!