In the News: Children Producing Children

On and off, I came across news about teenagers having underage sex. I am often shocked by the tender age of those involved in such incident. What is more, when they had unprotected sex and as a result, give birth to babies or contracted STDs. Today, I just browsed for some juicy gossips at News of the World (Warning: sometimes there are photos that are not suitable for children's viewing) as it just came to my mind that I have not visited the website for a very long time. Usually, I only read the headlines for I think sometimes the paparazzi have gone too far to write about celebrities and their acquaintances so that their stories sell well. The only news pieces that I perhaps spend much time reading are those pertaining the Royal Family, more particularly those about Princess Diana and her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Well, back to the shocking news that I have read today. It is about a 13-year-old boy fathered baby Maisie with his 15-year-old girlfriend. I have came across the news before and also about younger kids being involved in such cases but this time, I was flabbergasted when I saw the photo of Alfie Patten, purportedly the father of Maisie - he does not even look like a tween, I see him as an elementary school kid as he appears to be a tiny child. The media have also exploited baby Maisie's mother's for having a considerably big number of sexual partners in just a time spanning 3 months.

Uh, I just have to question - what are in the minds of the children nowadays? Children are just growing up faster and faster. Suddenly, I am also reminded of some kids I met at Ocean Park last summer. My friend said one looked like a 5-year-old but from the way she dressed and talked to her friends who are all around the age of thirteen, she looked like a teenager while the rest of her friends, well, appears like they pretended to be in their early 20s. Here are me and my friends who do not want to grow up that fast but children nowadays are doing just the opposite. Does this has to do with globalization? Influence of the media? Parental control? Education? No matter what, I believe that their bringing up is fundamental to the person that they become as they grow up - too speedily.

To read the news or take a look at Alfie, hit here.