During this past week, I’ve been following the story of a thirteen-year-old boy named Alfie Patton who has supposedly fathered his fifteen-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman’s baby named Maisie Roxanne. Just the headline alone makes you wonder, “How in the world did these kids get themselves in such a situation?
In America, we like to keep an eye on our teen pregnancy rate and make sure it stays low. If this kind of event persists in the United Kingdom, I would say that they should keep an eye on their tween pregnancy rate as well. I mean, just looking at the face of the father puts you in a shocked state. How can he father a child when he is a child himself? The boy looks like he’s still eight years old with his baby face!
Also, in a video of father Alfie holding Maisie, an interviewer asks the new parents a few questions. Surprisingly, the young couple didn’t seem scared at all, but this is probably because they don’t realize how big of a pickle they got themselves in. During the interview, Alfie is asked what he will do financially about the situation since his income was probably limited to his allowance. “What’s ‘financially?’” was his response. After rewording the question, Alfie tells the camera that sometimes he gets pocket money as allowance but most of the money will probably come from his parents.
When most people decide to have a baby, whether conception was planned or not, they think about what the future of the baby would be, how happy the baby would be, and how the baby would impact their lives. But I suppose I shouldn’t expect too much out of this couple and the fact that they’re still children themselves. This makes me think, where are the parents of these children?
Class Blog - English 3, Section 19
13 year old... father?
