A 12-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy have become Britain’s youngest parents, in a case described as “symptomatic of a society that has lost its moral compass.”
According to The Sun newspaper the girl, who has not been named, was primary school-aged when she conceived.
She lives with her mother, who has become one of the U.K.’s youngest grandmothers at 27, in London. The pair reportedly posted a picture of themselves and the baby online.
Speaking to radio station LBC, a man claiming to be the girl’s father said while he was “proud” of her, he would not allow the situation to happen again with his other children.
But he told presenter Nick Ferrari: “If they do things behind their parents’ back that’s something we’re never going to be able to find out.”
The man, who LBC called Greg, described the situation as “heartbreaking,” and said, “It’s not the ideal situation; we will be keeping an eye on things in the future.”
He also commented: “That little girl does not bring shame to me at all, I’m so proud of her.”
Responding to the story, Director of Family Education Trust Norman Wells said, “children having children is one of the bitter consequences of a highly sexualized society.”
He said that a shift in attitudes was needed, and not more sex education, saying teaching the subject at an early age “runs the risk of breaking down children’s natural sense of reserve.”
“Unless we begin to challenge the common perception of sexual intimacy as a casual recreational activity, we shall continue to see cases of children giving birth to children as the cycle continues from generation to generation.”
Wells noted that restraints aimed at curbing underage sexual activity had been removed in recent years.
Now, he said: “It is time to reverse these trends and restore the restraints.”
“We need to encourage an understanding of sexual intimacy that recognizes it as an expression of giving, not getting; of love, not lust”, Wells commented.
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