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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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He's just a baby but call him Dad
Source: Agencies |
February 16, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HE'S 13. He scarcely looks 10. And, according to a British tabloid, he's a father.
Baby-faced and only 1.22 meters tall, Alfie, was 12 when he impregnated Chantelle, now 15, The Sun reported.
Asked what he would do to support the child financially, Alfie asked in a high-pitched voice, "What's financially?"
Police and child services in Eastbourne, about 110 kilometers southeast of London, said in a statement they were "aware of a 14-year-old girl that had become pregnant as the result of a relationship with a 12-year-old boy," and they were offering them support.
Alfie's front-page picture has sparked renewed debate about teen pregnancy in the UK. The country has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe. It had 27 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 between 2000 and 2005, according to a report published by Population Action International.
Comparable figures are 10 per 1,000 for Spain and 5 in 1,000 for the Netherlands.
Britain's teen pregnancy rate, however, is still far below that of the United States, which registers 44 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19.
But the country's reputation as Europe's teen pregnancy capital is embarrassing.
In 1999 then-prime minister Tony Blair described Britain's record on pregnancies as shameful. The government poured millions of pounds into advertising and educational campaigns.
Brook, a UK group that provides sexual health advice to people under 25, said teen pregnancies had fallen by about 12 percent since 1998 but more had to be done.
Alfie's father, Dennis - who reportedly has nine children - said he will give Alfie "the birds and bees talk.Some may say it's too late but he needs to understand so there is not another baby."
Baby-faced and only 1.22 meters tall, Alfie, was 12 when he impregnated Chantelle, now 15, The Sun reported.
Asked what he would do to support the child financially, Alfie asked in a high-pitched voice, "What's financially?"
Police and child services in Eastbourne, about 110 kilometers southeast of London, said in a statement they were "aware of a 14-year-old girl that had become pregnant as the result of a relationship with a 12-year-old boy," and they were offering them support.
Alfie's front-page picture has sparked renewed debate about teen pregnancy in the UK. The country has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe. It had 27 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 between 2000 and 2005, according to a report published by Population Action International.
Comparable figures are 10 per 1,000 for Spain and 5 in 1,000 for the Netherlands.
Britain's teen pregnancy rate, however, is still far below that of the United States, which registers 44 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19.
But the country's reputation as Europe's teen pregnancy capital is embarrassing.
In 1999 then-prime minister Tony Blair described Britain's record on pregnancies as shameful. The government poured millions of pounds into advertising and educational campaigns.
Brook, a UK group that provides sexual health advice to people under 25, said teen pregnancies had fallen by about 12 percent since 1998 but more had to be done.
Alfie's father, Dennis - who reportedly has nine children - said he will give Alfie "the birds and bees talk.Some may say it's too late but he needs to understand so there is not another baby."
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