Great Theodore Dalrymple! Onward and upward with decline and fall in the UK: a 13-year-old boy whose voice hasn't yet changed is now a father. Excerpt:
Alfie, who is just 4ft tall, added: "When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react."I didn't know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it."
Alfie's dad Dennis told how the lad does not really understand the enormity of his situation -- but seemed desperate to be a devoted and responsible father.
He wanted to be the first to hold Maisie after the hospital birth. He tenderly kisses the baby and gives her a bottle.
And Dennis, 45, said: "He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day."
Oh wow, Pater's li'l hero. What do you want, a cookie, you low-expectations-havin' &^%$#(*@!
The Jerry Springerization of Western civilization proceeds apace. Keep this dude away from that Suleyman loon!
(H/T: Chris Rock)
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Good for you, Kathleen!:)
I want to apologize for all my typos in my earlier post.and the bubbling up of a venacular supposedly long-forgotten. I was typing in a white heat of dismay. All these posts intellectually discussing society- then draw our skirts away in horror when presented with a concrete "exhibit A". Without mercy and compassion, there is no depth.
I agree with Dreher to a large extent. I rarely get clients who came from two-parent homes. Two-parent families are possibly the best anti-crime institution on the planet.
I also agree with him that people with kids should not get divorced absent abuse. Even if the parents are loveless toward each other, they can still treat their relationship as a business partnership to raise their kids.
And I also agree that it's a good idea to stigmatize unwed parenting (at least for those legally allowed to marry). We do have to be careful about going too far. We don't want to make a family at risk face even greater risks. And we should never go back to the 1950's where a teenage mother had to disappear and then had no choice but to allow someone else to adopt her baby.
Jill, you don't have to apologize - bless you for your work.
How old is the mother, and if older than the boy, much perhaps even much older, what is being done and/or said about her? If it were an older boy and a younger girl, you bet your buttons he’d be strung up the nearest tree.
According to the news reports I've read, the mother is 15. The report I read said that the police investigated but declined to prosecute, saying that it was "not in anyone's interests".
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/14/boy.baby.dad.england/index.html
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