The case of the 13-year old boy and 15-year old girl becoming parents has drawn a lot of attention. Considering how young these children are and the enormity of their situation, the attention can only harm them. After all, they are probably hearing about how naive and immature they are. They are very impressionable still and the impression they are getting is not very positive.

Both have stated that they want to be responsible and good parents. That’s good to hear, but they will need some good role models and not people pointing fingers at what’s wrong with everything around them. They may not yet understand the situation fully, but it will come down on them quite hard in the coming few days, not to mention the years ahead. They will be forced to mature in a very short time.

It is unfortunate that such a thing has happened, but it is not the first time and will probably not be the last. Instead of pointing the finger of blame, everyone should start working together towards finding a solution to the growing problem of teenage pregnancy. Perhaps, there is not enough sex education in school and/or home. Perhaps, the sex education is not directed in the right way. I do not know what is being taught in schools these days with respect to sex education, but not every child is understanding it, or having understood it, the child is not willing to take responsible action. Because everyone matures at different times, it will be difficult to present something as sensitive as sex education to all at the same age and expect that they will receive it with the right attitude and understanding. There will never be an end to the debate on sex education.

Also unfortunate is that adding more to social education means that traditional school subjects may be ignored. We are already having issues with the educational system as it is. With finances stretched so thin in the government, it would be difficult to expect that any more social programs will be formed or expanded.

But are we overreacting to this singular episode? This case highlights deficiencies in many areas. Can we really put the blame on anyone? Or, can we change any one area such that the outcome would have been altered? Each circumstance is different. This is a sad case of two adolescents fooling around, experimenting with something they were unfamiliar with. They were unprepared for the consequences. For the moment, all we can do is tackle one problem at a time and not make generalisations based on one case.