Costa geriatrica no more

According to The News of the World, living here is grim

with appalling parallels to Channel 4 comedy drama show Shameless.The only difference is the total absence of anything remotely funny

Although I have had my experiences over the last few years this is not my perception of the vast majority of people who live around here. It is interesting to see how first one family and then a whole community can become demonised, egged on by the press and a desire to make some fast money at whatever cost. The media and Internet attention on what is essentially a fairly unremarkable story is far more than it deserves. For what it is worth, this is my opinion.

There is no way that I think it is okay for two people that young to become parents but these things have been happening since time immemorial and life has continued.

I doubt there would have been so much fuss if the lad concerned did not look so young.

When it comes to anti-social behaviour having a baby is better than stabbing other young people or setting fire to buildings! (At least it is about life and creation and not death and destruction).

There will always be people that will try to exploit others (including their own children) for their own personal gain.

My experiences of the local social services and police services is that they are quite good and try and work with the local community.

The local community is quite proactive. When the council tried to close the local library people rallied together and established their own community library which is still going strong.

That said there really isn't a great deal for young teenagers to do. In the USA teenagers go to the mall and here they have sex. (Not all, I hasten to add).

Will people still think of this town as Costa Geriatrica? I doubt it!

Now, if , on hearing of this story, the tabloids had looked at the community library, the community centre (opposite the house where they have been camped out) and after interviewing people thought, well, this is quite a nice community but it seems they do have a few problems with bored and lost teenagers...and then maybe, rather than paying out thousands for another exaggerated story, decided to invest the money in a community project, or into something that might prevent these things happening in future..now that would have been a story!