Feeding, nappies... and PlayStation

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE="1"']While I wouldn't go so far as to say I've lost some of my faith in humanity, I'm certainly hoping in the future hunting licences will be issued to cull morons like this before they breed to out of control levels. Idiocracy cannot be allowed become a reality.[/SIZE][/quote]Gavin, you do realize that it's way too late, right? It already[I] is [/I]a reality. =P

[Lady Asphyxia]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE=1]You know as cynical as it sounds, I'll bet young Patten is off somewhere profusely thanking whatever deity he believes in that he wasn't the father in the end. [/SIZE][/quote]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]I wouldn't be that sure. Apart from the reports that he's "devastated", put yourself into his shoes. This 13-year-old thought he made a mistake and did what many, [I]many[/I][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial] [SIZE=2]other men in his situation failed to do: he manned up and took responsibility. He spent, what, three months believing that he had a daughter, helping care for her and bonding with her. He had the faith and trust in his partner to respond with conviction and loyalty as the world questioned her, and at the end of it he has lost both 'his' child and probably a lot of faith in people, too. People may question the morality of a 13 year old having sex, but when it comes down to it, this kid has a lot more courage and will to do what's right than a lot of people, and I can only hope that he hasn't been permanently scarred because of this.

As for the rest of this: what gets me is the actions of the real father, who slept with the girl and then thought she'd 'take care of it' (by getting the morning after pill), and then claiming he didn't even think she was attractive and didn't want to be with her, wishes he'd never met her. And can I point out that 'My son was drunk' (a la the father) does [I]not[/I] absolve him from responsibility, since he was obviously up to the task, and also tends to make you look like a bad parent for allowing a 14 year old to get drunk.

I think it's a sad situation all round, and everyone's been hurt, which is such a shame.
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[ChibiHorsewoman]

[quote name='Lady Asphyxia'][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]I wouldn't be that sure. Apart from the reports that he's "devastated", put yourself into his shoes. This 13-year-old thought he made a mistake and did what many, [I]many[/I][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial] [SIZE=2]other men in his situation failed to do: he manned up and took responsibility. He spent, what, three months believing that he had a daughter, helping care for her and bonding with her. He had the faith and trust in his partner to respond with conviction and loyalty as the world questioned her, and at the end of it he has lost both 'his' child and probably a lot of faith in people, too. People may question the morality of a 13 year old having sex, but when it comes down to it, this kid has a lot more courage and will to do what's right than a lot of people, and I can only hope that he hasn't been permanently scarred because of this.

I think it's a sad situation all round, and everyone's been hurt, which is such a shame.
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[color=#9933ff][font=monotype corsiva][size=4]Agreed Lady Asphyxia. I mean it's hard enough to get some twenty something year olds to own up to their half of an unplanned (or sometimes even planned) child. Seeing that this young (that's defaming the word here) man stood up and did what he thought was right even though the mother obviously made a mistake in not telling him the truth was a bright spot in an otherwise craptastic future.[/color][/font][/size]

[Nathan]

[FONT="Arial"]I was just thinking that's a shame since the kid did try to be responsible and now it has become an even more painful mess. [/FONT]

[Mr. Maul]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][COLOR=DimGray]Am I the only one who finds everything about all of this downright hysterical?











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[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Again cynically I'm going to point out that everything we'd heard about this case up to and including Patten being devastated (and the real father having a BSOD) has come through the media and poor angelic eight-year old looking Patten was never but going to be the perfect father, even more so now considering the child wasn't his. His parents, who were the ones to state the boy's devastation were the same ones who wanted a TV-deal to cover the revelation of the parentage of the baby, so excuse me if I take it with a few million grains of salt.

Of course maybe I'm being too cynical and the lad really is devastated that the baby wasn't his after bonding with her, and if I'm wrong then fair play to the lad for actually stepping up and showing responsibility and it's a shame the baby wasn't his when the real father evidently can't deal with it.[/SIZE]

[Mr. Maul]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1']His parents, who were the ones to state the boy's devastation were the same ones who wanted a TV-deal to cover the revelation of the parentage of the baby, so excuse me if I take it with a few million grains of salt.[/SIZE][/quote]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][COLOR=DimGray]Again, downright [I]hysterical[/I].













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