ALFIE Patten's story has sparked a heated debate in the UK over whether the government is doing enough when it comes to sex education for the young.

Mr Iain Duncan Smith, a senior lawmaker and ex-Conservative leader, said someone needed to speak out about the breakdown of the family in Britain, reported AFP.

'Too many dysfunctional families in Britain today have children growing up where anything goes,' he said.

'It exemplifies the point we have been making about broken Britain. It's not being accusative; it's about pointing out the complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what's right and wrong.

'There is no opprobrium (criticism) any more about behaviour and quite often children witness behaviour that's aggressive, violent, rude and sexual. It's as if no one is saying this is wrong.'

Higher aspirations

The government has launched a strategy to reduce teenage pregnancy in England, which has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in western Europe. Government figures show that about 39,000 girls under age 18 became pregnant in 2006. More than 7,000 of those girls were younger than 16.

Advisers say the level is falling but have called for more accessible contraceptives and more sex education in schools in areas which are falling behind.

Such efforts were praised by Mr Tony Kerridge, a spokesman for Marie Stopes International, which runs sexual health clinics in 40 countries worldwide.

But he added that many young people in Britain needed to be encouraged to have higher aspirations.

'We have got the social aspect of young girls in the UK seeing having a baby as a route to getting their own place,' he said.

'It may seem like a short-term solution to problems at home, but the mid- to long-term prospects are probably a life stuck on benefits.

'We should, as a society, be encouraging our young people to have much bigger and better aspirations than that.'

Ms Linda Blair, a child psychologist at Bath University, added that society has moved ahead much faster technologically than morally and 'we need to slow down'.

'We have to teach kids more about relationships. It's a pity we have to do this, but in modern Britain, the truth is we just don't live in strong family units any more.'

That's why Mr Smith is pushing for a policy of early intervention to break the cycle of dysfunctional families so that children have a smaller chance of ending up as misfits.

He said: 'We are convinced that it is cheaper and more sensible to tackle problems before they begin, rather than spend ever greater sums on ineffective remedial policies, whether they take the form of more prisons, police, drug rehabilitation or supporting longer and more costly lifetimes on benefits.'

Police could have brought a prosecution for underage sex in Alfie's case because the age of consent in Britain is 16, but they say they will not press charges.

While it remains to be seen if Alfie and girlfriend Chantelle Steadman can bring up Maisie on their own because of their youth, others have done it before.

The Independent reported that Mr James Sutton, who became Britain's youngest father of twins in 1999 when he was 13, is now doing well enough that he's had another child with his girlfriend, Ms Sarah Drinkwater, who was 16 when she conceived the twins.

When Mr Sutton's case was made public, the press predicted a bleak future for the couple.

But after 10 years, Mr Sutton, who is from Manchester, is an able father of twins Leah and Louise, and a third daughter, Ellie.

After working full-time, Mr Sutton saved enough money to buy their own ??pounds;100,000 ($217,000) home.

He also helped look after the children while his wife went through university.

In a 2007 interview, he said: 'If I could do it again, I'd have waited until I was in my 20s because I missed out on my own childhood.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.