Let the sad tale of 15-year-old new mom Chantelle Steadman be a cautionary one for all those parents who look at their little cherubs and forget that they have the equipment and it works! writes Charlie Cashdan.

Society still sees young people as children until at least 16 and in fact the Government now forces everyone to stay in education until 18, but nature does not discriminate along the same lines.

As far as nature is concerned, a girl can conceive and deliver a child from as soon as menstruation starts which for me and most of my friends happened from about 11.

Therefore, all those dads who think its fine for their sons to sow their wild oats; beware!  Sometimes you have to reap what you have sown.

And all those mothers who think its fine, as in Chantelle’s case, to let boys stay over are breathtakingly naive.

Also naive are the lads who think that just because a girl says she’s on the pill, nine months later a baby won’t appear.

Chantelle was on the pill but had forgotten to take it, can you honestly trust a 15-year-old to take a pill every single night and to remember that if they miss one or are sick they must be ‘extra careful’ for 7 days?  Should doctors really prescribe it to girls so very young?

Now two more boys have come forward in addition to the 13-year-old originally believed to be the father, claiming to be the daddy.  Their tales of how this could have happened are quite shocking.

Sixteen-year-old Richard said that Chantelle’s parents regularly let him sleep over with her.  The other lad claims he didn’t really fancy Chantelle but she made the moves on him one day when she was off school looking after her younger brother and cleaning the house.

Chantelle comes across as quite predatory, and clearly beyond her years.  Girls just mature so very quickly, taking responsibilities in the home, looking after younger siblings (there were so many girls at my school who got siblings ready every morning, took them to school and cooked their tea at night ) not going to school regularly and having boyfriends stay over.  It’s like they live adult lives already so having babies doesn’t scare them, it’s just one more to add to the brood.

Where were the parents in all this?  Why was she off school cleaning and looking after her brother?  Why on earth did her parents let boys sleep over?  Why are we so afraid to teach abstinence?  Where were the boys’ fathers while all this was going on, patting them on the back saying ‘nice one son’?

Sex under 16 is illegal, why have so many parents chosen to ignore this and actually facilitate law breaking in their own children?  And why is no-one being prosecuted, is there any point in having a law if no-one is going to uphold it?