Teachers TV: Teenage Dads

Following three young fathers in Sunderland, this programme looks at what is being done to help teenage fathers, often ignored in the issue of teenage pregnancy.

When debating the issue of how to reduce the high levels of teenage pregnancy in Britain the traditional focus has always been on young women. While much has been done in recent years in schools to make sure that teenage mothers get the right support at the earliest opportunity, little has been done to tackle the issue of teenage fathers. This may be put down to the fact that school aged fathers are almost invisible as a group, unlike their female counterparts, but the fact remains that we don’t even know how many teenage fathers there are in this country. Society often regards teenage fathers as feckless individuals who get the girl pregnant and then leave them literally holding the baby. Yet all the evidence shows that when young fathers are offered reliable and sympathetic support, the impact on them, their children and their families can be profound. We met three young fathers in Sunderland to find out about their lives. Who are these invisible young men?