There are things that are just wrong. No ifs. No buts. They’re just wrong. Sometimes they are global stories with historical resonances. Sometimes they are stories from the town or village next to you that make you stop and go “how could that happen?”.

I came across a story like that this week. The UK edition of The Sun had an ‘exclusive’ on its front page on Wednesday. A 12-year-old girl has become the UK’s youngest mother.

And the father?

In the report I read he is described as “just 13”.

A 12-year-old and a 13-year-old can not be blamed for such behaviour. It is very tempting and part of me does want to scream at them.

As a responsible parent, would I have let the situation get out of control so fast?

These were children. When I was 11, I still believed in Santa. Yes, I had all the latest toys and tried to sneak a view at TV after 8pm but I was still a child. My parents made sure I was.

My friends who have children set out clear rules and boundaries. If I visit them in evenings, the older children may be there to say hello but they go to bed at a reasonable hour without any questioning.

There are rules.

I am sure some readers may say I am writing this from a comfortable middle-class background. This is quite patronising. We are all given free will and we all have a sense of right and wrong. I went to a tough comprehensive and could see all my friend’s families brought them up with this knowledge of right and wrong.

This case may be an exception. I don’t know. If it isn’t and it shows us the type of society that may be developing, then I am very worried as childhood, parenthood and family are all being devalued in a most dangerous way.

Writing this piece has been a challenge. The reality is at least three generations involved in this sorry tale have seemed to have lost any notion that childhood is a special and precious time. Our challenge as a society is to make sure this might be the last time we read such a story.

This may sound airy fairy and I’m sure it is. Language seems to fail as I look for answers. Calling for the de-sexualization of childhood? Yes. Do I think media and pop culture have questions to answer? Yes. Should education be seen as a tool? Of course.

The answers seem so simple. Good parenting is obvious. A supportive community that values childhood and the simple things in life would be another tool in preventing such tragedies. And it is a tragedy. Three children’s lives have been robbed from them. We can never forget that.