Morning Sentinal Waterville Maine

On January 9th 2010 this "letter" was sent into the paper:
 January 9

Paper shouldn't honor kids having year's first baby

The newspaper should be ashamed of itself for the publication of a New Year's birth that took place in Waterville to parents who are only 15 and 16 years of age.
This publicity does not set a good tone and certainly takes away from the efforts of parents who properly teach their children what they should not be doing at a young age.
By publishing this article, teenagers have conflicting messages: It seems to be OK to have kids at a young age even when their parents tell them it is not.
The article also stated how excited the staff at the hospital was about the birth.
Articles like this should not be published, period. Big deal, it was New Year's Day, and a baby was born in the area.
I suspect that now three kids will be joining the assistance our tax dollars pay for. Hardworking Mainers get told they are $13 over the limit, for example, and get no assistance; but it seems nowadays, failing sex education or having poorly educated parents is the way to get assistance from our tax dollars. Honest working people don't.
The newspaper should cease its activity of publishing "holiday births." I had respect for your paper over the years but lost it when you choose to make teen pregnancy front-page news.
Randy Newcombe
Corinth
I was shocked to read something like this but not surprised. Some would agree that this is true- while others would think the spoken words rather harsh. Personally, I've never met these kids and I don't know their story. Are they too young? Yes. Will they receive State assistance? Probably.
I grew-up in a small town in Maine; when I left in 1989 some of the towns already had third and forth generation welfare. Unfortunately...