Distraught and dangerous

Straight from the horse's mouth;

Whangarei-Kaipara area commander Inspector Paul Dimery said that while teenage drinking, underage driving and underage pregnancy were common, the girl's combination of all three had come as a shock.

The girl's high breath-alcohol reading was also disturbing.

"That is exceptionally high for an adult. For a 14-year-old it's quite astounding. For a pregnant 14-year-old, it's almost disgusting," he said. "What's the expected outcome for that child? You've got children having children. They have no understanding of the harm that they're causing their unborn child."

The chances are very, very high that this 14 year-old was a child born in similar circumstances. To a young mother who drank and smoked through her pregnancy.

Somebody has failed absolutely abysmally to let this girl have a safe and secure childhood. Isn't that exactly what the DPB was meant for? To provide an unsupported mother with an income that enabled her to be a at-home parent and create a secure, stable environment for her children. And some did. This one's didn't.

Yes. I am making assumptions. But does it matter? Here's the typical picture. She'll be from a multi-generational welfare dependent family (using the word 'family' generously). She could be pregnant to a family member or her mother's current hanger-on. She is deeply, deeply distraught and dangerous. She is certainly a danger to herself and her unborn child. That's the reality.

The DPB is the financial backbone of the communities that produce "children having children". It is the enabler. The 'domestic purposes' benefit no longer evokes images of motherhood and apple pie. DPB and dysfunction have become almost synonymous.