I AM disgusted at discussions taking place concerning the subject of teenage pregnancies and the solution that people in authority think will work.

I have lots of friends who are teenage mothers who care for their children very well. Many older mothers who are unfit to have children point the finger at them.

I cannot see how putting teenage pregnant girls and mothers into flats instead of houses solves anything apart from punishing the babies and toddlers, adding more stress to a hard enough situation and basically putting small children at more risk of child abuse.

On the subject of teenagers' parents paying for grandchildren, these are obviously the views of people with money, brought up in ideal families and not views of someone who knows what it is like, trying to survive on benefits.

A lot of teenage parents are brought up themselves by very young parents, often in broken homes, or children's homes.

Many of the girls may have been raped or sexually abused and are too ashamed to tell anyone or just too frightened.

But is punishment really the answer? I don't think so.

AMANDA LOGAN (Mrs), Princess Gardens, Feniscowles, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.