British school marries off minors

LONDON - A primary school in Britain married off a five-year-old girl and six-year-old boy to help them improve their vocabulary by writing about their first-hand experience.

The bizarre marriage took place in the local parish church in Worcester, with a vicar, registrar and parents watching on in pride, The Sun reported Friday.

A Mercedes car took pupils Callie Geary, five, and Gethyn Fox, six, to the St Wulstan’s Church. After the wedding, the children enjoyed a full reception, complete with speeches and cake.

Their teachers had also taken them and the rest of the Year One class of the Warndon Primary School on a stag and hen night.

The school said it had been set up to encourage writing skills among the children.

School deputy head Sarah Allen said: “Year One staff came up with idea for the wedding theme. We’re a bit mad.”

“The idea was that children will be able to write about their experiences, so having the wedding was perfect. They had to plan everything and then experience it as well,” Allen said.

“The children have been learning about everything from invitations to how to book a honeymoon,” she said.

Critics have called the concept bizarre and crazy.

Nick Seaton, chairman for the Campaign For Real Education, said: “Children need to be taught to improve their writing - the way to do that should be through learning grammar, spelling and through reading.”

Stephen Green, spokesman for Christian Voice, said he thought the whole idea was completely wrong. “Marriage is for grown-ups and this is a worrying idea to have this wedding for kids in these days when we seem to have the increasing sexualisation of our children.”