Teenage Marriages on Eastenders - Your Thoughts please

[slater girl]

This is from member claudia on walford webs website

Have you noticed that most couple get married into their 20's and 30's these days, and when teenagers get married in soaps,some of them tend to be teenagers and these young couples do not last long.

Eastenders is showing 18 year-olds, Bradley and Stacey, about to tie the knot in a few months time. OK, I can see where Bradley's a bit old before his time - that's down to his dad having left him; but in reality, someone like Bradley with only 'A' Levels these days wouldn't even get an interview at a City bank, unless it was in a gofer capacity

We had Martin and Sonia marrying right out of the cradle and Ricky and Sam (I think Ricky Butcher had 2 wives before he was 20).

It would be really nice to see someone on the programme, actually GO to university and get some real qualifications (and not playtime ones like Michelle, who never attended classes) got.

When, by the way, does Bradley work? City people are often at their desks at the crack of dawn, and he's always on the Square.

This section by me please

Will we see more teenager couples on the square marry as i can see bradley and stacey ending up like martin and sonia at the end and they end up leaving the show together.

Will we see another martin and sonia if bradley and stacey tie the knot in the teenage years, which will lead to them splitting or stacey getting pregnant and having a baby young as this happened with bianca and ricky and they had liam and sonia and martin had rebecca and i can see the same happening with bradley and stacey with stacey having a child as well as it looks like it is going the same way.

I mean unless max announces the affair at the wedding, stacey could admit to bradders she made a mistake and wants him and this could lead them to get married, unless the reveal is at the best man speech at the wedding that the affair is revealed which means bradley and stacey are already married is all i can tell and stacey is already pregnant when the affair is revealed is the only way that i could see this happening otherwise that bradley and stacey would not tie the knot any otherway i could not see this happening as bradley would need a reason to stay in albert square.

[Chloe O'brien]

My thoughts on why EE has teenage marrigages is that they don't do enough research on their stories. When they cast new members to replace ones who are leaving. Like Bradley and Stacey being the new Sonia and Martin. Its just to get young viewers to watch the programme. They are not thinking of the long-term vision of the show, and its true you never see anyone doing a proper days work as they are always hanging around the square.

[LostVoodoo]

i never understood why Bradley and Stavey couldn't afford to even rent their own place, i know London is expensive, but Bradley has one of the highest paid jobs of all the cast and Stacey is also in full-time employment. Gus somehow affords his flat on a street-sweeper's salary!

i'm hoping Libby will buck the trend for unqualified kids in the next couple of years. Sonia was a good example when she became a nurse because it was quite realistic how she went about it all- but then of course we had to show how different and snooty her college friends were to good-old-salt-of-the-earth Martin the ambition vacuum...

[Katy]

I have wondered that too. I know that the soaps have to keep the cast on the square as otherwise there is not really a point of them being there and yes going to school or college is a bit boring but surely there is an in between if you know what i mean. They don't just have to be one or the other. I alwo think it would be nice if a couple managed toi stay together and show teenagers that marry young can be happy its not always a bad thing.

[Kim]

Bradley will be approaching 20 now, but I still don't see how someone of that age would have got a look in for that job; (I know he told the boss that the woman was going away at Christmas which got him the job, but I don't think anyone of that age would even get an interview for a job like that in real life.) I don't think the job he had when he first arrived in Albert Square was exactly a gofer's role, either.

I see what you mean, Katy. When Bradley took Max's advice and tricked his way into his first promotion, I'm surprised he was even anywhere close. He's seen at times going up to Stacey whilst she's working on the stall, but the amount of times he says he has the day off is unrealistic! Even when he got to drive that Bond car - he was about 18 then, since when would he be told to do that? As for the schools - you see them in uniforms sometimes, and it's as if they are never set any homework. I don't see the harm in having a quick shot of the subject of a conversation if they are at school/work, like Yolande and Denise discussing Libby, for example.

I see the point about them highlighting issues such as teen pregnancy with Stacey's abortion, Demi and Sonia; underage drinking and things with Lucy and Stacey, but they're doing nothing to show that knowing someone for a long time and staying with them is a good thing, with all the broken marriages and affairs.

With an affair with Max behind her, Stacey's marriage to Bradley is hardly going to give a positive message. It doesn't seem as if the opposites attract message that they initally gave through Stacey and Bradley carries much weight in light of recent events, either.