CHILDREN OF THE WORLD? Saturday, Jul 28 2007

A new study has advised that children in the UK will sit in front of a TV or computer screen for 7 hours a day when not at school. Dairy Farmers of Britain carried out the survey to show how our young are becoming disconnected from ‘outdoors.’
There are many reasons for this, other than technology. ‘Outside’ is now viewed as far more dangerous than it really is by parents and authorities. After all, killers stalk ‘out there’, and heaven forbid the poor mite may have an accident.

Socialisation

We are all to blame for this state of affairs, so it is no good just blaming the child. Yes, of course they will be happy with this slothful life. However, there is a greater danger to all this that is usually ignored.
A child grows up to be a sociable adult through close contact with his peers and society. This important educational process is now being eroded, leaving children with a new means of contact.

Hi-tech

Through hi-tech, the new friends are often distant, and full socialization does not take place. A friend is a brief image on a screen, a few words in text. Can full socialization be taught in such a way?
And yet another problem is that friends are no longer local but global. In one way this is good, the child having access throughout the planet. But is it possible to truly understand yourself if no sense of your place enters your world?

© Anthony North, July 2007

Have you clicked Diary of a Writer on Blogroll? Meet me, up close and personal.
Click Tony On, on Blogroll, for my current affairs blog.
If you like fiction, click Fiction Page on Blogroll for my short stories.

No Responses »

 

WHO’S THE DADDY Monday, May 28 2007

TV supernannies and other parenting experts are undermining parenting. So says sociologist Professor Frank Furedi of Kent University. And I can only agree. As a parent I have brought up children in my own way, which is quite often different from others.
Child rearing is not an exact science. There are as many ways to bring them up as there are experts to tell you how to. The only difference is that parents are on the front line, whereas experts spout off their diatribe and politics from their ivory towers.
The result is that, first, constant interference undermines the confidence of the young parent, and second, conflicting ideas degrade the effectiveness of their parenting skills. But the problem goes much deeper than simply interfering parenting experts.
From increased regulation of child care centres to behavioural teaching in schools, the State is moving inexorably towards the centre of family life. In Britain, New Labour and liberal do-gooders want nothing more than to colonise the family and make it their own.
The result is that the family, as a separate unit from the State, is under threat. Control and condition is the order of the political day. Like a machine the State is now determined to regulate everything, turning out young adults who will be compliant to the system, and consumer fodder for the globalised world they support.
I can only say I am glad I am not a parent of young children today.

© Anthony North, May 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs posts
Society Page

No Responses »

 

CHILD POVERTY OR SELFISH IRRESPONSIBILITY? Wednesday, Apr 11 2007

Labour has failed UK children. But the news that there are 100,000 more children below the poverty line is not the failure it appears to be. The problem with ‘poverty lines’ is that they can be constantly re-invented.
Poverty, in the modern, western sense, is a concept where standards are defined by a norm. If a child’s lifestyle is below the norm, then the tag of ‘poverty’ is applied. But when the norm includes colour TVs, ipods and £100 trainers it is an insult to real poverty to call it as such.
Child poverty in the UK is more to do with the choices made by parents. Today, the wants of the parent are usually placed alongside, if not above, the wants of the child. Lower income may well not be able to fund both these things. So often the choice is the child goes without. But can we really call this poverty?

© Anthony North, April 2007

FIVE A DAY MIGHT NOT WORK - It’s been hammered home. Eat five portions of fruit and veg a day for maximum health benefits. But now scientists say fatty foods can stop the effects. Hang on a minute. Let’s see if this is real science. Is there a bias in the research?
… read more …

No Responses »

 

SOCIETY - PREMATURE MOTHERS Friday, Mar 2 2007

Mothers with young children in the UK are being forced back to work prematurely due to money pressures. The finding, from BBC2’s The Money Programme, shows a family life decimated by financial pressures.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Wealth creation was supposed to be about the ability to choose. Feminism guaranteed work for women as a means to emancipation. How did it all go so wrong?
I find it interesting that house prices always seem to be at just the right level to be just out of an average family’s reach. Hence, they strive to bridge the gap and find themselves a secure home. But this is cynicism of the first order.
When the average family had one breadwinner, houses were cheaper, now that there are often two, house prices rocket. Why do I get the feeling that those in control of the economy loved the idea of feminism because it meant they would make a mint?

© Anthony North, March 2007

Find more news and comment on my NewsFlash
See Beyond the Blog (News page) for my latest posts elsewhere

No Responses »