WHILE Councillor Bob Burgess may have chosen his words unwisely by calling children “feral”, he does highlight a problem that is now deep-seated in our society.
An article in my local paper, the Fife Herald, last week highlighted the violence in Fife schools. The violence is perpetrated against teachers by pupils and parents. A lengthy article in another newspaper highlighted the mental health issues being faced by so many young people. In addition, we frequently find examples, across the United Kingdom, of young people carrying knives and being involved in assault and murder. While these incidents are being recorded individually, I wonder if I am the only one seeing a very glaring connection.
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Over the past 60 years, standards of discipline in homes and schools have deteriorated. Young people have rights, and they must be respected. The problem is, are they taught to respect the rights of others? If modern young parents had been raised with a clear understanding of right and wrong, would they now be prepared to go into schools and assault teachers? The example they are showing is that assaulting teachers is okay, and so the children, unsurprisingly, follow their parent’s example.
I wonder how many of the parents and pupils were charged with assault, or are teachers just fair game? It is not a big jump to go from abusing teachers to treating doctors, nurses, shop assistants or hotel workers with the same contempt. Yet while others have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to such behaviour, that seems not to be the case in schools.
Part of the whole pattern is the mental health issues experienced by the young. If their parents do not set the standards expected in the home, school and society, the child is left rudderless. Many are constantly being told they are wonderful, clever, achieving so much, when clearly that is not the case – and they know it.
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Choice is at the centre of it all. “What would you like for breakfast, dear?” instead of, “This is your breakfast” – no choice. There is an endless string of choices for the child and no security by having the guidance to choose what is right. Classmates have more influence on a child’s behaviour than the parents. Is it any wonder the young are confused, angry and out of control – suffering health issues?
Human rights are a good idea, but human responsibility is much more important. We each have a responsibility to one another, and it is essential that our children learn that at a very early age. The old adage of “spare the rod and spoil the child” may be a terribly out-of-date concept in modern minds, even horrific that any parent might smack their child. Yet I would argue that raising our children to lack a moral compass, to be violent and vicious to others, is a far greater act of cruelty than giving a child a sore bottom when they refuse to comply with the reasonable standards of good parental and school authority. The argument against corporal punishment is that it taught children to be violent. There are many more examples of violence amongst the young today than there were 60 years ago!
At the bottom of it all is the question, “Do we love our children or do we not?” If we love them, we want what is best for them and the society in which they live. Give them security. Teach them right from wrong. Parents, take your responsibilities seriously and raise your children properly. You are in charge, not them. They cannot raise themselves!
Angus H Shaw
via email
FRIDAY night saw me on the weekly shopping trip to a well-known supermarket. Last on my shopping list was my regular purchase of two bottles of their 4.5% own-brand cider. Last week they cost a total of £2.56. This week they cost £3.34. The extra 78p goes straight into the German-owned supermarket’s already considerable profits. If I buy two bottles of cider every week for a year, the supermarket will gain £40.56 in extra profit and I will be £40.56 poorer thanks to my very own SNP government.
The extra 78p could have bought me a fairly decent 62p can of the supermarket’s own-brand soup with 16p still left in change. The elderly man in front of me at the checkout was very less than happy at the increased cost of his single bottle of wine. I have to ask five very obvious questions:
Will minimum unit pricing save a single life of a long-term heavy drinker?
Will they not simply buy less food?
How will this help those on low incomes?
Why is my government helping to fill the already bulging coffers of the supermarkets?
How will this get us independence any sooner?
Answers on post card to Neil Gray MSP (salary £126,452) and John Swinney MSP (salary £176,780) c/o Bute House, 5 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4DR.
Brian Lawson
Paisley
THE announcement of the investment in carbon capture for north-west and north-east England, ignoring Scotland, comes as no surprise. When Peterhead and Mossmorran were suggested some years back they were denied the opportunity to demonstrate their validity. Giving England the investment amid the closure of Grangemouth just confirms that Sir Child Starver is one of the tools his dad made.
R Pitcairn
Kirkcudbright
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