Rascals
Is it because I am getting older, I wonder, that rascals seem to be getting younger?
From careful observations made at school, the children begin to display signs of rascality in year 5 - that is, when they are about ten years old. The signs include: eye rolling: insolent silence when spoken to; occupying all of the pavement as part of a group of like-minded children when someone's trying to walk past; sitting sulkily in the park, alone, occasionally screaming, "bitch!" to girls of their acquaintance who happen to pass by.
It is my belief that most of these offensive characteristics are born of a frustration on the part of the child. The child is desperate for attention from her parents. It seems to me that a lot of the children's bad behaviour is motivated by a need for attention and an anger that they are not getting it from their parents.
Children often don't get the attention they need and deserve from their parents because their parents are too busy to give it. Parents are too busy because they work such long hours. Often both parents work full time, and when they come in from work they have all their domestic chores to do. Often families do not eat together because of time pressures. Family conversations do not take place.
The Government seems to want to exacerbate the problem, with pre-school and after-school clubs where children are merely child-minded, and not given individual attention. What the Government ought to do, in my opinion, is to ensure that people are paid enough to enable families to just have one person going out to work, and one person to look after children and home. Rent/mortgates are too expensive - especially here in the south.
If people had more relaxed lifestyles and ate proper meals together, there would be less obseity, stress, unhappiness and many of those other negatives, for all family members. We would have a better society.
What do you think?
From careful observations made at school, the children begin to display signs of rascality in year 5 - that is, when they are about ten years old. The signs include: eye rolling: insolent silence when spoken to; occupying all of the pavement as part of a group of like-minded children when someone's trying to walk past; sitting sulkily in the park, alone, occasionally screaming, "bitch!" to girls of their acquaintance who happen to pass by.
It is my belief that most of these offensive characteristics are born of a frustration on the part of the child. The child is desperate for attention from her parents. It seems to me that a lot of the children's bad behaviour is motivated by a need for attention and an anger that they are not getting it from their parents.
Children often don't get the attention they need and deserve from their parents because their parents are too busy to give it. Parents are too busy because they work such long hours. Often both parents work full time, and when they come in from work they have all their domestic chores to do. Often families do not eat together because of time pressures. Family conversations do not take place.
The Government seems to want to exacerbate the problem, with pre-school and after-school clubs where children are merely child-minded, and not given individual attention. What the Government ought to do, in my opinion, is to ensure that people are paid enough to enable families to just have one person going out to work, and one person to look after children and home. Rent/mortgates are too expensive - especially here in the south.
If people had more relaxed lifestyles and ate proper meals together, there would be less obseity, stress, unhappiness and many of those other negatives, for all family members. We would have a better society.
What do you think?
posted by Irene Adler @ 7:23 pm
1 Comments:
At 16 July, 2005 22:26,
Nick said…
Irene - I can't comment from any personal experience of small children, but I can confirm that MPs, Regius Professors & Bishops of the Church of England are all certainly getting younger. Clearly their anti-social tendencies should be discouraged too . .
Post a Comment
<< Home