……Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.

Ain’t that the truth? The youngsters who are running amok about our streets and parks, were, perhaps, not given the advantage of  learning good habits at a young age. I’m not saying that all bad kids come from bad homes, sometimes quite the opposite, but if we are to generalise, then yes, the lack of good parenting is considered to be the root of the current problems. It is so sad that by sparing the rod, we are spoiling the child. I do not advocate brutality against children, but we have to find a middle ground  - a punishment that will be a deterrent.

 ……for letting their child try alcohol at home under proposals being considered by ministers. Currently children as young as five can drink at home with parental supervision but a Government review is looking at raising that limit. The Youth Alcohol Action Plan, which aims to curb binge-drinking among teenagers, could also lead to a 9pm watershed for alcohol advertising.

How insane is it to give children as young as five the taste for alcohol? No wonder there is such a monstrous problem with under-age drinking!! These problems start in the home, the place where children should be at their safest. Some parents are creating a store of trouble for their children. Time to educate the parents?

…..like it is and very sad reading it makes, too!

Over 30,000 children excluded for drink and drugs - Clegg 

New Liberal Democrat analysis shows that Britain’s binge drinking culture is leaving young people excluded from education and suffering more mental and behavioural disorders.

The figures, which come on the eve of the Government’s Youth Alcohol Strategy, provide further evidence that ministers have failed to tackle spiralling binge drinking among young people:

• In the last three years, over 1,500 pupils were permanently excluded and nearly 32,000 pupils were temporarily excluded for drug/alcohol reasons.
• Over a quarter more under 14’s were admitted to hospital with mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in the last eight years.
• Over 23,000 children under the age of 14 have been admitted to hospital due to alcohol in the last eight years.

………..are moving on apace and we have a veritable cornucopia of stalls and activities booked for the entertainment of children and adults. We are all ‘mucking in’ with the loan of tents, gazebos, tables and chairs. We have people making jams and cakes, others making dressing up clothes for the children, Ludborough Centre  Sewing Circle are making bunting  and one member’s loft above her garage is positively groaning under the strain of all the goodies for the tombola stall! I hope it holds up under the strain until August 23rd, the date of the Carnival. Full details of the Carnival will be in the Woodhouse Warbler andChad.

I am also going to be helping at the Warsop Carnival, in July where Navi Saheli Luncheon Club are having a promotional stall - as a member of the Asian Women’s Group, I shall be giving out flyers and offering food tasters. I am very lucky to be the first non-Asian member of this group; all the ladies are very warm and welcoming and I am learning a littl Hindi as I go along - all the meetings are conducted in English and ‘Mother tongue’. I firmly believe in keeping their language alive, pretty much in the same way that ex-pats in Spain keep the English language alive.

………….down in the mouth. I despair for the future of this beautiful planet, when four newly ‘in leaf’ trees in our park are ripped down or torn apart by brainless, moronic youths in the early hours of this morning, when they should have been at home. Where are the parents during all this illegal activity? I am not just picking on the kids - there were witnesses to their foul deed.

Kids are taught at school that trees are the life-blood of the planet and still they take pleasure in tearing down young trees that , apart from being things of beauty to gladden any eye, but would go some way towards giving oxygen to the world in years to come.

I guess we can’t hold out much hope for youngsters when so-called adults cause the drink-fuelled fracas that occurred on London Underground, on the last day of permitted drinking of alcohol on trains. Kids go on to the park with bottles and cans of booze and we all know that when alcohol hits the brain of a youngster, all sense goes out of their ears!!!!

There, I feel better for that! I just hope that some of them were caught. Watch this space; I shall let you know..

….magazine; is this one of the few magazines that increase their prices solely in line with inflation? This magazine is well worth its price and is the one magazine I buy, aside from Radio Times.

The Big Issue is an international entity that works with homeless people all over the world, from the United Kingdom to Africa, Asia and Australia. At the centre of their work is The Big Issue magazine, an award- winning entertainment and current affairs magazine, that is produced by professional journalists and sold on the streets by homeless people. In the UK, they buy the magazine for 70 pence and sell it on for £1.50, keeping 80 pence for themselves.

Not only does beginning to sell the magazine provide an opportunity to access the services of The Big Issue Foundation, but also the act of having to organise themselves and their money, as well as committing to a sales pitch, teaches new skills and self reliance, which in turn builds self confidence and can be the key to moving on. The Big Issue offers social as well as financial inclusion.

Editorially The Big Issue magazine is committed to giving homeless people a voice in the media and raising difficult issues that are overlooked in the mainstream press. The Big Issue Company also aims to promote itself as a model of how a social business, as opposed to a charity, can be a solution to homelessness and social exclusion.

I remember buying from a particular seller in Lincoln. It was a bitterly cold day and he was dressed in Tee-shirt & jeans. His jacket was covering his dog, sitting on a doorstep beside him. That was why I bought my Big Issue from him. These young people are often living rough due to a change of circumstances or perhaps due to ill-treatment at home, so next time you see a seller, please stop and buy. He or she is working to effect a change in their life and deserve our help.

…a Commodity?

I was horrified to learn today , from The Guardian newspaper, that as many as 400 children have disappeared from care. These are foreign children who were in care around major British ports  and who are thought to have become victims of child trafficking. They are vulnerable to exploitation in prostitution, the drugs trade and domestic servitude.

The Government has rebuffed calls for a system of professional guardians to look after every suspected victim of child trafficking - a crime the United Nations has described as ‘a modern-day slave trade’

Keith Vaz, Labour Chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, which is investigating human trafficking, said he was shocked by these  figures and that a system of guardianship for every child now looked ‘very attractive’

Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, called on the government to drop its opposition and fund a system in which every suspected victim of child trafficking is provided with a guardian who ’specifically looks out for them and ideally speaks their language’

I am definitely in favour of the setting up of this type of system, but let us also ensure that each of our children whether in care or living within a family unit, can enjoy a life free from harm. It seems that we are always hearing about some poor child losing his or her life at the hands of a thug or by the lack of care by agencies responsible for the welfare of children at risk. Things need ‘tightening up’, wouldn’t you agree?

 …is failing;  fining parents has failed to reduce truancy, new research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.  Over 35,000 parents have been fined for condoning their children’s absence in the last three years, whilst truancy has increased by the equivalent of over 2 million school days since 2005.

Commenting on the nationwide truancy problem, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said:

“The Government’s strategy to tackle truancy is failing. Despite prosecuting more parents, the truancy rate in our schools is continuing to rise.

“These figures further highlight how bizarre it is for a Government that can’t even get a decent attendance level for 15-16 year olds to be expecting all young people up to the age of 18 to be in compulsory education.

“Parents need to take responsibility for their children’s behaviour and they have an obligation to ensure they attend school.

“However, a community-wide approach involving parents, police and local welfare officers would be much more effective than the current top-down measures pursued by ministers.”

 I am happy to tell you that the rate of truancy at The Manor School has dropped and attendance figures have improved slightly. The installation of a new system, Truancy Call, has been most useful in helping to combat truancy and alerting school, parents and carers to the absence of pupils. 

 ….. Nick Clegg , yesterday attacked the Government for failing to tackle inequality in childcare and early years education. In a speech to the 4Children conference in central London, Nick called for the nation’s childcare strategy to be focused on quality and equality of access. He also criticised the Government for failing to plan for the effect on education of large numbers of extra pupils who do not speak English as a first language, calling for a greater emphasis on developing good English skills in the pre-school years.

I support Nick’s comments  - with the influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe the strain on local education delivery is becoming more onerous and we need a definitive strategy in order to address this situation.

…..summer, 2008. This year there is to be a Children’s Carnival on Peafield Park and at the meeting today great strides were taken towards making this exciting project a reality. There are to be displays by the Fire Service, Army, Police horses and dog-training. We hope to have a dog show, model railways, animals from White Post Farm, Punch & Judy and oh, so many more attractions. There will be tents for dressing up, face painting, storyteller, a bouncy castle,  refreshments and  more.  The date we have settled on is Saturday, 23rd August. Keep an eye open for more details.