-
Posts
-
If ever something wasn’t fully thought through…in order to protect our children we actually put them at risk. Caution gone mad!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6898212.ece
An Obituary printed in the London Times
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason…
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A VictimNot many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone..
If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing
Someone made a comment on the Times article on this. They said that the mother was equally to blame in this instance, and I agree!
She was unable to collect her son from this club as she’d been delayed at work. Another parent, who knew the child had offered to take him home, but the jobsworth club worker didn’t allow it, but left the child to walk the considerable distance home along unlit country lanes. Nevertheless, is the mother so caught up in her job that she can’t make alternative arrangements for her 12 year old? :roll: So, despite there being a seemingly lack of common sense, his mother is the one ultimately to blame for her sons situation.
OK, there is a point here – but how about we look at it from a slightly different angle.
The youth club worker – in spite of being told very very clearly that they must NOT transport children in their care alone in their cars – decides th break the strict rules of their engagement and does so. The organisers of the club subsequently discover this – the worker is immediately dismissed. Jenni Russel (the Times columnist) would be leading the charge to hang draw and quarter the worker.
ALL those in charge of other people’s children are specifically warned NOT to transport them in their own cars at all …. at any time ….. ever!
The child being transported (falsely?) alleges some sort of ‘innappropriate conduct’on the journey home – same story, sack the worker, report it to the Police and good old Jenni Russell can write another column about paedophiles masquerading as youth workers.
ALL those in charge of other people’s children are repeatedly warned NOT to put themselves in a position where (unfounded) allegations could be made against them and to which they would have absolutely no defence.
How about letting the father of another child take the abandoned one home? There’s plenty of meat here for Jenni Russell to chew ovewr in her quest for a Pulitzer prize for campaigning journalism – centred no doubt on the huge risks of ‘stranger danger’ and releasing a child into the care of someone not authorised by the parent to have the child in their care.
ALL those in charge of other people’s children are specifically and expressly told NOT to release the child into another person’s care under ANY circumstances, unless they have clear authority from the parent to do so.
Sorry but the person 100% to blame for this situation is the child’s mother. SHE has the responsibility for collecting her child; SHE has the responsibility for making alternative arrangements in case of delay or illness etc; SHE is the person who didn’t turn up (even late) to collect her child and thus Jenni Russell should save her smug comments about child care and maybe direct them at the mother.
BTW: Most clubs including after school clubs agree a secret ‘password’ between themselves, the parents and their child. Only if this particular password is used can a third party collect a child as it signifies that the parent has genuinely agreed that their child can be released to somebody else.
He was 12, i’m pretty sure i was more than a mile or so from my parents house when i was 12. Has the world changed that much
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.
…you mean “His/her health began to deteriorate……”, surely! :lol:
ALL those in charge of other people’s children are specifically warned NOT to transport them in their own cars at all …. at any time ….. ever!
The biggest risk to children travelling in other peoples’ cars is not that of being molested, but that of being involved in a road accident, yet nobody seems to think of that.
@pete wrote:
He was 12, i’m pretty sure i was more than a mile or so from my parents house when i was 12. Has the world changed that much
Sadly Pete yes. I remember as a 7 year old walking with my brother to and from school, on our own, which I suppose was around half a mile or so. Summer, winter, we were fine. I’m now 62, ok so not a child but wouldn’t dream of walking anywhere now after dark, much less the east end, where I grew up.
Anyway PB is right, as I said too, the person untimately to blame for this is the boys mother. :evil:
Pete, when my son was 13 (he was actually about a month from his 14th b’day) him and a couple of other freinds went after school, to another boys house, who lived in Rush Green. At that time we lived in Dagenham, so a bus ride away. I gave him his bus fare and told him to be home at 9.30. It went past 9.30 and was getting closer to 10pm and I was getting annoyed, as you do, thinking that they’re pushing the boundaries. Just after 10 he came in, looking quite hot and annoyed. He explained that he’d gotten on the bus with his other freind but didn’t have enough fare, the driver told him that after 9 o/c he had to pay full fare, he didn’t have it and was told by the bus driver to leave the bus. An older lady behind him, had offered to pay the extra, he was 20p short, the driver refused and my son had to walk home. He didn’t call me, I wouldn’t have been able to pick him up as I didn’t have a car at the time. I was however, pretty angry. I called the bus company and was told that (at that time) the driver was correct, and although he was school age, it was full fare after 9 o/c. I asked the question about the ‘common sense’ factor here, also the fact that someone else had offered to pay the extra 20p, 20p fgs!! I hardly think stagecoach were going to go bust over 20p!! I was told that it’s down to the drivers discretion at the time. I wasn’t going to get anywhere, I was told I could put my complaint in writing if I so wished but considering the response i’d gotten on the phone I saw very little point. :roll:
@pete wrote:
He was 12, i’m pretty sure i was more than a mile or so from my parents house when i was 12. Has the world changed that much
since you were a child?
I guess you would have had to dodge horse drawn vehicles :D
I think 12 isn’t old enough to have road sense, not for boys anyway. Not sure where I read it, but am sure they did a study and 12 year old boys cannot judge distances and speed of oncoming traffic properly. There are loads more cars on the roads now, and in the dark, well a mile can seem a long long way when you are scared!
I was 12 and i never got hit I walked to school myself 1/2 mile there and half mile back when at junior school i.e 8-11.
did they have school when you was likkle Pete? :lol:
I walked a few miles to school was suppose to walk with my brothers but they were always horrible to me so ran off :lol: and I was a latchkey kid 8)
Get involved in this discussion! Log in or register now to have your say!