The principal excuse from government spokesmen commenting on the our poor showing in the recent Unicef report on children was that the data was out of date. It’s the excuse they make fro every derogatory report. In this case did they really believe that the public would say, “But, of course, in the last year or so I have noticed how suddenly all the young people look so happy and how they are suddenly so polite to others”. There are just one or two who have taken to shooting their peers in their own homes.
Jane Godley said something on Radio 4’s Saturday Live which made me think. She was talking about her husbands family using guns and hse stressed that they were not something they felt big or proud about carrying; they were just a tool, only to be fired in extreme situations. And that is the big difference with the young people in South London. Their guns define their status. They are their “emperor’s clothes”. And that is what makes them so dangerous.
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February 17, 2007 at 4:32 pm
tío catire
you can’t deny the report. i read it and agreed. this country is a bit of a mess when it comes to bringing up kids. my wife is from latin america and through our relationship i have been able to see the british culture more objectively and how cold we are. I don’t really know how we can turn this around. The stand off between young people and adults seems to stem from this inability to express emotions (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6074252.stm). I think it is our britishness. culturally we are a bit uptight. there is a lack of love generally in families ie. genuine emotional support. Many would say there isn’t but if you compare to latin countries ie. spain, italy, portugal, south america, france – there is a big difference in attitude. what happened to sitting around the table with the family at dinner time? these days the british are too preoccupied with their pc’s, tvs or ipods to communicate with their families! Well now the guns are here so let’s get ready.. soon we’ll be spending a lot more time indoors with families… for fear of going out!!