How Childhood Is ‘Being Ruined by Health and Safety Regulations’
A generation of youngsters is having its childhood ruined by mounting political correctness and bureaucratic red tape, a hard-hitting Government report states.
Children’s education is being fundamentally damaged and communities undermined by ludicrous rules and an “everyone must have prizes” mentality.
It means that school sports days are being cancelled due to wet grass and pupils are sent home for wearing the Cross of St George in case it causes offence to non-English pupils.
Talented pupils are not praised or encouraged and are simply paired with “klutzes” in school plays and dance classes as part of policies to include every child.
Parents claim that schools, local education authorities and the Government are to blame for the growing “political correctness gone mad” culture which is “stitching up” children.
They also say that childhood is being damaged by growing materialism, celebrity culture and footballers’ wives - known as WAGs - who set poor examples.
The findings have been revealed in a report, Childhood Wellbeing, commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
The DCSF asked Counterpoint research agency to discover what parents and children believed to be the key issues undermining a good and contented childhood.
It acted after a recent Unicef report found that British children are among the unhappiest in Europe.
They found that one of the major factors affecting a happy childhood was political correctness, along with limited opportunities for quality family time and pressure to buy expensive clothes and equipment.
Other major findings include:
• Celebrity culture is leading young girls into “dangerous and inappropriate behaviour”. Pop stars and WAGs are bad role models.
• Seeing super-rich people and their lifestyles across the media is encouraging children “to steal or to nag their parents”.
• Parents worry about the content of TV programmes, such as EastEnders, and rap music. Children are mimicking the clothes and language of “gangsta” rappers.
• Mothers are being forced to work in order to afford a better life for their children, resulting in less family time.
• Parents feel guilty for substituting presents such as DVDs and TVs for time with their children. (…)
Source: Daily Mail, UK
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February 29th, 2008 at 12:40 PM
I totally agree with what you say. The problem with admitting that there are differences in capability, that yes, some kids are better than others is a legacy of what Ken Wilber calls Boomertitis and the wishy washy relativism of the ‘green’ value meme. There are standards and not everything goes. This is not a lapse into simple minded Victorianism, it is a recognition that whilst equality of expression is to be cherished, expression of crass values, over protection, the deconstruction of every word and sentence to make it PC, denies capability and responsibility. To partcipate in society effectively people need to excel at what they do (which means some people will be less good , so get over it!) and they need to take personal and social responsibility