O/T. The Government's handling of Covid

[Geoff Parkstone]

I agree there will be a multiple generational lack of role models, probably grandparent to parent to offspring, but where does the failure to be a role model come from? Is it endemic in society where parents no longer care for their children? To what extent is this a failure of the education system, both historically as regards (grand)parents, or more recently as regards the offspring?

I guess the only way to address this issue is to understand how it has arisen - its too easy to blame things like the introduction of the welfare state or rising numbers of single parent families, so what else has caused a couple of generations to absolve responsibility for their kids?

[ramAnag]

I agree there will be a multiple generational lack of role models, probably grandparent to parent to offspring, but where does the failure to be a role model come from? Is it endemic in society where parents no longer care for their children? To what extent is this a failure of the education system, both historically as regards (grand)parents, or more recently as regards the offspring?

I guess the only way to address this issue is to understand how it has arisen - its too easy to blame things like the introduction of the welfare state or rising numbers of single parent families, so what else has caused a couple of generations to absolve responsibility for their kids?

Okay GP...you’re being utterly reasonable, as you used to be, so I’ll respond.

The ‘multiple generational lack of role models’ is spot on and I’ve seen it first hand many times.

Is it endemic in society? In certain sections of society...yes. Just as one imagines that you and I, although far from perfect, were generally unproblematic in our younger years so too, one imagines, were our children.
Likewise, I was at one school for long enough to be teaching the offspring of children I had once taught and, although I know this is an oversimplification, generally speaking (not always) the troublesome six**** year old who had been the product of a violent, dysfunctional upbringing would, twelve or so years later, provide us with a troublesome, violent, dysfunctional addition to the register.

Is education to blame? Certainly back in the mid 20th Century I think it was, as too much depended on the performance of eleven year olds, many children’s futures were determined by the demands of the labour market and there was little in the way of ‘pastoral care’ and absolutely nothing in terms of Child Protection.

Things have changed, to the extent that over the last quarter of a century or so the demands on schools have become arguably too great with all society’s problems...child abuse, bullying, drugs, knife crime, racism, std’s, ****age pregnancy, diversity issues etc etc all becoming the responsibility of schools...but at least the support that was so lacking forty or more years ago is now there.

As regards your last paragraph. It’s not, in my experience, a couple of generations, it’s far more than that, and it is an unfortunate fact that, in the same way as some people aren’t fit to keep a dog, some people are most certainly not fit to have children. Anyone who’s worked in a school in a ‘difficult area’ or been a social worker in such an environment will, I imagine, confirm that, but how you make any sort of proactive legislation to prevent this problem I don’t know...not least because fitness to be a parent is never necessarily determined exclusively by factors such as wealth and intelligence.

So somehow we have to break the cycle which, with your accountants head on, will probably be infuriatingly expensive and non cost effective but, imo, has to happen in the same way as many (that word again) of the same group will have to be ‘spoon fed’ their vaccine. I share your frustration but ultimately it’s for the benefit of us all.