Reading, writing, 'rithmetic? Or contraception, condoms and craziness?
I've no problem with helping teenagers to avoid becoming parents too early. We want them to be old enough to make an informed decision and maybe have a life before they have children - especially girls, who rarely stop at one child once they've started and whose opportunities in life recede with every pregnancy. It's hard to get women back into education once they've dropped out.
But I'm also fed up with the likes of the NHS trying to divert schools from their true mission which is - let me remind you - education, education, education: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21491127
The facts are that the number of teenage pregnancies has been falling for the past 10 years.This reduction in teenage pregnancies is due to a joint effort by schools, the NHS, social workers, community education workers and - strangely enough - parents. As Hillary Clinton said: It takes a village to raise a child. Besides, schools have less and less access to nurses: there are probably more cops on campus in Scotland than nurses now - and nurses must have other priorities apart from contraception, like making sure everybody gets their MMR jags. And the best way to stop teenage pregnancies is surely to offer young people opportunities in jobs and education.
We need to stop trying to pass the buck to the schools. Right now, they are responsible for everything from first aid to safe cycling to citizenship - oh, and the curriculum on top of that.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Did this always go on?
I imagine parents are exercising a bit of control over what news they watch on TV or see in the papers this week as two absolutely horrible court cases go on:
Dale Cregan admits he murdered two police officers and claims it was because the police had given his family a hard time in a previous murder investigation. He lured the officers to the house he was hiding in, shot them many times over and then threw a hand grenade at them.
Michael and Mairead Philpott are accused of murdering their 6 children by setting fire to their house. According to the prosecution, no one was supposed to die: the father wanted to set up his mistress for arson so he could get custody of his 4 children by her and keep the benefits they attracted.
I admit I'm baffled by these crimes and dread to think what they tell us about our society. That life is cheap? That guns are readily available if you want them? That the most important thing in life is money? That you can do anything, no matter how bizarre, if you feel offended? That however weird a crime someone can dream up, there will be someone around who will help in carrying it out - like the Philpotts' friend who helped set the fire.
So tell me: did terrible crimes like this always go on and I just never noticed? Or has something awful happened to us to make it possible for people to do things like this? I suspect that this kind of crime is the UK's version of the US school shootings, in which a small group of individuals feel entitled to sort life out to suit themselves and never give a moment's thought to the consequences of their actions.
And please don't tell me the death penalty would stop crimes like this happening - I don't think it works like that.
Dale Cregan admits he murdered two police officers and claims it was because the police had given his family a hard time in a previous murder investigation. He lured the officers to the house he was hiding in, shot them many times over and then threw a hand grenade at them.
Michael and Mairead Philpott are accused of murdering their 6 children by setting fire to their house. According to the prosecution, no one was supposed to die: the father wanted to set up his mistress for arson so he could get custody of his 4 children by her and keep the benefits they attracted.
I admit I'm baffled by these crimes and dread to think what they tell us about our society. That life is cheap? That guns are readily available if you want them? That the most important thing in life is money? That you can do anything, no matter how bizarre, if you feel offended? That however weird a crime someone can dream up, there will be someone around who will help in carrying it out - like the Philpotts' friend who helped set the fire.
So tell me: did terrible crimes like this always go on and I just never noticed? Or has something awful happened to us to make it possible for people to do things like this? I suspect that this kind of crime is the UK's version of the US school shootings, in which a small group of individuals feel entitled to sort life out to suit themselves and never give a moment's thought to the consequences of their actions.
And please don't tell me the death penalty would stop crimes like this happening - I don't think it works like that.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Call Me Childcatcher!
According to my well-read nephew, the UK is in the middle of a baby boom. I was a child of the first baby boom in the 50s. My generation caused another boom when they had their children. Now the grandchildren of the baby boomers are starting to appear. That means, of course, we can expect a crisis in our schools, health service and housing any time now, since we never seem to be prepared for this fairly predictable set of events.
I'm kind of aware of a baby boom already, living as I do in one of those areas (East Renfrewshire) where people pay silly money for a house so they can get their kids into the local schools. Well, they do now. Before they just lied about their address. I've noticed a rise in the number of prams around (or 'transport systems', as I believe they are now called), not to mention people-carriers and those ridiculous bus-sized vehicles driven by young women who need two bays to park them in.
I also notice restaurants and cafes here are trying to be more 'family-friendly'. I even know of one restaurant that has set aside a room as a 'pram park' and offers young mothers specially-low-priced lunches. Whole Foods have a mummy and child session on a Monday where kiddy snacks are provided free and mummies get a drink and a snack at a discounted price. I'd love to know what effect this has on the takings of the places in question. You won't catch me in a restaurant with the yummy mummies - and I avoid Whole Foods on a Monday till about 5pm.
The trouble is: the small children in my family are absolutely delightful. Even when they're screaming the place down, we're fairly relaxed about them. Other people's small children are a pain in the arse.
Sometimes I wonder if there's a sign over my head telling young parents I canny be bothered with their howling offspring. That would be the only explanation for the fact that I seem to attract them. At the doc's today, I was in a waiting room with just two people apart from me and plenty of empty seats. When the young mother arrived with the screaming wean in the car seat where did she sit? Of course, right next to me. So radio chatter on one side and screaming wean on the other. What did I do? Went and stood in the corridor till my name was called.
Any chance of a pensioner-friendly surgery any time now? No, I thought not.
I'm kind of aware of a baby boom already, living as I do in one of those areas (East Renfrewshire) where people pay silly money for a house so they can get their kids into the local schools. Well, they do now. Before they just lied about their address. I've noticed a rise in the number of prams around (or 'transport systems', as I believe they are now called), not to mention people-carriers and those ridiculous bus-sized vehicles driven by young women who need two bays to park them in.
I also notice restaurants and cafes here are trying to be more 'family-friendly'. I even know of one restaurant that has set aside a room as a 'pram park' and offers young mothers specially-low-priced lunches. Whole Foods have a mummy and child session on a Monday where kiddy snacks are provided free and mummies get a drink and a snack at a discounted price. I'd love to know what effect this has on the takings of the places in question. You won't catch me in a restaurant with the yummy mummies - and I avoid Whole Foods on a Monday till about 5pm.
The trouble is: the small children in my family are absolutely delightful. Even when they're screaming the place down, we're fairly relaxed about them. Other people's small children are a pain in the arse.
Sometimes I wonder if there's a sign over my head telling young parents I canny be bothered with their howling offspring. That would be the only explanation for the fact that I seem to attract them. At the doc's today, I was in a waiting room with just two people apart from me and plenty of empty seats. When the young mother arrived with the screaming wean in the car seat where did she sit? Of course, right next to me. So radio chatter on one side and screaming wean on the other. What did I do? Went and stood in the corridor till my name was called.
Any chance of a pensioner-friendly surgery any time now? No, I thought not.
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Horsey, horsey
A short Question and Answer session on the matter of the great horsemeat scandal:
Q Is it possible for a supermarket to provide 12 beefburgers or a Findus beef lasagne for a pound?
A No, of course it isn't. But it is possible to sell horseburgers and horse lasagne to very poor people trying to feed their families who won't ask too many questions, and you can get away with it for a long time: I heard today that meat in supermarkets in the UK was last DNA-tested 10 years ago.
Q Could the horsemeat get into the beefburgers and beef lasagne by accident?
A Once maybe. Twice at a push. For 10 years? Not a chance. A trace maybe. 100%? No way.
Q So this is a scam, is it?
A Unless you have another word for it.
Q But who stands to gain from supplying horsemeat to abattoirs instead of beef?
A How much time have you got? People in eastern Europe and Eire with horsemeat they want to dispose of for money. People running abattoirs. People in other countries with contracts to supply meat to UK supermarkets, whose bosses want a profit. People on the supply side of supermarkets who will take a back-hander.
Q Is there a way to stop this happening?
A Of course. Only source your beef in the UK. And DNA-test it every year.
Q So why don't UK supermarkets and food suppliers source their beef in the UK?
A Because then consumers would have to pay a decent amount for good beef - and UK consumers want cheap food.
Q So it's the consumer's fault?
A Och, fault-schmault. There are a lot of people in this country either not working or only able to get part-time work or on minimum wage. I think jobseeker's allowance is about 65 quid a week. You're not going to be living high on the hough with that income. And supermarkets have shareholders who have got used to the company making huge profits, meaning big dividends for shareholders. Supermarkets will do many things to keep their shareholders happy - like squeeze farmers till the pips squeak. Remember the milk price last year? When farmers were supplying milk at a price that didn't cover the cost of feeding the cows? Remember the horrors of factory-farmed pigs, hens and calves? Yes, we do all of that here in the UK to keep prices down. And then we get excited about French farmers fattening geese for foie gras.....
Q Is it dangerous for people to eat horsemeat?
A Only for the horse. Lots of communities eat horsemeat. It's what's available and it used to be cheap. The French ate snails and frogs' legs because that's what was available to them and they were cheap. People in the Far East don't eat dog because they're perverts. It's what they can afford.
Q What happens next?
A Let's see how HM Government reacts to this. No sign so far of a minister stepping forward and protesting on behalf of consumers. Well, that would mean Tories criticising business and we can't have that. The disposal of animal carcasses through abattoirs is subject to very strict EU regulation so it will be good to hear what the EU have to say. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of turning veggie myself - or at least avoiding cheapo beefburgers and Findus beef lasagne.
Q Is it possible for a supermarket to provide 12 beefburgers or a Findus beef lasagne for a pound?
A No, of course it isn't. But it is possible to sell horseburgers and horse lasagne to very poor people trying to feed their families who won't ask too many questions, and you can get away with it for a long time: I heard today that meat in supermarkets in the UK was last DNA-tested 10 years ago.
Q Could the horsemeat get into the beefburgers and beef lasagne by accident?
A Once maybe. Twice at a push. For 10 years? Not a chance. A trace maybe. 100%? No way.
Q So this is a scam, is it?
A Unless you have another word for it.
Q But who stands to gain from supplying horsemeat to abattoirs instead of beef?
A How much time have you got? People in eastern Europe and Eire with horsemeat they want to dispose of for money. People running abattoirs. People in other countries with contracts to supply meat to UK supermarkets, whose bosses want a profit. People on the supply side of supermarkets who will take a back-hander.
Q Is there a way to stop this happening?
A Of course. Only source your beef in the UK. And DNA-test it every year.
Q So why don't UK supermarkets and food suppliers source their beef in the UK?
A Because then consumers would have to pay a decent amount for good beef - and UK consumers want cheap food.
Q So it's the consumer's fault?
A Och, fault-schmault. There are a lot of people in this country either not working or only able to get part-time work or on minimum wage. I think jobseeker's allowance is about 65 quid a week. You're not going to be living high on the hough with that income. And supermarkets have shareholders who have got used to the company making huge profits, meaning big dividends for shareholders. Supermarkets will do many things to keep their shareholders happy - like squeeze farmers till the pips squeak. Remember the milk price last year? When farmers were supplying milk at a price that didn't cover the cost of feeding the cows? Remember the horrors of factory-farmed pigs, hens and calves? Yes, we do all of that here in the UK to keep prices down. And then we get excited about French farmers fattening geese for foie gras.....
Q Is it dangerous for people to eat horsemeat?
A Only for the horse. Lots of communities eat horsemeat. It's what's available and it used to be cheap. The French ate snails and frogs' legs because that's what was available to them and they were cheap. People in the Far East don't eat dog because they're perverts. It's what they can afford.
Q What happens next?
A Let's see how HM Government reacts to this. No sign so far of a minister stepping forward and protesting on behalf of consumers. Well, that would mean Tories criticising business and we can't have that. The disposal of animal carcasses through abattoirs is subject to very strict EU regulation so it will be good to hear what the EU have to say. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of turning veggie myself - or at least avoiding cheapo beefburgers and Findus beef lasagne.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
But some are more equal
On Monday, the media began to print a real horror story: a woman aged 81 was left in her home with no food, drink or medication for over a week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21361631
The woman had money: she'd been paying an agency to send carers to her home 4 times a day. Then the agency was raided by the Borders people, the illegal immigrants running it vanished and her carers stopped coming. Somehow, the word that she was alone - and vulnerable - was never acted on by the local authority.
Her name was Gloria. Not that it matters now. She's dead.
Every week there are reports of elderly people going missing: wandering off from sheltered housing or care homes or what used to be called mental hospitals, most vanishing while 'out for a walk' - alone. Some but not all are demented. One man (aged about 84) was found dead in the garden of his block of flats in Edinburgh after ten months.
Imagine if he - or Gloria - had been 1 year old rather than 81. For a start, the story might have stayed in the headlines for more than 48 hours. There might have been calls for an enquiry into the death. Someone would have been called to account for their failure to act, though probably not sacked or struck off as a result. That's not how we do things in the UK.
But because the case involves an elderly person, no one seems to get over-excited.
I suppose it's not as bad as leaving your old people to die on an ice floe, as the Inuit were said to do. Or is it?
The woman had money: she'd been paying an agency to send carers to her home 4 times a day. Then the agency was raided by the Borders people, the illegal immigrants running it vanished and her carers stopped coming. Somehow, the word that she was alone - and vulnerable - was never acted on by the local authority.
Her name was Gloria. Not that it matters now. She's dead.
Every week there are reports of elderly people going missing: wandering off from sheltered housing or care homes or what used to be called mental hospitals, most vanishing while 'out for a walk' - alone. Some but not all are demented. One man (aged about 84) was found dead in the garden of his block of flats in Edinburgh after ten months.
Imagine if he - or Gloria - had been 1 year old rather than 81. For a start, the story might have stayed in the headlines for more than 48 hours. There might have been calls for an enquiry into the death. Someone would have been called to account for their failure to act, though probably not sacked or struck off as a result. That's not how we do things in the UK.
But because the case involves an elderly person, no one seems to get over-excited.
I suppose it's not as bad as leaving your old people to die on an ice floe, as the Inuit were said to do. Or is it?
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Jeremy Vine is a prat
That's not my opinion, that's a fact. There you go, that's how the Jeremy Vine phone-in Radio 2 lets its callers talk about everybody. No need for any expertise, just the ability to sound off on live (or nearly live) radio. Today they're discussing the relationship between Chris Huhne and his son, as 'revealed' in the texts published for some reason by the court yesterday when Huhne went on trial. You'll notice the son was not in trial. Jeremy and the rest of his goon squad know nothing about their relationship but are happy to interpret the Huhne family crisis according to their own narrow experience.
There's a serious point here: how does a set of texts sent between an obviously hurt and angry 17 year old boy and his father who dumped his mother for another woman - how does that come to be the topic of a BBC radio phone-in? I find the whole business pretty tacky, worthy of another Jeremy off the telly.
Meanwhile, over on BBC2's Politics Today programme at the same time, there's a real journalist at work: Polly Toynbee (is she still with the Guardian?) is discussing the by-election that will have to be held in Chris Huhne's constituency. She speaks crisply and loses no opportunity to put the politicians of both Tory and LibDem shades in their place, countering allegation with pure, clean fact - and she's able to quote where she got her facts too.
It's a sad reflection on the BBC that we hear more and more of the Vine type of show and very little of Politics Today.
There's a serious point here: how does a set of texts sent between an obviously hurt and angry 17 year old boy and his father who dumped his mother for another woman - how does that come to be the topic of a BBC radio phone-in? I find the whole business pretty tacky, worthy of another Jeremy off the telly.
Meanwhile, over on BBC2's Politics Today programme at the same time, there's a real journalist at work: Polly Toynbee (is she still with the Guardian?) is discussing the by-election that will have to be held in Chris Huhne's constituency. She speaks crisply and loses no opportunity to put the politicians of both Tory and LibDem shades in their place, countering allegation with pure, clean fact - and she's able to quote where she got her facts too.
It's a sad reflection on the BBC that we hear more and more of the Vine type of show and very little of Politics Today.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Back to Bach
After several sleepless nights, I've been catching up on TV programmes I've recorded. I've just watched the 2nd part of Howard Goodall 's Story of Music on BBC4 (?). You may not be a fan of classical music - in which case, bye! - but I am. I know nothing about Howard Goodall but I've enjoyed the first two parts of his series. But now I've come across a review of his first programme by somebody called Mark Smith in Saturday's Herald. He says Howard Goodall lacks 'passion'.
So let's summon up a bit of respect here: what kind of an expert on classical music are you, Mark Smith? Can you play an instrument to professional level? What is your educational background vis a vis classical music? Can you even haud a tune? These are the only qualifications I'll accept before I let you pronounce on the work of a music professional.
I've been on the receiving end of this kind of patronising crap myself, of course. It happens to everyone with any sort of skill that other people think is easily gained and easily exploited. I speak foreign languages and have often been asked to do translations - for nothing, of course. I tried translating "Taps" for a group of guides in Glasgow, only to be told my translation was wrong. And I once had to tell the office of the chief executive of a local authority that although I spoke/understood 6 languages, since Italian wasn't one of them, I'd have to ask someone else to translate the five page letter she'd emailed over - and how much was her office willing to pay? PAY? It was as if I'd sworn at them. When I finally got money out of their office and got the letter translated by a native Italian teacher with an Honours degree in Italian and French from a Scottish university, I got a message that someone in the office thought the letter contained errors - not that anyone could point me at the person claiming to have found the mistakes or what the mistakes were.
There are some talents that can't be faked and have to be accepted as natural: musical, dramatic, artistic, linguistic, sporting, mathematical. There are also some things that can be learned on the job - some easily and some not so easily. The problem at the moment is that our education system seems to encourage the things that can be learned easily and relegates what's inbred/intuitive or acquired by fckn hard work to the second or even third rate level.
A former student of mine has sustained an injury to his hand and, as a result can't play the pipes any more. That, frankly, is as tragic as anything I've heard in recent months and I wish Stewart well.
So let's summon up a bit of respect here: what kind of an expert on classical music are you, Mark Smith? Can you play an instrument to professional level? What is your educational background vis a vis classical music? Can you even haud a tune? These are the only qualifications I'll accept before I let you pronounce on the work of a music professional.
I've been on the receiving end of this kind of patronising crap myself, of course. It happens to everyone with any sort of skill that other people think is easily gained and easily exploited. I speak foreign languages and have often been asked to do translations - for nothing, of course. I tried translating "Taps" for a group of guides in Glasgow, only to be told my translation was wrong. And I once had to tell the office of the chief executive of a local authority that although I spoke/understood 6 languages, since Italian wasn't one of them, I'd have to ask someone else to translate the five page letter she'd emailed over - and how much was her office willing to pay? PAY? It was as if I'd sworn at them. When I finally got money out of their office and got the letter translated by a native Italian teacher with an Honours degree in Italian and French from a Scottish university, I got a message that someone in the office thought the letter contained errors - not that anyone could point me at the person claiming to have found the mistakes or what the mistakes were.
There are some talents that can't be faked and have to be accepted as natural: musical, dramatic, artistic, linguistic, sporting, mathematical. There are also some things that can be learned on the job - some easily and some not so easily. The problem at the moment is that our education system seems to encourage the things that can be learned easily and relegates what's inbred/intuitive or acquired by fckn hard work to the second or even third rate level.
A former student of mine has sustained an injury to his hand and, as a result can't play the pipes any more. That, frankly, is as tragic as anything I've heard in recent months and I wish Stewart well.
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