Kids (2)
Back in March I wrote about how the way we view our young indicates the confused and indeed confusing moral standards we have in the UK. I was reminded of it again today as I drove home from work. A story on the BBC made me swear floridly and copiously.
It is only a day or so since we learned that a 14 year old boy has been remanded in custody after being charged with seven counts of rape on four girls aged between 7 and 10. Cue the normal hand-wringing as to where we are going wrong, what is up with the youth of today - the usual crap.
The story that made me spit venom though was this one.
A primary school has cancelled a Harry Potter day over complaints it could lead children into "areas of evil".
What the fuck?
For the last week, kids have been getting home from school, turning on Newsround and hearing all about the atrocity in London and how evil people are out to kill us all and destroy our way of life. But Harry bastard Potter is the real devil in society? Instead of understanding the head teacher's decision and thanking him for his common sense, the kids were said to be "upset and confused by the cancellation of the day". Nice one Mr Paul Martin (headmaster) and the un-named local rector (didn't you just know the christians would be involved?) . You've upset all the little kids in your school. I hope you are both so proud of yourselves.
Harry Potter is escapism. It is a refuge from some of the dreadful shit going down in the world at the moment. We should be encouraging the young in their embryonic love of books, pleased that their imaginations are being stimulated.
If Mr Martin had banned his special day on the grounds that the Harry Potter books are derivative, formulaic, poorly written and shallow then he would have had my full support. But it is better that kids read crap than read nothing. A love of books will stay with them for ever. It is the one love affair in life's great tapestry which does not get stale, go sour or ever get tedious.
In other kid related news, when I got to the end of the following story my faith in humanity had taken another battering. (from Baz)
WICKED
An Exeter woman has been jailed for three years for a campaign of harassment against a young girl, which a judge said was the most wicked crime he had ever seen.
The young girl and her mother are now trying to rebuild their lives after an 18-month campaign of harassment by Kathryn Skinner, the woman they thought was a trusted family friend.
Skinner, now 40, spiked children's drinks at birthday parties and put razor blades in school bags and lockers so her friend's daughter would get the blame.
She stole money and planted it in the young girl's bedroom, slashed the family's clothes and even faked hate mail from the youngster claiming she was being mistreated by her mother.
She did it in such a way that the youngster would be wrongly blamed - and she watched as the distressed girl was excluded from school, put into therapy and came close to being taken away from her distraught parents.
The campaign of terror began when the girl was only six years old.
Her worried mother, who sought help from the school, therapists and social services, confided in Skinner throughout the ordeal and was devastated to learn that her friend had plotted it all.
[click headline for full story]
It is only a day or so since we learned that a 14 year old boy has been remanded in custody after being charged with seven counts of rape on four girls aged between 7 and 10. Cue the normal hand-wringing as to where we are going wrong, what is up with the youth of today - the usual crap.
The story that made me spit venom though was this one.
A primary school has cancelled a Harry Potter day over complaints it could lead children into "areas of evil".
What the fuck?
For the last week, kids have been getting home from school, turning on Newsround and hearing all about the atrocity in London and how evil people are out to kill us all and destroy our way of life. But Harry bastard Potter is the real devil in society? Instead of understanding the head teacher's decision and thanking him for his common sense, the kids were said to be "upset and confused by the cancellation of the day". Nice one Mr Paul Martin (headmaster) and the un-named local rector (didn't you just know the christians would be involved?) . You've upset all the little kids in your school. I hope you are both so proud of yourselves.
Harry Potter is escapism. It is a refuge from some of the dreadful shit going down in the world at the moment. We should be encouraging the young in their embryonic love of books, pleased that their imaginations are being stimulated.
If Mr Martin had banned his special day on the grounds that the Harry Potter books are derivative, formulaic, poorly written and shallow then he would have had my full support. But it is better that kids read crap than read nothing. A love of books will stay with them for ever. It is the one love affair in life's great tapestry which does not get stale, go sour or ever get tedious.
In other kid related news, when I got to the end of the following story my faith in humanity had taken another battering. (from Baz)
WICKED
An Exeter woman has been jailed for three years for a campaign of harassment against a young girl, which a judge said was the most wicked crime he had ever seen.
The young girl and her mother are now trying to rebuild their lives after an 18-month campaign of harassment by Kathryn Skinner, the woman they thought was a trusted family friend.
Skinner, now 40, spiked children's drinks at birthday parties and put razor blades in school bags and lockers so her friend's daughter would get the blame.
She stole money and planted it in the young girl's bedroom, slashed the family's clothes and even faked hate mail from the youngster claiming she was being mistreated by her mother.
She did it in such a way that the youngster would be wrongly blamed - and she watched as the distressed girl was excluded from school, put into therapy and came close to being taken away from her distraught parents.
The campaign of terror began when the girl was only six years old.
Her worried mother, who sought help from the school, therapists and social services, confided in Skinner throughout the ordeal and was devastated to learn that her friend had plotted it all.
[click headline for full story]
posted by phylos @ 17:40
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