Tuesday 16 July 2013

FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE



The following article comes from the UK but Canada is not any different.  And it all starts at childhood.  All one  has to do is look at school children, even the older ones, cross the street like sheep marching to the pasture totally dependent on the crossing guard.  They don't look left, or right, or even straight ahead sometimes if they are busy talking or texting.   Those who  have allergies, are dependent on the whole school community to cater to their differences  instead of being taught by their parents to distinguish between what they can or cannot ingest.  Rather than paying the consequences for their actions, an ever increasing number of them rely on their parents to save them from the suspension, the detention or the extra homework they may have deserved.   And God forbid that they are allowed to spend their days off school to use their imagination.  No, we have to keep them structured and busy all the time with kickboxing, ballet, soccer, hockey, piano lessons...why allow them to be creative with their spare time?  Why allow them any time off to develop thinking skills free from any structured influence? 

Excerpts from


(...) On a relatively short journey into the office yesterday, I heard the following message played on four occasions: “This is a special announcement. During the current warm weather, we advise passengers to carry a bottle of water with them while on the train.” 

Who decided that we need to be told to carry water, and why? Is the train company being sponsored by Evian or Highland Spring? (...)


We are also regaled with colour-coded heat-health and UV warnings along with the weather forecast. How did people survive in the millennia before Carol Kirkwood was around to tell them that direct sunlight can burn and hot weather is uncomfortable? (...) 


Whenever it rains, we are informed that the station concourse will be wet and therefore slippery. During the winter, such cautions are issued every five minutes. My all-time favourite was when the clocks went back last October. “Here is an announcement. The hour has changed this weekend which means that it may be darker than usual when you return home at your normal time. Please take care.”  (...) 

So what about plain cigarette packs or minimum alcohol pricing? Both of these measures, promoted in the name of public health, have been abandoned by the Government in recent days, amid controversy. Doctors have reacted furiously, especially to the decision not to introduce plain or standard packaging for tobacco products, shorn of any manufacturer’s logo.(...)


Those keen to see standardised packaging say polls show a majority in favour, which is hardly surprising since most people don’t smoke. It’s also rather beside the point. Tobacco is a legal product and the argument that manufacturers pitch their packaging at children may well be true. But it is illegal to sell cigarettes to people under the age of 18, so the answer is to enforce the law. (...)


Still, those who see these two policy retreats as representing the highwater mark of the nannying tide will be disappointed. At the weekend, there was talk of banning packed lunches for schoolchildren because parents were incapable of giving their offspring a balanced diet. Ministers are now considering the provision of free meals for all pupils up to the age of 16. (...)

Perhaps we secretly enjoy being nannied.(...)