Corpun file 25287 at www.corpun.com
Sunday Express, London, 4 May 2014
Don't let children destroy our society
By Nick Ferrari
Writer and LBC radio presenter
A GRUESOME whirlwind has been tragically reaped. The mindless and fearful consequences of decades of overindulgence of our youth, the crazed and misguided obsession with seeking to elevate their status almost to the level of an oppressed minority and the craven acceptance of wilful and unacceptable behaviour reached its inevitable peak with the shocking death of a teacher in front of her class last week.
Treat kids as adults and adults as kids, and this is what you get. The sight and sound of politicians wringing their hands and offering up trite assurances and meaningless drivel following the appalling events at Corpus Christi College in Leeds nearly compelled me to throw my radio out of the car window. Many of them are the very same politicians who have presided over the lunatic championing of children's rights alongside the demonisation and criminalisation of any parent who wants to discipline their own unruly offspring.
Some children today are akin to a pack of barrack room lawyers, they know all their rights but none of their responsibilities. At school their unruly behaviour and total lack of respect and discipline have been compounded by teachers too frightened to risk losing their pension by getting involved, or rightly too wary of getting beaten up by angry parents storming into the classroom in unquestioningly blind support of their vile child.
The most recent trick of course now being regularly played by some of these little tearaways is to claim "Sir" or "Miss" inappropriately touched them. They then sit back, watch police race to the scene as if they'd discovered an Al Qaeda bomb factory and laugh with their mates as the teacher fights for their professional life.
It seems fair to assume that too many children know more about ChildLine than they do about Father Christmas.
As the harrowing events of last week were being discussed on my radio show, one listener called in with her own story that perfectly demonstrates how far from reality we have descended. A single mother, she has two pre-teenaged sons, one of whom has behavioural problems. The school and local authority have been involved and mother and son were recommended for counselling.
In a telephone interview, a social worker was getting some general details and asked if the boy was ever violent towards his mother. She replied that unfortunately sometimes he was and had threatened to hit her. The social worker then asked what was the mother's response. She said she told him he would regret it because she might hit him back. Within 20 minutes a social worker was at the front door demanding access and seeking to interview everyone and anyone they could get their hands on.
Before any of you start bleating the lad could be in danger and this is what social workers are put on earth to do, let's not forget how many desperate and dying victims they've managed to ignore. Such horror stories as Victoria Climbie, Baby Peter and Daniel Pelka, who was force-fed salt, show the reality on the frontline. This young man was in no danger but the state sniffed out an opportunity.
So much of this can be resolved by bringing back simple respect and discipline. Governments present and future must respect a parent's right to discipline a child. There are already laws in place that quite rightly legislate against anyone being violent towards or harming a youngster, so we must allow parents to parent.
Teachers and others who deal with children must be respected. Parents need to stop, listen and learn why their child has been disciplined or marked down, or whatever it might be, before they march into school demanding to see the head teacher, the governors and the local chief constable.
The all too predictable cry for more metal detectors and knife arches at our schools went up last week, and that is exactly the route not to go down. If everyone knows their place and respects each other this hideous crime, the first of its kind for a good many years in Britain, could just possibly be the last as well.
Copyright © 2014 Northern and Shell Media Publications.
