Uk Children The Unhappiest In Europe .....

[Perfectionist]

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_brit...icle1433394.ece

[Guest Bart of Darkness]

They discovered that while those in the UK suffer average levels of poverty, more than 17 per cent live in households whose adult members are unemployed - the highest level in the EU.

That can't be right. Not in the Brave MEW World of the miracle economy.

Those EU types are just jealous.

[Golden Shower]

They discovered that while those in the UK suffer average levels of poverty, more than 17 per cent live in households whose adult members are unemployed - the highest level in the EU.....

......Researchers found that only 60 per cent of children spoke to their parents regularly and a third did not eat meals with them.

Wow.

A third of British kids do not eat with their parents.

I kind of agree with Dr. Bubb. The happiest kids I know don't really have that much and their parents aren't loaded by any means. However, the parents have some sort of common bond with the kids that is fun and it ain't spending Saturday walking around the retail park!

[iLegallyBlonde]

I'm not at all surprised, my sister is a teacher and she pops to Tesco's every morning to buy banana's and apples for the kids who haven't been given any breakfast because their parents are in a rush to get to work.

It's all wrong.

[Golden Shower]

I'm not at all surprised, my sister is a teacher and she pops to Tesco's every morning to buy banana's and apples for the kids who haven't been given any breakfast because their parents are in a rush to get to work.

It's all wrong.

I hear similar things from the wife. Apparently some kids are fed tea and biscuits for breakfast, many can't even use a knife and fork.

It's all the teachers fault, of course. If not they could probably blame Tony Blair or Maggie.

[SarahBell]

This shouldn't be a surprise at all given the number of TV programs about parents dealing with horrid brats (Its usally the parents fault) - we've got supernanny, honey we're killing the kids and a couple of others too.

There was a horrific one on the other week - think it briefly got mentioned on here. Scottish couple with 2 or 3 kids. Don't work but fairly nice house. Woman was horrific to the kids and I'm surprised they didn't get put in care (I didn't watch the extra program about this lot as I found it profoundly disturbing.

[ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere]

I feel rather sorry for some of the little blighters these days at times. If they come from a family where both parents work long hours, and there are plenty that do, they often only get a coulple of hours of parental contact a day, and I'd imagine mum and dad aren't always on top form after a long day at work so instead they get bought ipods and fancy mobile phones to try and make up. So many of them end up eating ready meals and junk food as well, simply because mum and dad don't have time to cook. I remember seeing a program on TV a while back where they got families and forced them to cook their own food from scratch for a month and sit down and have a proper family meal. The mum didn't even know what a clove of garlic was. She ended up chopping up the entire bulb, skin and all and chucking it into a stir fry!

Something like half of all mariages end in divorce these days which is seriously disruptive for the kids. In some cases it's fair enough, but I know of at least one example of somebody walking out on a wife and two youngish kids because he was bored - FFS!

On top of that, school now puts a lot of pressure on them with SATs and modular GCSEs and A levels and there are fewer and fewer places for them to go and play. There are hardly any places in Bristol where I'd be happy about my kids riding a bike, for example, because of all the cars.

Parents are also getting increasingly paranoid about their kids. I know somebody who is a leader (brown bird???) in the brownies. Recently she organised a canoeing trip for the troop. One kid couldn't go because her mother was worried about terrorism (seriously) and at least one more couldn't go because there were no seatbelts in the minibus.

If the wife and I ever have kids (and I'm far from convinced we will) the kind of upbringing I'd like to give them is one where one of us stays at home and is there to pick them up from school and make the tea. I'd like to bring them up in the countryside and I'd like them to be able to go out, build treehouses, dam streams etc. have a nice group of friends and generally enjoy a happy and stable childhood. This is not easy to do these days and an awful lot of childhoods end up not even coming close.

Edited September 10, 2006 by ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere

[Bear Goggles]

Parents are also getting increasingly paranoid about their kids. I know somebody who is a leader (brown bird???) in the brownies. Recently she organised a canoeing trip for the troop. One kid couldn't go because her mother was worried about terrorism (seriously) and at least one more couldn't go because there were no seatbelts in the minibus.

Sad isn't it. My cousin last year baked a cake for her little girl's birthday and took it into school to share with the class. She was told by the teacher to take it away and buy one from Tesco. The reason? Well, they were worried about being sued by parents if one of the kids happed to get ill.

It is a recent thing this obsession with personal safety and I can't help thinking it is connected to the general culture of fear being promoted by governments. We are becoming afraid of everything which helps justify actions such as "pre-emtive strikes" on nations we don't like.

[dnd]

All this lack of attention from parents is the root cause of a lot of social problems

Much of anti-social behaviour is simply attention seeking

You see it in other ways too - like personalised number plates

[ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere]

All this lack of attention from parents is the root cause of a lot of social problems

Much of anti-social behaviour is simply attention seeking

You see it in other ways too - like personalised number plates

Couldn't agree more. Still, if you can get them diagnosed with ADHD you can get Ritalin to calm them down.

Actually, I've just been reminded of an episode of the Simpsons where Bart gets given some experimental behavioural drug, 'focusin' I think it was called. The scientists tell Homer and Marge that "the only thing that works better is fresh air and exercise". LOL

[grey shark]

Something like half of all mariages end in divorce these days which is seriously disruptive for the kids. In some cases it's fair enough, but I know of at least one example of somebody walking out on a wife and two youngish kids because he was bored - FFS!

If the wife and I ever have kids (and I'm far from convinced we will) the kind of upbringing I'd like to give them is one where one of us stays at home and is there to pick them up from school and make the tea. I'd like to bring them up in the countryside and I'd like them to be able to go out, build treehouses, dam streams etc. have a nice group of friends and generally enjoy a happy and stable childhood. This is not easy to do these days and an awful lot of childhoods end up not even coming close.

Your second paragraph reads something like a Enid Blyton book on the famous 5 , but thats how it was until the 1980's when morals and attitudes started to change for the worse , culture now is a mix of many things including peer pressure , keeping up with the Jones , getting sucked in by advertising and brand names , funding a high maintenance lifestyle through credit and mortgages therefore becoming a modern day corporate debt slave , if anyone wants or trys to let there kids lead the "Famous 5 " lifestyle that you describe they are then viewed as oddballs .

As for blokes walking out on there mrs , many do it , there fed up with there dull going knowhere lifestyles and need a change or something new , or want to live it up one more time before they feel it's to late , many just swap there old piece of fluff for a new bit .

[Mancghirl]

I'm not at all surprised, my sister is a teacher and she pops to Tesco's every morning to buy banana's and apples for the kids who haven't been given any breakfast because their parents are in a rush to get to work.

It's all wrong.

I teach in Secondary. Many schools have now set up 'breakfast clubs' i.e. we get childcare workers in to feed the kids before lessons to ensure they have had something nutritious. The government has given us money for this.

In my school, its not just a case of some parents being too busy and trying to get off to work - its an area of mass unemployment - some parents just can't be bothered to feed their kids when someone else will do it for them.

[CrashDive]

Something like half of all mariages end in divorce these days which is seriously disruptive for the kids. In some cases it's fair enough, but I know of at least one example of somebody walking out on a wife and two youngish kids because he was bored - FFS!

Of course the reality is that 90%+ of all divorces are petitioned for by women, the largest reason's given boredom/grown apart/he doesnt understand me etc

Cheating is just about evenly split between the sexes.

Women are far more likely to get a better settlement after divorce in relation to finances, home and the children.

This govt and others have engineered a system where bringing up children outside of marriage/partnership is a better financial option for many.

Edited September 10, 2006 by CrashDive

[ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere]

Your second paragraph reads something like a Enid Blyton book on the famous 5 , but thats how it was until the 1980's when morals and attitudes started to change for the worse , culture now is a mix of many things including peer pressure , keeping up with the Jones , getting sucked in by advertising and brand names , funding a high maintenance lifestyle through credit and mortgages therefore becoming a modern day corporate debt slave , if anyone wants or trys to let there kids lead the "Famous 5 " lifestyle that you describe they are then viewed as oddballs .

As for blokes walking out on there mrs , many do it , there fed up with there dull going knowhere lifestyles and need a change or something new , or want to live it up one more time before they feel it's to late , many just swap there old piece of fluff for a new bit .

It's sad though isn't it that what I consider to be a decent upbringing is so far removed from reality that it sounds like a children's book. By the way, I know of at least as many women who've walked out on their partners for the reasons you list as I do men.

I teach in Secondary. Many schools have now set up 'breakfast clubs' i.e. we get childcare workers in to feed the kids before lessons to ensure they have had something nutritious. The government has given us money for this.

In my school, its not just a case of some parents being too busy and trying to get off to work - its an area of mass unemployment - some parents just can't be bothered to feed their kids when someone else will do it for them.

I teach secondary too! What subject do you teach? I'm science and IT.

Let's not forget that the government is also keen on after school clubs so that parents can come and pick up their kids after 6 on their way home from work. With breakfast clubs the poor little blighters could end up spending 10 hours a day in school. When are they supposed to have a life and just be kids?

[CrashDive]

With breakfast clubs the poor little blighters could end up spending 10 hours a day in school. When are they supposed to have a life and just be kids?

Yep, horrible situation for the children.

[Ethel]

Of course the reality is that 90%+ of all divorces are petitioned for by women, the largest reason's given boredom/grown apart/he doesnt understand me etc

Cheating is just about evenly split between the sexes.

Women are far more likely to get a better settlement after divorce in relation to finances, home and the children.

This govt and others have engineered a system where bringing up children outside of marriage/partnership is a better financial option for many.

It's bad, but it's not as bad as the past, where women were trapped in unhappy marriages because they were completely socially and financially dependent on their husbands.

[Mancghirl]

I'm Head of ICT.

The whole 'extended schools' agenda is derisory IMO. As are some of the 'Every Child Matters' targets. Yes, we should work with other agencies as closely as possible to make sure kids are safe and cared for.

However, how and when did it become the responsibility of schools to ensure that parents are encouraged to breast feed and to encourage them to get a job/'become economically active'? I thought I was supposed to be educating children. Silly me.

:angry:

[ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere]

However, how and when did it become the responsibility of schools to ensure that parents are encouraged to breast feed and to encourage them to get a job/'become economically active'?

Heaven forbid it were actually the responsability of the parents!

[flatnose]

I feel rather sorry for some of the little blighters these days at times. If they come from a family where both parents work long hours, and there are plenty that do, they often only get a coulple of hours of parental contact a day, and I'd imagine mum and dad aren't always on top form after a long day at work so instead they get bought ipods and fancy mobile phones to try and make up. So many of them end up eating ready meals and junk food as well, simply because mum and dad don't have time to cook. I remember seeing a program on TV a while back where they got families and forced them to cook their own food from scratch for a month and sit down and have a proper family meal. The mum didn't even know what a clove of garlic was. She ended up chopping up the entire bulb, skin and all and chucking it into a stir fry!

Something like half of all mariages end in divorce these days which is seriously disruptive for the kids. In some cases it's fair enough, but I know of at least one example of somebody walking out on a wife and two youngish kids because he was bored - FFS!

On top of that, school now puts a lot of pressure on them with SATs and modular GCSEs and A levels and there are fewer and fewer places for them to go and play. There are hardly any places in Bristol where I'd be happy about my kids riding a bike, for example, because of all the cars.

Parents are also getting increasingly paranoid about their kids. I know somebody who is a leader (brown bird???) in the brownies. Recently she organised a canoeing trip for the troop. One kid couldn't go because her mother was worried about terrorism (seriously) and at least one more couldn't go because there were no seatbelts in the minibus.

If the wife and I ever have kids (and I'm far from convinced we will) the kind of upbringing I'd like to give them is one where one of us stays at home and is there to pick them up from school and make the tea. I'd like to bring them up in the countryside and I'd like them to be able to go out, build treehouses, dam streams etc. have a nice group of friends and generally enjoy a happy and stable childhood. This is not easy to do these days and an awful lot of childhoods end up not even coming close.

Totally agree. Unfortunately, this government does not encourage mothers to stay at home!

[Mancghirl]

Heaven forbid it were actually the responsability of the parents!

Parents don't have responsibilities, mate, they have 'rights'.

[grey shark]

It's sad though isn't it that what I consider to be a decent upbringing is so far removed from reality that it sounds like a children's book. By the way, I know of at least as many women who've walked out on their partners for the reasons you list as I do men.

Yes i know as many woman walk out on there other half as men i was just following on from your earlier example , another thing is many married couples have met by there early 20's when they havn't imo fully matured as adults they then get married , have kids , take on as much debt as possible then when they get to there early 30's this is when most fully mature it's then they start to look around at what thev'e got , they do comparables with friends and others of there own age group and start asking themselves is this life what i really want ? It's then many will try to see IF the grass is greener on the other side .

Although many are now no longer getting married and having kids , it seems to me that at least half those having kids now are either immigrants or the English white trash who produce there kids so the free house and benefits can keep rolling in , and in the VAST majority of cases with the benefit parents it's a case of scum breeds scum , so much to look forward to in the coming years

[ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere]

Yes i know as many woman walk out on there other half as men i was just following on from your earlier example , another thing is many married couples have met by there early 20's when they havn't imo fully matured as adults they then get married , have kids , take on as much debt as possible then when they get to there early 30's this is when most fully mature it's then they start to look around at what thev'e got , they do comparables with friends and others of there own age group and start asking themselves is this life what i really want ? It's then many will try to see IF the grass is greener on the other side .

Although many are now no longer getting married and having kids , it seems to me that at least half those having kids now are either immigrants or the English white trash who produce there kids so the free house and benefits can keep rolling in , and in the VAST majority of cases with the benefit parents it's a case of scum breeds scum , so much to look forward to in the coming years

I know, it's not looking from a eugenics point of view, is it?

[Jason]

A few weeks ago a colleague told me how their 13 year old child asked her (single mother) to leave work and go on benefits. The reason? She's bored spending the summer at her mothers house who can't afford to take her out anywhere or afford any nice things.

Is it the fact that kids have resigned themseleves to be low achievers?

[BuyingBear]

Look at the Shelter reports, thousands of children live in inadequate or even temporary accommodation, thousands more live in over crowded conditions and they have found children forced to sleep in kitchens or hallways. But who gives a shit about them, better not ruin a field or two, boys, better not ruin a field or two.

Eventually the country as a whole will pay a very dear price for such selfishness, just as we are now still paying the price for those sink estates constructed in the 1960's.

Edited September 10, 2006 by BuyingBear

[CrashDive]

Of course the reality is that 90%+ of all divorces are petitioned for by women, the largest reason's given boredom/grown apart/he doesnt understand me etc

Cheating is just about evenly split between the sexes.

Women are far more likely to get a better settlement after divorce in relation to finances, home and the children.

This govt and others have engineered a system where bringing up children outside of marriage/partnership is a better financial option for many.

It's bad, but it's not as bad as the past, where women were trapped in unhappy marriages because they were completely socially and financially dependent on their husbands.

It is certainly a whole lot worse for children generally than in the past. What is it, 4? million children out of 12 million in lone parent households.

Women generally have not been trapped in unhappy marriages anymore than men for decades. CTC's, benefits, subsidised housing all make it a favourable option for many mums to go it alone.

Now its men who are trapped if anything, should there be a split it is men generally who will significantly be worse off than women generally regarding finances, home and children. Many fathers know they will come off emotionally(children) and financially worse if there is a split.

The problem for children is that it now makes a financial sense in many cases for women to go it alone with children, and of course they don't have to put up with an interfering other half they have got bored with.

The only way to ensure people think a little more before and after they have children is to make both parents financially and emotionally responsible for their children. Presently the whole system is geared towards the mother and/or the state(brekkie schools etc) looking after the children and the father working to support the mother/children/state within the marriage or via the CSA.

Individual families need to know that when they have children that if they break up both parents will have to be financially responsible and the children will be entitled to both parents looking after them equitably or as suits the particular circumstances, without 1 parent being the sole/main carer and the other forced to be the absent pay packet.