tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post6397182152172820335..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Britain Bottom of Children's LeagueIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-68331998217503917422007-02-18T01:43:00.000+00:002007-02-18T01:43:00.000+00:00was only Proper british children questioned in thi...was only Proper british children questioned in this survay, because i find that hard to believe with all the immigrants in this country. <BR/>However if any other nationality was asked would that not make the survay void?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-73514887645968166652007-02-16T04:58:00.000+00:002007-02-16T04:58:00.000+00:00Good to see someone (laban) finally questioning th...Good to see someone (laban) finally questioning the validity of this report. Everyone else (and I don't mean just here) has taken it at face-value, in their excitement at using it as a stick to beat their favourite drum with. In fact, as I have argued in a post over at pickinglosers.com, what the authors have mainly proved is that, if you measure childhood well-being on the basis of how well the economic and social system conforms with the continental, egalitarian, social-democratic model, then countries will tend to be ranked according to the extent to which they conform with that model. Not a surprising result.<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying there aren't many things wrong with Britain or British childhood in particular, but I would be careful about drawing any conclusions or making any comparisons on the basis of this report. You need at least to read it, rather than rely on the media's rehashing of the inaccurate and partial press release that went with it.bgpriorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00628170401069060830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-91340994555304453182007-02-15T13:14:00.000+00:002007-02-15T13:14:00.000+00:00Ian - this survey states "The views expressed are ...Ian - this survey states "The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of UNICEF."<BR/><BR/>It's written by breast-beating leftie Peter Adamson, founder of the New Internationalist, a chap who 'divides his time between Oxford and Tuscany' - as one does. <BR/><BR/>The only useful thing about it is that he (correctly IMHO) treats not having both biological parents as a negative point. Despite what Jonathan Sheppard says, there's a mountain of evidence to support that view.<BR/><BR/>I'm sorry to see senior Tories who should know better using this report as a stick to beat the Government with. Far better to ignore it.Labanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12031578024191117985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-63013685088902272422007-02-15T08:55:00.000+00:002007-02-15T08:55:00.000+00:00German TV has a series of highly-stylised programm...German TV has a series of highly-stylised programmes on modern children sent back to 1958 to some "schools" for preparing brides for their household duties, and even mainstream Realschule of the era.<BR/><BR/>The children seem unable to grasp the notion that they are not landed gentry with domestic servants and it takes quite a while for them to adjust to having to perform as oppose to stand on status.<BR/><BR/>We live in Status-Conscious Societies whereas Performance is frowned upon. It is 'what you are' not 'what you achieve'<BR/><BR/>I recall being bemused by Texan males years ago who were so mummy-oriented that they could not even wash their own clothes and German males obsessing about curtain colours.<BR/><BR/>It is quite a change when you have to be up at 05.30 with sheets and blankets in a nice pile with clear right-angles and kit laid out for inspection.<BR/><BR/>Just lining up at the school bell to enter the classroom is a start, but modern society is run for pubescent schoolgirls and is simply going to get eaten alive by the new kids on the block - the child labour in the mills of Victorian England built the nation and the Consumerist youth of modernity will deliver it toChina on a platterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-48660914858339907882007-02-15T06:40:00.000+00:002007-02-15T06:40:00.000+00:00Absolute poverty existed. Yet there was a yearning...<I>Absolute poverty existed. Yet there was a yearning amongst the working classes for respectability</I><BR/><BR/>There were also urban riots in the 1840s which the militia had to put down. Northern towns - unincorporated boroughs without police until the 1850s had Irish migrants living in slums and the <I> yearning for respectability</I> was only among the skilled working class who looked down on the rabble <BR/><BR/>Bradford had cholera in 1846 and Leeds had typhoid in 1890 and slums existed right into the 1940s and 1950s untril replaced by high-rise slums in the 1960s.<BR/><BR/>You can see slum areas of major cities and where the slum-dwellers were relocated.<BR/><BR/>The UNICEF Report used the PISA study (OECD) for its education section. In Germany it seems the report is region specific showing Bremen to be an absolute pit (true) and Bavaria and B-W to be superior (true)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-85085265097478975262007-02-15T00:06:00.000+00:002007-02-15T00:06:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Johnny Norfolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900659617233793880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-36283635610275794482007-02-14T22:54:00.000+00:002007-02-14T22:54:00.000+00:00Marxists dont believe that the answer is with the ...Marxists dont believe that the answer is with the parents. They believe the problem is that there is parents influencing their childrens lives in any way at all.<BR/><BR/>For "good" or "bad."<BR/><BR/>What they nead for all their Marxism to work properly is for all of our children to have gone though the same socialist indoctrination that they went though.<BR/><BR/>Therefore how can a socialist minister have any good idears on how to help OUR CHILDREN that could possibly work for individuals?<BR/><BR/>Parents must ultimately be made surplus to requirements,or socialism will die. Lets just hope it dont take the rest of us with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-77137590412797071282007-02-14T22:38:00.000+00:002007-02-14T22:38:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.DiscoveredJoyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05300239909689336895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-33534756854834097902007-02-14T22:33:00.000+00:002007-02-14T22:33:00.000+00:00Erm, I think that successive governments since the...Erm, I think that successive governments since the early 1970s have gradually infantilised the population more and more, until it came to the so-called "abolition of Parliament" bill.<BR/><BR/>For decades, people have been encouraged to "know their rights" but not their duties. When I was a teacher-training student in the mid-1970s, I remember one pupil saying to another with whom I was remonstrating at the end of a lesson, "get her to hit you". Also in the 1970s, I worked as a volunteer in a reconciliation centre in Northern Ireland and learned how youths become gunmen (an older man puts a gun in your hand and says, "Shoot X, or I'll shoot you"). In the 1980s, when my next door neighbour's two sons slid into delinquent behaviour, their (working) mother said, "what can I do about it?" (the father, who worked in a white-collar job, said nothing).<BR/><BR/>I've also been a step-parent to a girl whose every whim had been indulged since she was a toddler. No present was big enough, no one could have a treat unless she had it as well, she couldn't see the point of school (she'd rather be shopping, watching Neighbours, or meeting boys "off the Internet"). And so dissatisfied. A more screwed-up child I have never known, before or since. An absolute bloody nightmare.indigohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016153810542371398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-36178847561078858222007-02-14T22:10:00.000+00:002007-02-14T22:10:00.000+00:00Whilst I absolutely believe that Blair, Brown et a...Whilst I absolutely believe that Blair, Brown et al. should shoulder most of the blame for this problem, a large proportion of the blame has to lie with our failed political system which is consistently ignoring this sort of problem at the expense of personal and party political quests for power which, every time, our MPs seem to place as a higher priority than the need to improve the lot of the people they represent.<BR/><BR/>If politicians continue to ignore this problem then, in time, they will have todeal with it as a response to a media onslaught. They have a choice, deal with it now and take the inititive, or deal with it later and be dictated to by the media agenda.Martin Curtishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01176326240748841872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-8763871224889794962007-02-14T19:36:00.000+00:002007-02-14T19:36:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Terry Hamblinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06346629921055055879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-45081606225083263802007-02-14T19:26:00.000+00:002007-02-14T19:26:00.000+00:00This is the saddest debate on British Culture or t...This is the saddest debate on British Culture or the we live Iv'e seen ,even Iain has gone onto new things , it appears to me people all the media do the same thing move on ,it hasn't happened ,everything is lovely ,we can't even talk about it not PC ,so what do we all do now ,I presume like me nothing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-13197525824996486712007-02-14T19:08:00.000+00:002007-02-14T19:08:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Etzel Panglosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03406597168530012673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-277528314604075462007-02-14T18:10:00.000+00:002007-02-14T18:10:00.000+00:00Blaming Thatcher is so idiotic. She was powerful b...Blaming Thatcher is so idiotic. She was powerful but not that powerful. The pathetic creatures who keep blaming her for everything short of original sin simply can't do without her. There was a good documentary not long ago on tv called "I hate the 60s" which pointed to the origins of some of our present troubles.Little Black Sambohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16699227938165106710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-48755675900882967112007-02-14T18:00:00.000+00:002007-02-14T18:00:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-53905941524601619552007-02-14T17:47:00.000+00:002007-02-14T17:47:00.000+00:00"Margaret Thatcher and the years of Tory rule did ..."Margaret Thatcher and the years of Tory rule did play a role in this, by unleashing a very individualistic society and freeing the country to become more like the US."<BR/><BR/>Society was individualistic in the Victorian period before the welfare state. Absolute poverty existed. Yet there was a yearning amongst the working classes for respectability. Now in an age of welfare and plenty we see the rise of the chav.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-42976056240769287182007-02-14T17:42:00.000+00:002007-02-14T17:42:00.000+00:00Once again the assumption is that the government m...Once again the assumption is that the government must wave its socialist magic wand and make all the poor children richer and happier.<BR/><BR/>Alternatively, how about the government gets out of our way to let us deal with our own problems?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-87748723595805340902007-02-14T17:41:00.000+00:002007-02-14T17:41:00.000+00:00I think of Thatcher that she had to do what she di...I think of Thatcher that she had to do what she did in order to sort out the economic mess of the 1970s which was - guess what? - a Labour achievement. But then we could continue this argument back forever.<BR/><BR/>I noticed like Labour Humanist the preponderance of socialist models in the top ten. But then, to misquote my parents and teachers, what have the Swedes ever given the world? Abba and Volvos. It also does seem to confirm the socialist bias alleged by other bloggers.<BR/><BR/>Comparing social trends between countries is always perilous because countries have different histories, different social values and different global roles.<BR/><BR/>But I think a re-emphasis on personal qualities such as honesty, loyalty, discipline, consideration for others and self-sufficiency would not go amiss.Rich Teehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14037296506942507747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-60812038846808460482007-02-14T16:24:00.000+00:002007-02-14T16:24:00.000+00:00Why has my post not been put up?relisted!The socie...Why has my post not been put up?<BR/><BR/>relisted!<BR/>The society that we have, has come about more and more since our integration with the EU it was not noticeable at first because they were not passing all the laws they are now.<BR/><BR/>When the British public were lied to by the politicians in the 70's things began to change in this country. When those who govern a country lie to the country, the country begins to wonder what the point is!<BR/><BR/>Yes Thatcherism played a part but not as much as this Government. This Government offered hope to the people of the UK, and after all the lies and sleaze of the Conservatives, people went out in their droves for honesty! - They told the politicians quite clearly had they been bothered to look 'please do not lie to us, do not let us down'.<BR/><BR/>Britains have always been proud of their country, their government and their queen, Now however what have we got.<BR/>Their country is ruled by the EU, their Queen despite a 4 million signature for her to intervene for her subjects about the EU, she handed it to the Government. Then we have the Government, who we cannot trust. We have a Parliament who we can in the main not distinguish between.<BR/>We have liars, selfserving, money grabbing, I'm all right jack politicians running the country and it gets no better.<BR/><BR/>So for the British people who have lost the essence of who they are, how do the politicians tackle it?<BR/><BR/>Parents cannot smack their children.<BR/>cannot make them do anything they do not want to do.<BR/>will be imprisoned if they do not go to school,<BR/>will be arrested if they try to get them out of bed to go to school.<BR/>House wives are failures if they stay at home.<BR/>mothers are failures if they go to work.<BR/>Women who cook are not as successful as those who buy M&S ready meals.<BR/>Now women who buy ready meals are not as heathly as those who cook.<BR/><BR/>BUY BRITISH.. So we do - Bernard Matthews, then we find out he is importing it from the EU.. Yet another lie.<BR/>Cameron came to the Tory leadership with I am a EUsceptic. Then he tells his party there'll be trouble if they sign the better off out campaign.<BR/>If you haven't got a car you are a failure, if you have a car we'll tax you through the hilt.<BR/>Save for you pension - Gordon Brown steels it.<BR/>With millions out of work and promises of future employment the Gov't opens the flood gates to immigrants. Fiddles the voting areas to get back into power on 22% of the vote.<BR/>Children who used to go strawberry, blackberry picking etc on the farms during summer for pocket money are no longer allowed to,and these typically British Children's jobs have been taken by Eastern Europeans. Washing cars, can't do it incase Kid has accident on your drive.<BR/>So you have parents and grandparents who have been let down by all who are there to protect them and their country. They do not know if they are coming or going, what they can and cannot do.<BR/>You have children who can do anything, who are not reprimanded at home, at school, are not taught properly at school, are not allowed to be christian and help their fellow man. Are not allowed to be disciplined.<BR/><BR/>Prior to the EU we had communities who looked after each other, there was the post office, butchers, bakers, everything we really needed to survive. But then money came into the equation and Politicians were first in line with their greedy hands out. Globalisation,village shops closed big supermarkets out of town opened. And we were regulated against everything in all of our lives.. Hell they've even done a study in the EU about which nationality uses more pieces of paper to wipe its arse.<BR/>Naturally its the British because we have to put up with all the bloody shit from the inept EU down.<BR/><BR/>Problem in the UK? Too bloody right there's a problem, but this is not one the policiticans from any party wants to sort out.. They stand to lose too much money.... THAT IS THE PROBLEM!paigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07923483881178119536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-79339211668657841912007-02-14T16:11:00.000+00:002007-02-14T16:11:00.000+00:00BBC Says "UK is accused of failing children"http:/...BBC Says "UK is accused of failing children"<BR/><BR/>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6359363.stm<BR/><BR/>Honestly, criticising this Government is like spitting teeth for them. This Government has been in power for 10 years and the BBC still can't bring themselves to blame the Government. The sooner the BBC is privatised, and start to live in the real world, the better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-22392258796380972762007-02-14T15:41:00.000+00:002007-02-14T15:41:00.000+00:00Actually Croydonian has driven a coach and horse t...Actually Croydonian has driven a coach and horse through the methodology<BR/><BR/>http://croydonian.blogspot.com/2007/02/that-unicef-report.html#comments<BR/><BR/>Tremendous workNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-52480581223886889922007-02-14T15:26:00.000+00:002007-02-14T15:26:00.000+00:00This confirms my suspicions. My kids have become t...This confirms my suspicions. My kids have become the victims of a disfunctional education system that has been over regulated by the luny left. They are scared to voice their opinions because of what others think. They are scared to be different when it comes to wearing their home clothes on a mufty day and if they don't like football they are classed as freaks! The Media are part to blaim here but who runs the mainstream media in the UK? AND who is compelled by law to pay for it? I moved from one end of the country (Dover, Kent) to the Southwest and things have improved hugely for my kids. It was a gamble that has paid off...thank God!wessexbloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01573108815843648580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-9956395740063868762007-02-14T14:17:00.000+00:002007-02-14T14:17:00.000+00:00To me this has been brewing since 1948.Courts must...To me this has been brewing since 1948.<BR/><BR/>Courts must throw out malicious or mischevious litigation, fining those for wasting court time if necessary. Sort this and people will not bother anymore. Boundaries can be re-introduced without ridiculous PC mentality.<BR/><BR/>Taxation needs to be more family friendly - married couples with kids should be able to transfer and aggregate tax allowances, ideally so that one parent can give up full time work. Co-habitees? Spend your £40 and get hitched.<BR/><BR/>Welfare should stop funding the poor to have more children. Once you are on welfare or a dependent of another, no increases in benefits (housing or cash) should be provided if you have additional children. This includes going from 0 to 1 child.Roger Thornhillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01153744692290896812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-6713758691162082402007-02-14T14:16:00.000+00:002007-02-14T14:16:00.000+00:00Javelin hits most of the points- Tom Paine has the...Javelin hits most of the points- Tom Paine has the best comment on this today for my money.Guthrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499979740864497256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-63840874719367136192007-02-14T14:13:00.001+00:002007-02-14T14:13:00.001+00:00I listened to Newsnight too, and found it depressi...I listened to Newsnight too, and found it depressing. <BR/><BR/>Some good thougths about setting "boundries"; and getting teachers to guide and educate as they did before the 60's(rather than just offer options and say every lifestyle is of equal value). <BR/><BR/>But then they all agreed that the solution is to "listen more to children" !!!! And Paxo suggested it was all Thatcher's fault anyway - there is no hope of any change.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com