We must save our nation of damaged kids
We now have a nation of damaged children suffering from parental break-ups and mothers out at work.
Research for the society found that almost two-thirds of parents are not able to spend enough time with their children and half feel forced to put their career before family life.
They are increasingly turning to day care while their offspirng are still young even though more than a third believe pre-school children suffer if their mothers work.
How sad. And no wonder our children are the unhappiest in Europe.
Parents are trapped in a Catch 22 situation, mortgaged up to the hilt, wanting to provide a good standard of living for their children and goodies galore. Our world is awash with guilt money.
As one friend told me: "You do shower them with gifts because you feel guilty. My mam was always there for me. You had cookery with her. You had to sit down and she'd go through your homework with you. But it's different now."
More's the pity. The stark reality is as the six weeks school holiday begins, too many lonely children will be holed up in their bedrooms playing on computers and watching television – solitary souls who should be out in the fresh air.
Ironically, in a world where there are more ways to communicate than ever before, parents are communicating less and less with their children.
For some, "Mam" is just another word as they are clashed from pillar to post, parenting delegated to minders.
Kids today have more material possessions than ever but their childhood is being blitzed to such a degree that last year, 24,000 youngsters tried to kill themselves, that's one every 22 minutes, according to figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The fundamentals of life are love, caring and security.
As Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood says: "After researching the state of modern childhood for five years, I'm convinced that as our country has grown richer and more 'advanced', we've lost sight of certain fundamental truths about child-rearing.
"We've come to believe that 21st children are different from children in the past - that they can get by with less parental time and attention and skip stages in their development and cope with pressures and emotional burdens children shouldn't have to cope with.
"The brutal truth is they can't."
How true. And given that tiny babies need to know someone is caring for them at all times, and know that someone by sight, sound, smell and touch, Sue believes the carer needs to be a constant and consistent loving presence in the child's life.
But she says: "We've blown this one by putting so many tiny children into day nurseries, so that both their parents can go out to work and feed the economy rather than the baby."
And too many children are growing up in homes where parents just cannot say "no."
They cave into their demands for all they see on the television, believe the bunkum of celebrities that happiness comes from being rich and famous.
It's crucial that parents do find new ways to provide a secure, healthy family life for their children. The rub is time. And that's a commodity in short supply. It's of critical importance if you believe in investing in the future of our children who mean the world to us.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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