In one's opinion, which problems are in which camp, of course, heavily depends on their individual political beliefs. But, at least in MY opinion your statement has much truth to it.

I think a lot of it has to do with what you think causes the problems. For example, we have laws against stealing, obviously...but the right wing camp will try to drive the crime rate down by imposing harsher sentences. Left wingers will try to deal with what causes people to steal, which is much harder, but in the long term more effective.

I think you have misidentified this as right/left. I think the correct identification is Moralist/Ethicist.

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Ok two tickets sold for the Upper Circle, any more?

So, tell us more about these "gay black babies against the bomb"?

Or did you sober up and realise that you were spouting right wing propaganda?

You might want to go and hang out in the "are you racist?" thread and examine why you were so ready to believe it.

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Reality Internet Personality

Late edit - I have found an email address for Linda and have written to her personally. I will get back.

I look forward to hearing her reply.

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Reality Internet Personality

Kudos to her for replying.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Kudos to her for replying.

Agreed. I wasn't sure she would.

Having to deal with all the misinformation spread by the media even 30 odd years later must still be infuriating.

On a similar note over here we just found out that the BC Government (who call themselves Liberals, but are actually a right wing government) spent $350K on anti-strike ads during our recent teachers strike. The strike was because there have been massive cuts the education in BC that have affected special needs provision and class size. The government have constantly claimed they can't afford it (mainly because of huge tax cuts).

Yet they spend $350K of tax money on a anti-teacher campaign.

BCTF surprised by government’s $350k strike ads

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Reality Internet Personality

Here it is.

Dear Chris,
It is indeed a figment of your imagination on the other hand it is the sort of thing that was printed in the Sun and Mail about me. Of course it is not true, we had little money and what we had was used to meet the needs of the working class (Black and White) people who needed them.
Linda

Reflecting back, it does seem that I was specifically wrong but generally right. Linda was not that popular a leader, and the Mail probably did say something like, what ever next "Black gay ........", which the local press did pick up on.

But I told her that I would put the record straight, so on her behalf I have done.

From my own investigations what happened was the GLC gave a small amount of funding to a day care organisation called Babies Against the Bomb. Seeing as how important day care is to poor working families I can't see why this was considered misspending funds. The media at the time turned it into a "scandal". There was also small amounts of funding given to Gay and Lesbian rights groups to help promote equal opportunities. The Daily fail being the homophobic hate filled rag that it is was opposed to this and turned it into bigger story that it was in order to turn people against the GLC council. The funding given to these groups was very small and no way representative of how they spent taxpayers money.

Just another example of why you need to be really critical of what you read in the papers. Especially certain papers that have owners trying to push their own agenda regardless of the facts.

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Reality Internet Personality

Our schools are just another example of
neighbours helping each other raise their kids!

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There's a better sensible answer - governments should govern not dictate!

Whatever next?

The Commons Education Committee's inquiry was launched after Ofsted found more than a third of schools were failing to provide age-appropriate SRE.

Very important qualifier there.
I'm presuming they won't be trying to teach 4-year olds how to put on a condom.
Chris is right, someone has to teach the kids about the birds and bees, that someone should be the parents, but if they CBA, then government may as well step in.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Whatever next?

The Commons Education Committee's inquiry was launched after Ofsted found more than a third of schools were failing to provide age-appropriate SRE.

Very important qualifier there.
I'm presuming they won't be trying to teach 4-year olds how to put on a condom.
Chris is right, someone has to teach the kids about the birds and bees, that someone should be the parents, but if they CBA, then government may as well step in.

Its not just a case of CBA, some parents feel really uncomfortable talking about this to their kids. Some may have religious reasons for wanting to keep their kid ignorant, and some might not know enough themselves to do it properly.

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Reality Internet Personality

Its not just a case of CBA, some parents feel really uncomfortable talking about this to their kids.

That comes under CBA.

Some may have religious reasons for wanting to keep their kid ignorant,

That's not a valid excuse!

and some might not know enough themselves to do it properly.

Might be how they ended up with a kid in the first place. :)

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Its not just a case of CBA, some parents feel really uncomfortable talking about this to their kids.

That comes under CBA.

Some may have religious reasons for wanting to keep their kid ignorant,

That's not a valid excuse!

and some might not know enough themselves to do it properly.

Might be how they ended up with a kid in the first place. :)

So how do you break the cycle?

Remember, we are taught to parent by our parents.

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Reality Internet Personality

Its not just a case of CBA, some parents feel really uncomfortable talking about this to their kids.

That comes under CBA.

Some may have religious reasons for wanting to keep their kid ignorant,

That's not a valid excuse!

and some might not know enough themselves to do it properly.

Might be how they ended up with a kid in the first place. :)

So how do you break the cycle?

Remember, we are taught to parent by our parents.

then government may as well step in.

Not necessarily the option i'd like. But when it comes to education, they are ultimately in charge.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Won't be long before some enterprising company offers a certificate in how to tie your shoelaces, or change your underwear every day,

My kids had to demonstrate they could take off coat and shoes, hang up coat, and put on indoor footware (trainers). Then change footware and lace up the shoes and put on and fasten coat, before being able to attend Kindergarten aged 3.

This was not in the UK.

In terms of State education i.e. full time age 5-16 schools then yes, but "Life Skills" should still be taught in the home. Not only are parents NOT teaching Sex, Relationships, and citizenship, there are now outfits offering "Life Skills" courses, and Life Skills Centres. Won't be long before some enterprising company offers a certificate in how to tie your shoelaces, or change your underwear every day, with an endorsement for teeth cleaning. Actually we are almost there now, look at this list of Girl Guide badges you can get Guide badges How many of those used to be taught in the home as part of a normal upbringing? The Scouts aren't much different, is there a badge for getting up in the morning?

Now now, mock politics and education all you like, but i won't have you bashing the Scouts and Guides. Fine organisations both.
They're about expanding your horizons and skill sets among your peers, under guidance from adults of course, but learning with and from each other and expanding one's horizons, making lifelong friends (+ other such buzzwords).

I don't know how much knot-tying, pioneering, catapult-building, fire-lighting, bivouacking, backwoods cooking, etc, you did "in the home as part of a normal upbringing", but i did them with Scouts (still do) and enjoyed it immensely.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

It's a bit all namby pamby these days compared to what it was when boys were boys and girls were girls. Bit blurred these days it seems to me. I repeat "surrogate parents".

You think so? Have you forgotten about the Army, Sea, Air & Combined Cadet Forces?

I don't know how much knot-tying, pioneering, catapult-building, fire-lighting, bivouacking, backwoods cooking, etc, you did "in the home as part of a normal upbringing", but i did them with Scouts (still do) and enjoyed it immensely.

Excuse me, laddie, read my back posts. Cubs from 8-11, Scouts from 11-15, Senior Scouts from 15-17. Camped at Frylands Wood, Walton Firs, and Bentley Copse. I would have joined the Rover Crew but we didn't have one. In any case Women were on the scene and knobbly knees in shorts was not condusive to ones intentions :-))

We didn't have any girls in Beavers, Cubs or Scouts while i was there. The first girl to join my Scout Troop was my younger sister. She'd been through Rainbows and Brownies, took one look at the Guide section programme and promptly joined the Scouts.

It's a bit all namby pamby these days compared to what it was when boys were boys and girls were girls. Bit blurred these days it seems to me. I repeat "surrogate parents".

You may have a point. At one troop i helped at a few years ago we had more of a problem with parental interference.

Case in point. Nice summers evening. We take the Scouts to a local patch of spare land (happens to be next to a small river) and teach them how to light fires and cook on them. Perfectly normal stuff for Scouts yes?

The excrement flew fanwards later that night and the next morning, five complaint phonecalls the scoutmaster received, about how dangerous this was, what if one of them had fallen in the river, got food poisoning, been abducted by aliens, etc? One parent even wrote a letter to the local paper complaining about how irresponsible we were. (It wasn't published though.)

To be clear, none of the Scouts had fallen in, got food poisoning, been abducted, or been adversely affected in any way. From what i could see they had a great time. It was the overprotective parents who overreacted to a perfectly normal evening activity. We actually lost three Scouts as a result, not of their own volition, the parents wouldn't let them go any more. (Shame to see them go, but we had a big waiting list so didn't lose too much sleep over it.)

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

The Army cadets were all about shouting a lot and marching up and down for the sake of it, we all thought stuff that for a game of Soldiers!!! Which is exactly what it was.
Robert Baden-Powell would turn in their graves if they could see how their dream has turned out today. Real shame.

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM GCMG GCVO KCB
was a lieutenant-general in the British Army.

For a child with a learning disability like autism - life skills courses can make all the difference between having a bright future (where they can contribute to society and reap something back for themselves :)) or to staying a vulnerable, dependent adult for the rest of their lives. And in all of the cases I have first hand knowledge of, it's not about inadequate skills transfer from parent to child. Spend some time with a child who, amongst some very unusual and unexpected responses to sensory stimuli, struggles with motor skills. One you care about :) Now clutch your chest and turn grey :) Then try living it every day :) Life skills courses are just as much about giving the parent of a disadvantaged young person the courage to trust that their child will be able to cope with hopefully all that comes with being an adult, or at least some of it, instead of leaving them bound up by fear.

Take David :) A lovely lad, but with significant autism that meant all his education was in a special needs school. Thanks to his life skills course, he's just finished his training to be a chef and is highly valued in the professional kitchen he is working in :) His mum was too terrified he'd come to harm in hers after her attempts to teach him basic skills lopped years off her life. With David's future promising not be 100 percent of the rest of hers, she is now working full time and able to focus all her attention on her job instead of constantly worrying about her son. And gets to go home and find a delicious dinner waiting for her too :)

My son on the other hand, did not need a life skills course - but he did one anyway. It gave his college tutors a year to understand his needs and gave him a year to gain confidence in his own abilities :) but he had a mountain to climb to become an independent traveller that made it anywhere in one three-dimensional piece let alone home. So yes, he does have certificates that recognise what an enormous achievement it was for him to get into a contained space with a bunch of strangers when all he wanted to do was run blindly away, and what to do when there, and to get the confidence to ask for assistance about which stop to get off at... or even to wait for a Barking underground train and then actually get on it even though it wasn't barking :))) And each one of those certificates he earned comfort me when he leaves the house each morning :) I'm as proud of them as I am of all the distinctions he got doing his BTech and will continue to be once he has finished his degree :)

Learning to let go is hard for many parents. Having a stroppy teen that thinks you should've done so forever ago helps you learn how :) Having one who lacks the confidence and knowhow to demand their place in a world we've made so challenging for them, erodes your own and can leave you struggling to see a future, both for your child and for yourself. I've been in that place a few times :( I'm grateful that there was that help along the way :)

edit: oops late again :) see things have moved on to scouts :) um... yes... know nothing about that :)