Here we go again!

It’s reported that one in five children are to be categorised as having “special needs”. Codswallop. There were about four hundred and fifty children in my last school and about ten of them were regularly caned. Those who advocated the abolition of corporal punishment pointed to this fact as proof that it didn’t work. I say that it did work, because the mere threat of the cane kept the other four hundred and forty of us well behaved. There will always be some who are just ‘naughty’.

When the cane was abolished and children’s behaviour markedly worsened, the abolitionists were horrified and so invented things like ADHD and other excuses, lest they be blamed for the deterioration in behaviour. Misbehaving pupils, and some of the more irresponsible parents, then grabbed this as an excuse for bad behaviour. “It’s not that he(she)’s naughty, they have something wrong with them and they can’t help it.”

If discipline is applied at home from the time a child can recognise their parents voice and children are subjected to what they crave most, the security of a routine, there would be a lot less children being classified as ‘in need’. The only thing they’re really in need of is proper parenting.

I had cause to visit a cemetery recently and, as I always do, I paused by the section for children. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautifully laid out and attended to but at the same time it is a very sad place.

I was reminded of Barbara, an ancestor of mine who died in 1864 at the ripe old age of 98. We found an obituary for her in the local press. It stated...

“...her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren numbered 145, 89 of whom were still living...”

That meant that during her lifetime, Barbara attended, or was aware of, the deaths of 56 children. Imagine having to go through that. It’s not something, thankfully, that we have to bear these days. There is a beautiful children’s cemetery because we don’t have to.

That’s it for now, take care and I’ll be back soon.