h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Fair enough I did start to talk from a work point of view that wouldnt be appropriate for everyome to follow and was dealing with the scenario described earlier where a teenager clearly couldnt be the parent of children that age.

So I accept some of what you say but I cant imagine that everyone would be as violent or as abusive as you have said they would be, infact I know people who havent been. However why do parents continue to think they have the right to do what they like to their childen?

I know why it ends up that way but I think we need to start pushing for a serious attitude shift where parents dont assume they have the right to treat their children in a way that *they see as reasonable* but understand that there are limits to their rights and that their children have rights too.

Parenting isnt easy, but in the game of life you have got probably 15 years plus more experience over kids access to all sorts of sweets and toys as bribes. Plus they are programmed to follow your lead all you have to do is set out with a good game plan and use your advantages wisley and they will be eating out of your hand. Yet some of them manage to still balls it up.

In a lot of ways I agree with Novo some things did go wrong in the past somethings were changed for the god too though. Socially and personally people have accept responsibility and not look around to blame others and wonder what punishments to dish out but ask what do I need to do to put things right.

one love

I don't for a minute suppose that parents do have the right to do what they want to their children. I'm merely suggesting that I doubt it's beneficial to anyone involved if completely untrained numpties go around asking 'difficult' questions of parents who are probably already under some stress due to the behaviour of their children.

...particularly as the kind of people likely to take it upon themselves to intervene may well tend to be the least suitable people to do so with tact or common-sense?

Well I don't want to get into the whole "how I treat my kids is generally my business and nobody else's" which we have hashed out on h2g2 over the years, but I will say one more thing. And that is that people are more likely to "tackle" what they see as an example of possible abuse (harassed mum smacking a kid who is putting sweets onto the checkout band, for example) if the person involved isn't 6'6" and covered in tattoos with a pit bull for company.

(Blicky might, but he's a big lad )

I'll tell you what I am nostalgic for. Today we got a note from Gruesome #2's class teacher, regarding a sleepover and a grill party we had at the school earlier this term. She has 110 photographs, which she will put on CD for any parent who sends her the 30cents the CD will cost.

Which I think is great.

I understand, however, that in the UK, in order for her to do this she would have to get a consent form from every parent of every kid in the photos. Just in case. So that schools in the UK don't even think of doing things like this.

My mum also mentioned the photo thing when she was over here recently. She wanted to take photos of the Gruesomes' ballet class, but thought she'd probably have to get permission off all the other parents.

Is this really the case? If so, I'm nostalgic for earlier times.

Sho, at my library we have to get consent forms from parents to put pictures of their kids on the internet in group photos. I'm in Missouri. I don't know how it works in other states or in the UK. I don't understand why just sharing photos among parents though would be a problem -m as long as they aren't going to become public.

I can understand photos on the internet - to a certain degree.

And I do understand that while we were on holiday in Portugal, my mum (and some others) challenged a man (apparently unaccompanied by children) who was photographing the kids at the pool.

But it does strike me that some things are just plain senseless. Energies would be better spent doing soemthing positive and constructive and genuinely helpful instead of jousting windmills.

You have my point exactly Potholer.

The regualtions dont stop sleepovers and such like they do make it more difficult to organise things but when you know some of the things that can occur because of innocuous seeming omissions then you start to understand why. even if they are a pain to deal with.

One of the reasons you have to check for consent is that if the child is at risk from an estranged parent publication of their picture can lead to that parent knowing where the new school is which defeats the point of them being moved town etc...It also gives people the option of having their child involved in what is afterall publicity for the school or library.

If we only display photographs in the school or youth centre we dont need permission as obviously anyone in there already has acess to the actual children anyway.



What I miss is being able to get money for collecting the deposit on bottles

For whatever the reason -

I'm still nostalgic for the childhood days when I went out playing all day. I wouldn't let my children do it today. Not because abuse is more, but because abusers are more mobile.

In 'the good old days' authority figures abused children and it was ignored - I'm not just thinking of the priest here, but also physical abuse in schools - and yes my Dad would have given me another one (though he'd probably have gone round and sorted out the school master too.) - around where I grew up, kids were often slapped - and no-one thought it extraordinary.