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

I have found the thread of Jon Venables, and this cast my mind back to what I thought when that little child was killed.

I remember thinking obout the parents of the child who was killed, and also the parents of the children who committed the deed.

I thought of a lot of things and wondered what role do parents play when their children "go off the rails" and commit such deeds.

I do not think that I have changed my mind. I still think that the custom of the African in their societies before they adopted the norms of Western soceity, was to bring the whole family before the Chief when a crime had been committed.

I can remember that the punishment which the Chief ordered for the particular crime was to have the whole family pegged to the ground near an ant's nest.

Two things struck me at the time. the fact that that the WHOLE FAMILY was deemed to have contributed to the crime.

2 The punishment was not fatal but extremely disagreeable;

These are thoughts - random, but I do believe that parents do have a responsibility towards their children and that practically eveything that their child does in some way reflects the parenting that their child has received.

Christiane
AR80

Friday 26th Maarch 2010 7.00 GMT

There was a comment which appeared in my text whilst I was writing it which had been inserted by someone who must "monitor" my writing. I have excluded it but please try to understand ,whoever you are. that although I am very old, I actually do try and be as fair and as just as I can be, and if I cannot be that I generally state that my ideas could be baised.
CME