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

Oops, sorry! ...



Mrs LL calls me for lunch.

We discussed "the rules" over luncheon and nuckling down to nourritures, were they menuly some ham and jaffas, and I don't mean to make the ingestion for the moment that he was guilbey of gulpable gluttony as regards chewable boltaballs, but, biestings be biestings, and upon the whole, when not off his oats ... while the whistling prairial roysters play, gormandising and gourmeteering, he grubbed his tuck all right...Mrs LL said quoting Joyce in my defence. What a wonderful woman she is!

I don't consider the new tagline an improvement, Edward. Now you've got that inane song stuck in my head.

...I can teach you - but I'll have to charge.

But I've already explained this...there's bad inane and there's good inane.

I started my training yesterday.

Maaan, it's intense. But very slickly and professionally done.

I came away last night with my head crammed full and with a certain pride at being a citizen of Scotland (yeah...I know we should be proud of who we are, not where we live...but still). I don't think it would be possible to base a system of child justice and welfare on more a sensible or more liberal philosophy. They drummed into us three simple principles which will inform anything we'll do:
- the child's needs come first.
- minimum intervention.
- the child has a say.

And another thing - there's no room for negotiation. The clear message is that if we can't get behind these, there's no point doing the job. This is what we've agreed as a democratic society that we'll do.

Cor!

If you're not the bloater's kipper may I never curse again. Wharever dat meens. Respect, anyway!

How wonderful that the child should have a say and his/her needs come first! It certainly isn't that way over here- I speak from personal experience; the rule of thumb for most family services departments and courts is that the needs/wants/demands of the parent(s) come first. The child is treated more like a pawn. Children are taken away from loving, competent foster parents or extended family members and returned to the biological parent(s), because apparently having a child is seen as a "god-given" right, as opposed to a privilege. Amanda Wallace, along with many others, springs to mind.

Wish I'd had someone like you working on my case.

>>Wish I'd had someone like you working on my case.

I disclaim any credit. It's the law! Clearly drafted by some intelligent and humane minds.

(And, of course, I'm not saying that there are no problems in practice)

Well...I finished my training tonight and I've been issued with my badge and gun. eek. That means that in a very short time, I'm going to be making serious decisions affecting children's lives. I guess if I thought I was ready for it, it would prove I wasn't ready.

Tonight we were role playing some dummy hearings. One in particular was salutary. The panel decided to give a mother back her baby. The tutor rushed over from the back of the room, handed her a doll and said "How do you feel about that?"
Hmm. Like - maybe it should have been phased? Maybe they should have been sure what supports would be in place? Or maybe not. We're only amateurs. Doubtless we'd have set off alarms amongst social workers who'd swoop in to help. I hope. You'd think?

What amazingly clever, professional trainers. I've never been made to think so hard in my life! It certainly never happened at university. And the quality of my fellow trainees from a vast diversity of backgrounds reinforces my opinion that intelligence is in no way correlated with education. They're a super lot! (If I have any talent, it's to recognise intelligence when I see it.)

Congratulations. Please keep us updated occasionally. And print your last post and put it in a corner where you will see it on a day when it feels as though bureaucracy has overwhelmed you

Congratulations! Envy even. I more or less stopped thinking after primary school; I found it wasn't required. May your wits never desert you.

What you say -- "intelligence is in no way correlated with education" echoes what I said to Frenchbean a while back: "What does the word 'graduate' have to do with the word 'talent'?"

And of course the sainted Oscar: "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."