.

[Woody]

mustn't have my stuff here, ed keeps it.

[NoxInflux]

You pose quite a question.

How would you think the UK compares to the USA in this regard?

I always considered the UK to be slightly off course that the rest of Europe. Why the difference?

Children's lives should be at the top of society's priority list. We shouldn't rush them into copies of the adults. Education and activity/sports should be paramount. We shouldn't press them into specific ways of thinking and cognitive prisons.

This is a topic that demands attention. 

Nox Influx

[Ed]

The problem is you can't do anything about it. I was dead set against my kids having sex education at the age of nine, but my only option was to keep them out of school when it was being taught, which would be pointless, because all the other kids would tell them anyway. Health and safety kept their school closed last week, because the playground had snow on it. That was the best playtime I ever had at school, but now it's too dangerous. Somebody might slip and hurt themselves, and god forbid anybody make a snowball and throw it.

The whole thing does my head in.

[digitaldeath]

I have what could be described as seriously radical views. Without kids I cannot comment on many aspects but across community as a whole the bespectaled woman with green plaid skirts and berets seem to hold sway. When I went to boarding school I was once caned for throwing a paper dart during prep. Maybe it was severe but I understood discipline. I never beat up a teacher or took a weapon into school. There should be visible punishment in the UK. If I massacred a handful of shoppers  I would get life. 6 yrs, maybe only community service. Bring back capital punishment, turn the prisons into punishment centres rather than hotels, birch offenders and use cruise missiles to get rid of the damned Somali pirates.
Sorry if it offends anyone. I feel the UK government is concerned only with self image and increasing personal wealth, one reason i moved to Spain, only they have corruption down to an art. At least the police arrest criminals rather than motorists biting a Mars bar while stationary.

[delph_ambi]

Speaking as a bespectacled woman wearing green plaid and a beret, I have to disagree. Profoundly.

[NoxInflux]

LOL!!!!

Execute the commies and left wing do gooders in the streets!!!

Vote BNP!!!

[Geoff_N]

In 30 years of teaching my school closed twice, once because the heating broke down in Jan 1982 when the outside temperature was -22C. The kids were told on local radio not to come in but I did in order to verify my climate readings at the school weather station The other time it closed was about 8 years ago when deep snow prevented enough staff to get there. The law says there must be certain teacher to pupil staffing ratios for safety. We always had the school open even with frozen footpaths and playgrounds. Yes, kids and staff fell over and a few broke collar bones - but that was before the litigation culture so no one thought to sue the Education Authorites and use up their textbook money on payouts. The only time we banned snowball fights was in 2002 when some bright kids packed ice around stones. It was the paramedics who strongly suggested we stopped the kiddies from snowballing. Sad.

So schools closing in snow can be fairly blamed on two factors 1) the way workpeople live farther from their place of work and 2) ambulance chasing lawyers.

[digitaldeath]

In the wild society is maintained but a balance of predator and prey, the lions eat the weak. In human culture if there actually were werewolves and vampires they would feed on people skulking around in the dark to steal. If they wanted to integrate [BBC Being HUman] maybe they would feast on the scum of the population.
So maybe someone ought to go to Transylvania and find some.
Maybe they exist in a different dimension and we need an interface.

[Woody]

Good point DD.