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Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 June 2012
The Art Of Doing Nothing.
It's easier for some, than it is for others.
Here's a link to the video of mine that i mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9zsUSIrMjE
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Only The Technology Changes.
I was briefly listening to the radio this morning and heard about an article in todays Sunday Express. Not a newspaper i would normally go anywhere near, by the way.
In the article, they were worrying about the effect watching tv on the BBC iPlayer etc was having on the children of today. The fear being that children were turning up to school too tired to concentrate on their school work. Because they'd been sitting up in bed half the night watching tv programmes on their iPads, or smart phones.
And this is news?
I was doing exactly the same kind of thing about 40 years ago.
The only difference being that back then i was probably listening to Radio Luxembourg, or a pirate radio station, instead of watching tv.
Many other children at that time, were also hiding under the covers, but reading a book, or a magazine that they just couldn't put down, or it was something that they didn't want their parents to see them reading.
I'm sure we've all been in this situation at some time in our lives, especially as children?
The only difference today is that the technology has moved on in leaps and bounds. We've gone from books, magazines and medium wave radio to wireless Internet, iPads and smart phones.
I'm now a parent myself and i'd be very surprised if my children were not doing exactly as the Sunday Express "exposes".
Exactly what i did myself when i was a child, all those years ago.
People are just the same as they've always been. It's just the technology that changes.
And, rather ironically, Express Newspapers do have their very own iPad App should you want to download it.
So, you can read that article in the comfort of your own bed tonight.
Just don't tell your children!
In the article, they were worrying about the effect watching tv on the BBC iPlayer etc was having on the children of today. The fear being that children were turning up to school too tired to concentrate on their school work. Because they'd been sitting up in bed half the night watching tv programmes on their iPads, or smart phones.
And this is news?
I was doing exactly the same kind of thing about 40 years ago.
The only difference being that back then i was probably listening to Radio Luxembourg, or a pirate radio station, instead of watching tv.
Many other children at that time, were also hiding under the covers, but reading a book, or a magazine that they just couldn't put down, or it was something that they didn't want their parents to see them reading.
I'm sure we've all been in this situation at some time in our lives, especially as children?
The only difference today is that the technology has moved on in leaps and bounds. We've gone from books, magazines and medium wave radio to wireless Internet, iPads and smart phones.
I'm now a parent myself and i'd be very surprised if my children were not doing exactly as the Sunday Express "exposes".
Exactly what i did myself when i was a child, all those years ago.
People are just the same as they've always been. It's just the technology that changes.
And, rather ironically, Express Newspapers do have their very own iPad App should you want to download it.
So, you can read that article in the comfort of your own bed tonight.
Just don't tell your children!
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
AudioBoo - Sinking In.
The Spanish lessons are starting to have an effect. That and thoughts about learning, especially at my time of life.
Monday, 19 July 2010
From Mosh Pit To Play Pen.
I read an article yesterday about a recent music festival which has started to provide creche facilities for children taken to that festival.
Apparently in previous years at this festival, the parents had to stay with the children. But, this year the parents can pay to leave their children at the festivals kids club. Leaving the parents to go off and enjoy the festivities.
Now, to me at least, this just seems plain wrong.
I can't believe that music festivals have changed that much over the years. And, i seem to remember that festivals have always been associated with drinking, recreational drug use & generally having a very good time. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Not the sort of place that i'd want to take any children of mine to.
Maybe things have changed since my day & i know that they certainly have when it comes to the provision of facilities. But, is a music festival really the right place for a child? Even if they are supervised by a qualified adult.
I realise that children have been taken to music festivals over the years & that facilities have often been provided for them. But, up until now at least, those children have always had to be supervised by at least one of the parents. This latest development seems to be a big change to those previous arrangements.
To me, this whole issue raises two main questions:
1 - Should children be allowed to attend festivals in the first place? and,
2 - Are the parents being selfish by taking them there?
1 - I have no real problem with children attending festivals as such & i suppose it's good that parents feel that they can safely take their children to them. That's obviously an indication of the way that festivals have progressed over the years. Many more festivals and events generally, are now considered to be "child friendly". But, does this end up changing the atmosphere of the festival, or the event itself? After all, allowing children & possibly, actively encouraging them to attend, must change the way that a festival is run? Different facilities & activities have to be provided to cater for those children.
It goes without saying that f you encourage children, you then have to provide for them. That must cost money?
So does this raise the price of the ticket price for everyone else? If so, is that fair?
At the festival in question here, children under 12 get in free. Is that fair?
As with any potential festival goer, i can, of course, decide not to attend in the first place. But, why should i feel the need to do that. I want to attend a music festival, not a kindergarden.
I admit that i've not attended a music festival for a number of years now. So, the children that are there may not be as intrusvie as i fear they might be.
Festivals have always been occasions when consenting adults can let their hair down a bit & not have to worry about "stuff" for a few days. Does the presence of children change all of that?
2 - Personally, i tend to think that they are. Especially, if they then pay to leave those children in the care of others.
If parents choose to take their children to a music festival & then look after them themselves. Then, i don't see that as quite so much of a problem. But, i do then start to wonder, where is the fun in doing that? What is the point of going to a festival when you have to spend most your time worrying about and tending to the needs of your children. It's something i would certainly never contemplate.
Being a parent of two teenage children, i have been on many family holidays. As any parent will tell you. When those children are young, that turns out to be anything but a holiday. You tend to come home more stressed than when you started out.
I suppose that this new option of paying somebody to look after your children for you, whilst you go & enjoy the music, is a nice option for some. The ones who can afford to pay for this service that is.
But, surely this then raises questions about whether this is fair on the children themselves? And also, what happens if the parents "enjoy" themselves a little bit too much, if you get my drift? Where does the responsibility for the children end up laying? It sounds like a legal minefield to me.
To me, this seems to have taken the whole concept of the babysitter a step too far.
Don't' get me wrong. If i was a child i'm sure i'd love the idea of going to a music festival. It certainly sounds exciting. That's if i'm old enough to realise what's going on of course. But, there does surely come a time when a parent has to wonder if all of this is actually worth it.
As i mentioned earlier. As a parent, i would not have even considered taking my children to a music festival like this and for a number of reasons too. There's the hassle, worry, stress, cost, noise, logistics, time etc etc.
There does, in my opinion anyway, come a time when you just have to say, "No".
Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice as a parent & i have done that many times in the past. You can't do everything that you would like to do & you often have to put certain things off for the future, for when those children have grown older. That's all a part of being a parent and something you just have to accept. You can't have it all. But, unfortunately, that's exactly what some people do want. They want it all & they want it now.
Are those people messing it up for everyone else & not just on the topic of music festivals either?
I'll let you decide & debate that question. But, i know what i think.
Apparently in previous years at this festival, the parents had to stay with the children. But, this year the parents can pay to leave their children at the festivals kids club. Leaving the parents to go off and enjoy the festivities.
Now, to me at least, this just seems plain wrong.
I can't believe that music festivals have changed that much over the years. And, i seem to remember that festivals have always been associated with drinking, recreational drug use & generally having a very good time. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Not the sort of place that i'd want to take any children of mine to.
Maybe things have changed since my day & i know that they certainly have when it comes to the provision of facilities. But, is a music festival really the right place for a child? Even if they are supervised by a qualified adult.
I realise that children have been taken to music festivals over the years & that facilities have often been provided for them. But, up until now at least, those children have always had to be supervised by at least one of the parents. This latest development seems to be a big change to those previous arrangements.
To me, this whole issue raises two main questions:
1 - Should children be allowed to attend festivals in the first place? and,
2 - Are the parents being selfish by taking them there?
1 - I have no real problem with children attending festivals as such & i suppose it's good that parents feel that they can safely take their children to them. That's obviously an indication of the way that festivals have progressed over the years. Many more festivals and events generally, are now considered to be "child friendly". But, does this end up changing the atmosphere of the festival, or the event itself? After all, allowing children & possibly, actively encouraging them to attend, must change the way that a festival is run? Different facilities & activities have to be provided to cater for those children.
It goes without saying that f you encourage children, you then have to provide for them. That must cost money?
So does this raise the price of the ticket price for everyone else? If so, is that fair?
At the festival in question here, children under 12 get in free. Is that fair?
As with any potential festival goer, i can, of course, decide not to attend in the first place. But, why should i feel the need to do that. I want to attend a music festival, not a kindergarden.
I admit that i've not attended a music festival for a number of years now. So, the children that are there may not be as intrusvie as i fear they might be.
Festivals have always been occasions when consenting adults can let their hair down a bit & not have to worry about "stuff" for a few days. Does the presence of children change all of that?
2 - Personally, i tend to think that they are. Especially, if they then pay to leave those children in the care of others.
If parents choose to take their children to a music festival & then look after them themselves. Then, i don't see that as quite so much of a problem. But, i do then start to wonder, where is the fun in doing that? What is the point of going to a festival when you have to spend most your time worrying about and tending to the needs of your children. It's something i would certainly never contemplate.
Being a parent of two teenage children, i have been on many family holidays. As any parent will tell you. When those children are young, that turns out to be anything but a holiday. You tend to come home more stressed than when you started out.
I suppose that this new option of paying somebody to look after your children for you, whilst you go & enjoy the music, is a nice option for some. The ones who can afford to pay for this service that is.
But, surely this then raises questions about whether this is fair on the children themselves? And also, what happens if the parents "enjoy" themselves a little bit too much, if you get my drift? Where does the responsibility for the children end up laying? It sounds like a legal minefield to me.
To me, this seems to have taken the whole concept of the babysitter a step too far.
Don't' get me wrong. If i was a child i'm sure i'd love the idea of going to a music festival. It certainly sounds exciting. That's if i'm old enough to realise what's going on of course. But, there does surely come a time when a parent has to wonder if all of this is actually worth it.
As i mentioned earlier. As a parent, i would not have even considered taking my children to a music festival like this and for a number of reasons too. There's the hassle, worry, stress, cost, noise, logistics, time etc etc.
There does, in my opinion anyway, come a time when you just have to say, "No".
Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice as a parent & i have done that many times in the past. You can't do everything that you would like to do & you often have to put certain things off for the future, for when those children have grown older. That's all a part of being a parent and something you just have to accept. You can't have it all. But, unfortunately, that's exactly what some people do want. They want it all & they want it now.
Are those people messing it up for everyone else & not just on the topic of music festivals either?
I'll let you decide & debate that question. But, i know what i think.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Get Your Facts Right!
I recently made a YouTube video called Shock! Horror! all about newspapers & TV news shows using videos, mainly to sensationalise the news & yes, it was a bit of a rant.
Well, here's another one....
Tonight, my local tv news show did an item which contained facts which i know full well are incorrect.
Without going into too much detail. The story concerned a young girl who had recently had life saving heart surgery & had then needed to use a special machine to keep her alive, while she recovered. Thankfully, the little girl is fine & making a full recovery.
During this news item, they referred to this piece of equipment/machine as if it were a fairly new piece of technology & that this young girl was one of the first to ever use it in the UK & at the hospital concerned, Guys & St Thomas' Hospital in London.
The piece of equipment is an ECMO machine. For the uninitiated, this stands for Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation. The machine is very similar to a heart bypass machine. But, one that can be used for longer periods, allowing the patients heart to rest & recover from the ordeal of surgery.
Just do a Google search for "ECMO" & you get plenty of useful results.
This is one of the best ones: GOSH
ECMO machines have been used in the UK since 1992. They were first used at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London. So, it's hardly new technology is it?
I know what you're thinking. "How does he know so much about this subject"
Well, in 1994 my daughter used an ECMO machine herself & in Guys Hospital too.
In fact, she was the first person to ever use an ECMO machine at Guys Hospital.
The staff at Guys had never used one before & actually had to borrow equipment from other hospitals to build one. Including Great Ormond Street. I remember one doctor coming all the way down from Leicester with some of the equipment & staying to help set it up & make sure that it all worked correctly.
It all seemed a bit of a Heath Robinson affair at the time. But, it worked & it helped save my daughters life.
My daughter was born with her Pulmonary Artery & her Aorta connected to her heart the wrong way round, amongst other issues. This condition is know as Transposition Of The Great Arteries, or TGA & requires major open heart surgery to correct it.
This is exactly the same condition that the young girl in tonights tv news programme had.
Thankfully, like the young girl featured, my daughter has made a full recovery & is now a happy & healthy 15 year old teenager.
OK, so i have had personal experience & so knew about this condition & about the ECMO machine itself. But, it only took me a few clicks of a mouse to find plenty of information about the subject & enough information to know that the facts they used in their news story were incorrect.
In these days of widespread Internet access, i don't think anyone can be excused for not checking their "facts". Especially not a BBC news show.
So, is this another case of lazy journalism? Possibly....
My other theory is that this is could be another effect of getting the viewers to suggest stories for the programme. Something i wrote about in my last blog post: Ask The Audience
I have contacted the news programme & have pointed out their error. I'll let you know if i hear anything back from them.
I will not be holding my breath though.
Well, here's another one....
Tonight, my local tv news show did an item which contained facts which i know full well are incorrect.
Without going into too much detail. The story concerned a young girl who had recently had life saving heart surgery & had then needed to use a special machine to keep her alive, while she recovered. Thankfully, the little girl is fine & making a full recovery.
During this news item, they referred to this piece of equipment/machine as if it were a fairly new piece of technology & that this young girl was one of the first to ever use it in the UK & at the hospital concerned, Guys & St Thomas' Hospital in London.
The piece of equipment is an ECMO machine. For the uninitiated, this stands for Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation. The machine is very similar to a heart bypass machine. But, one that can be used for longer periods, allowing the patients heart to rest & recover from the ordeal of surgery.
Just do a Google search for "ECMO" & you get plenty of useful results.
This is one of the best ones: GOSH
ECMO machines have been used in the UK since 1992. They were first used at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London. So, it's hardly new technology is it?
I know what you're thinking. "How does he know so much about this subject"
Well, in 1994 my daughter used an ECMO machine herself & in Guys Hospital too.
In fact, she was the first person to ever use an ECMO machine at Guys Hospital.
The staff at Guys had never used one before & actually had to borrow equipment from other hospitals to build one. Including Great Ormond Street. I remember one doctor coming all the way down from Leicester with some of the equipment & staying to help set it up & make sure that it all worked correctly.
It all seemed a bit of a Heath Robinson affair at the time. But, it worked & it helped save my daughters life.
My daughter was born with her Pulmonary Artery & her Aorta connected to her heart the wrong way round, amongst other issues. This condition is know as Transposition Of The Great Arteries, or TGA & requires major open heart surgery to correct it.
This is exactly the same condition that the young girl in tonights tv news programme had.
Thankfully, like the young girl featured, my daughter has made a full recovery & is now a happy & healthy 15 year old teenager.
OK, so i have had personal experience & so knew about this condition & about the ECMO machine itself. But, it only took me a few clicks of a mouse to find plenty of information about the subject & enough information to know that the facts they used in their news story were incorrect.
In these days of widespread Internet access, i don't think anyone can be excused for not checking their "facts". Especially not a BBC news show.
So, is this another case of lazy journalism? Possibly....
My other theory is that this is could be another effect of getting the viewers to suggest stories for the programme. Something i wrote about in my last blog post: Ask The Audience
I have contacted the news programme & have pointed out their error. I'll let you know if i hear anything back from them.
I will not be holding my breath though.
Saturday, 26 December 2009
The Great Santa Claus Deception.
WARNING, SPOILER ALERT!
As you do on a Christmas day morning, my family & i were talking about Santa Claus/Father Christmas & a particular aspect of that story in particular.
My son, who is 19 years old by the way, just happened to say "Why do parents tell children that Santa Claus is real?"
Now, i think this is a very good question & one that really got me thinking. Hence this blog post.
So, why do we all do it? Knowing that it is untrue.
I am a parent of two children & quite happily went along with the great Santa Claus deception.
I admit, that when your children are young & believe in Santa Claus, it does add to the whole atmosphere & experience of the Christmas period. When the children get older & no longer believe, it is never quite the same is it?
Maybe that is the reason we do it? We remember what it was like for us, as children, when we too believed.
But, that doesn't really answer the question as to why i effectively told my children lies & let them believe in something & someone that i knew was false. And, something that i knew they would find out to be a big lie, at some time in the future.
It could be argued that by perpetuating this big lie & by effectively encouraging it as well, that we are being cruel to our children. After all, can you remember how disappointed & upset your own children were, or even how upset you were as a child, when you found out that Santa Claus was not real?
Do you remember when your child came home from school & asked you whether Santa Claus was real? Because their schoolfriends had found out the truth. And, if you remember that question, what was your answer?
I wouldn't be surprised if you told them, like i did, "Not to be so silly. Of course Santa Claus is real. After all, who do you think brings you all of those presents?"
Does that sound familiar?
It is only when you start to think about all of this, that you realise how bad it all sounds!
Throughout their lives & especially when they are younger, we try & teach our children to tell the truth. I know that i have certainly done that. And yet, right from their earliest years, we have done exactly the opposite! What example does this set?
And we then wonder why children are confused & don't listen to their parents?
So, do i regret telling that big lie to my children? No, not really & there lies the problem i guess?
The great Santa Claus deception will only stop when parents have the guts to actually tell the truth, straight away & not allow their children to believe in Father Christmas.
So, who will be the first parent brave enough to do that?
Maybe it will be my son?
As you do on a Christmas day morning, my family & i were talking about Santa Claus/Father Christmas & a particular aspect of that story in particular.
My son, who is 19 years old by the way, just happened to say "Why do parents tell children that Santa Claus is real?"
Now, i think this is a very good question & one that really got me thinking. Hence this blog post.
So, why do we all do it? Knowing that it is untrue.
I am a parent of two children & quite happily went along with the great Santa Claus deception.
I admit, that when your children are young & believe in Santa Claus, it does add to the whole atmosphere & experience of the Christmas period. When the children get older & no longer believe, it is never quite the same is it?
Maybe that is the reason we do it? We remember what it was like for us, as children, when we too believed.
But, that doesn't really answer the question as to why i effectively told my children lies & let them believe in something & someone that i knew was false. And, something that i knew they would find out to be a big lie, at some time in the future.
It could be argued that by perpetuating this big lie & by effectively encouraging it as well, that we are being cruel to our children. After all, can you remember how disappointed & upset your own children were, or even how upset you were as a child, when you found out that Santa Claus was not real?
Do you remember when your child came home from school & asked you whether Santa Claus was real? Because their schoolfriends had found out the truth. And, if you remember that question, what was your answer?
I wouldn't be surprised if you told them, like i did, "Not to be so silly. Of course Santa Claus is real. After all, who do you think brings you all of those presents?"
Does that sound familiar?
It is only when you start to think about all of this, that you realise how bad it all sounds!
Throughout their lives & especially when they are younger, we try & teach our children to tell the truth. I know that i have certainly done that. And yet, right from their earliest years, we have done exactly the opposite! What example does this set?
And we then wonder why children are confused & don't listen to their parents?
So, do i regret telling that big lie to my children? No, not really & there lies the problem i guess?
The great Santa Claus deception will only stop when parents have the guts to actually tell the truth, straight away & not allow their children to believe in Father Christmas.
So, who will be the first parent brave enough to do that?
Maybe it will be my son?
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