I was sure today of what I was going to say, and obviously give my slant on the subject, however reading my daily paper with my favourite hot drink while sitting in my newly planted garden, while at the same time keeping one eye firmly focused on the wee one, I completely changed my mind!
Regular readers will know we have discussed before the questions of being better off than in previous years and we have also touched on parents struggling with the bills. We have shown our disgust for paedophiles and anyone else that would cause any threat to our wee ones!!
However today, my blood boiled at temperature that made my favourite hot drink seem like an ice cream milkshake, my blood pressure was at a setting normally reserved for the ASBO gardener aka papa and my mind could not comprehend what kind of country or society we now lived in!!
What had caused this state of disbelief nae anger in someone that normally sees a solution where others see a problem.
The raising of the blood pressure came in two parts.
The first story that had me sitting uncomfortably in my lounger was a sad tale of child abuse, now most stories, no all stories about child abuse tend to make me feel nauseous, as I try and understand what makes adults do such things to our wee ones, and of course the second reaction to these stories is one of I will protect my wee one from such vile people with my own life if necessary!
The trouble is who can we now trust?
Years ago when people lived in real communities and neighbours and friends would be known as aunties and uncles- although no blood ties were actually present- there was never an issue of trust, we used eat in each others houses as kids as often as we would be at our own dinner tables.
Playtime during the summer holidays was first light to last and no search parties were sent out looking for us because the assumption was we were safe within our community.
For years I have looked back on my childhood with an envious eye for our present and future wee ones who will never enjoy that luxury of simple freedom to play without fear, as parents restrict all activities with one eye on safety.
So you can imagine how shattered I felt as I read the story I am sure many of you have seen, the story of systematic abuse of young people during the sixties and seventies in Wales. A story that could have any place name put before it, a story that was not about the rich and famous telly abusers who had Savile as the ring master. This was ordinary people in ordinary communities abusing our most vulnerable young, our wee ones!!
Leaving me to wonder were we ever safe or were we just ignorant of the potential threats?
The story that tipped me over the edge was one of poverty where a mother was surviving on a couple of biscuits a day to allow her to look after her wee ones, sadly this put her in more trouble as she was so malnourished she could not breast feed her youngest! Where in the worlds poorest countries was this happening? Nowhere in the poorest countries but in the so called G8 country of Britain!
The story goes on to describe how this mum is not alone, not only is she not alone she is part of a growing army of people now relying on food banks to survive!! Food banks are opening all over Scotland in growing numbers, feeding a hidden population that is classed as starving!!!
If this was happening in one of the poor countries of the world, Britain would be putting together an aid package of food, medicines and money in the form of grant aid to help that particular country and government get back on its feet.
Leaving me to wonder why, we were letting our own people starve, while saving others in a country, I or the starving have never seen or likely to see?
So two sad stories that leave you to wonder what the future might hold for our wee ones. Of course the future is not yet written and we the adults of today must decide or at least have a say in their tomorrows, tomorrows hopefully where food banks are frowned upon as a failure of society and child abusers well they would be locked a room with the parents, the victims and no escape!!
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