cleanfeed and wikipedia
Ian Batten
ukcrypto at chiark.greenend.org.uk
Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:38:02 +0000
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On 11 Dec 08, at 1104, Roland Perry wrote:
>
> It doesn't matter what individual parents think (ask Sharon
> Matthews), it's what society (represented by the parent on the
> Clapham Omnibus) thinks.
Is it? I'd not be so sure.
There are parents who treat their children in ways that I wouldn't,
you wouldn't, and I suspect few people would. It's likely that the
parents of anyone who makes a significant noise academically,
musically, sportingly or otherwise before they're eighteen is the
product of pushy, zealous parents. Those parents would see
themselves, however, as acting in their child's best long-term
interests: you may want to go on a school trip to the fair rather than
have your music lesson / study number theory / perfect your ground
strokes, but we know better. Ask Ruth Lawrence, Vanessa Mae, Mary
Pierce.
Any of us do things with our children which other, perfectly
reasonable, people would question. I'm Mr Strict when it comes to the
9pm watershed and insisting that we colour precisely inside the lines
on film and DVD classification, and won't have video or computer games
in the house, which friends of ours regard as overly protective. And
I did ultimately decline to take elder (then 11) to the Gilbert and
George retrospective at Tate Modern, no matter how much she told me
the Guardian regarded it as unmissable. But it wouldn't be hard to
find people who would regard me as a bad parent for taking pre-teen
children to bloody productions of Macbeth or gigs by Martha
Wainright. And my elder spending about twenty hours of rehearsals to
perform in this would strike many people as time better spent doing
her homework / playing in the park.
That's why, in general, we let parents decide unless their behaviour
is absolutely, unambiguously harmful.
ian
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<html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
-webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><div>On 11 Dec 08, at =
1104, Roland Perry wrote:</div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div><br>It =
doesn't matter what individual parents think (ask Sharon Matthews), it's =
what society (represented by the parent on the Clapham Omnibus) =
thinks.</div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Is it? I'd not be so =
sure.</div><div><br></div><div>There are parents who treat their =
children in ways that I wouldn't, you wouldn't, and I suspect few people =
would. It's likely that the parents of anyone who makes a =
significant noise academically, musically, sportingly or otherwise =
before they're eighteen is the product of pushy, zealous parents. =
Those parents would see themselves, however, as acting in =
their child's best long-term interests: you may want to go on a school =
trip to the fair rather than have your music lesson / study number =
theory / perfect your ground strokes, but we know better. =
Ask Ruth Lawrence, Vanessa Mae, Mary =
Pierce.</div><div><br></div><div>Any of us do things with our children =
which other, perfectly reasonable, people would question. I'm Mr =
Strict when it comes to the 9pm watershed and insisting that we colour =
precisely inside the lines on film and DVD classification, and won't =
have video or computer games in the house, which friends of ours regard =
as overly protective. And I did ultimately decline to take elder =
(then 11) to the Gilbert and George retrospective at Tate Modern, no =
matter how much she told me the Guardian regarded it as unmissable. =
But it wouldn't be hard to find people who would regard me as a =
bad parent for taking pre-teen children to bloody productions of Macbeth =
or gigs by Martha Wainright. And my elder spending about twenty =
hours of rehearsals to perform in <a =
href=3D"http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmin=
gham-culture/music-in-birmingham/2008/12/09/ex-cathedra-orchestra-of-the-s=
wan-at-birmingham-town-hall-65233-22437466/">this</a> would strike =
many people as time better spent doing her homework / playing in the =
park.</div><div><br></div><div>That's why, in general, we let parents =
decide unless their behaviour is absolutely, unambiguously harmful. =
</div><div><br></div><div>ian</div><div><br></div></div><br></body><=
/html>=
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