Unicef report on child well-being

[Will]

The BBC seems to be making quite an issue over the fact that Britain has performed badly in a Unicef study on 'child well-being'.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6359363.stm

Quite how valid are the criteria used in the report is debatable, as is the curency of some of the statistics used. On the face of it, the report appears to justify the claims often seen on forums like this that Britain is a spent force, the home of Asbo culture, and a place to be got out of as rapidy as possible. But when you look at the table, France does not come out a lot better.

[Teamedup]

Yes, France didn't fair that much better either did it, if France is the Utopia that some posts would have us believe.

I have always rated some of the northern countries. We visit friends in Holland from time to time and I have always been impressed with so much.

I don't understand how they assess 'poverty' in these things, because the last time I saw it discussed on the tv, it sounded like I had been a deprived child, and I was not.

[powerdesal]

Some years ago, during a Youth Workers Course (in deepest Wales), a visiting social worker said that she considered the children in the local rural area were 'deprived' because they did not have any street corners to hang around at ! The absolute truth, I kid you not. Mind boggling.

[tetley]

[:D] I grew up on RAF bases, and then council estates in the 70's/80's and we had the freedom to go out and play in the road, and the parents would all watch out for each others kids.  You learn alot from having that little bit of freedom, and I guess that is what the social worker meant? 

One of the factors we moved to France for was, our eldest was due to start secondary school in the next couple of years, and although we lived in quite a nice area, we just don't like the culture anymore.  It seems to us that as soon as your kids turn 11 and start secondary school, they have the mobile phone, they are allowed out on their own all day, they have a decent amount of pocket money to do with as they please, everything is so expensive and they all want the latest thing. 

We don't feel we mollycoddled our kids, but we always drove them to friends houses, or friends came to us, they played with toys, went home again, they weren't allowed out on their own.  But, I do feel there is pressure to conform, and as soon as your kids hit 11....that's it, they do as they please.  And we didn't like that, so we chose to get out.  Here, they have the freedom to go out locally and explore and use their imaginations, unfortunately, there aren't any kids the same age as ours around, but my son has a much better relationship with his sister than he would have had because they spend so much of their time together.  His friends seem respectful, they all have interests and go to various clubs, the family tradition of eating together here is something else we like, although we always did that before (we know people who don't even have a dining table back in England).  They are learning about nutrition, purely because we aren't having the amount of takeaways we were[:$], and I have a veggie patch they have to help with now and then.

Things go in cycles, and I am sure that eventually, things will change in UK...but these things take time,  attitudes need to change.  This is just my personal view on things.

[chessfou]

I suspect there's not all that much difference between many of the 21 countries surveyed but France (16th despite the huge problems of the Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse ... conurbations) must surely be rather better than the UK (rank last below even the USA!).