Crime and individuality II: The Kids Aren't Alright

That Radio 4 program on crime was on again today, this time focussing on the 90s. It certainly has my attention, I think primarily as a parent. Michael Howard, interviewed on this program, related that when he became Home Secretary some civil servants came along and explained to him that crime had been going up at a steady rate of 5% per year for decades "and there's nothing you can do about it." The only question for politicians becomes how do you clear up the mess - punishment vs. rehabilitation. Either way, the figures keep soaring. We now apparently lock up about four times as many of our young people as the French do.

It's just this sort of thing, that feels at once so potentially damaging to your child and so completely out of your control, that strikes at the heart of parental paranoia. I get to thinking about the African proverb - it takes two people to have a child and a community to raise one. I fret about how we don't have community any more in this country. I worry about the full extent of most kids' ambition these days being to be famous - not even for something specific apparently, just being famous.

Such resignation! It's ridiculous, because I'm also one of those who believes that parents have a lot to do with raising kids. Specifically, I think we're a little too ready to offload responsibility for that onto schools. Interesting, isn't it? Schools get us used to the idea of leading an ordered life and being productive in a structured way. Then we end up relying on them to care for and raise our kids while we go to work. But we don't need to be swallowed up by that. Parenting is a constant, multi-dimensional balancing act. Balance needs control, and that requires taking responsibility.

It's tempting to pass the buck to the community in the shape of schools. However, the most important members of the community that raises a child are his or her parents.