A Good Childhood
I could spend an age dissecting the latest Children's Society's findings in yet another report that highlights how we're failing our children; instead I'll address the core problem it highlights: If the UK was doing a song and dance routine in front of the Wizard of Oz right now, she'd be singing, 'If I only had a moral compass.'
Not the catchiest of tunes but I'm sure that the Wiz, because of all the wonderful things he does, could rustle one up from somewhere. But we're not in Oz Toto, or Kansas, so what are we to do when, according to the report, the reason our young people are so unhappy is the 'aggressive selfishness' of adults? That the story we're telling our children through our lifestyle is that happiness is found either through obeying your own whims, or through material accumulation. That freedom is doing what you like, when you like, without much recourse to the needs of those around you. And that if anything can buy you that kind of liberty, it's money.
'Aggressive selfishness' - perhaps the language is so strong precisely because of the frequency of these kinds of reports. If we won't listen to a still, small but persistent voice, then someone needs to start shouting.
Back to that moral compass - is finding 'true north' our only way forward? The Children's Society report suggests a number of solutions to the issue at hand: more paternal leave for both mother and father, so they can spend more time with infants during those vital formative years; youth centres for every 5000 young people; restricting TV viewing hours; curbing the advertising of high fat foods. All worthwhile initiatives, but if it's lax morality that's produced such a 'toxic' environment for our children, then all of the above are akin to the proverbial shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic. So, insert your own cliché here: 'the heart of the human problem is the human heart', or perhaps, 'you want to know what's wrong with the world - I am' etc. - the problem can't be solved by cosmetic changes.
The church's response should not be a smug, 'we told you so' - we've been charged with the duty of making disciples, not judgements. In other words, we've been charged with forging the same kind of relationships with others - including our children - as Jesus had with his disciples. We are called to a life that is the very antithesis of aggressive selfishness. We are called to a life, and to share a life that is life to the full - including childhood. For in Christ we have our 'true north', and the clearly marked path we carve to wholeness, well-being and lasting joy should be a cause for a society stuck in the doldrums to rejoice:
'Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven' (Matthew 5:16).
The author is right that much more is needed in order to make significant improvements to the lives of our children and young people. He is also right that responding with smugness to poverty and distress is clearly wrong. However, the lack of substance in such a response to the Children's Society's report prompts me to consider whether a more mature contribution to social policy would be appropriate from an Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Clearly, progressive policies are need to redress the inequalities that characterise our society, and that contribute to familiy disentegration, social immobility and increasing child poverty. Is it not the Church's role to challenge government to do more for the poor and oppressed in Britain today?
Date:
2009-12-05 17:11:35
Author:
Edmund Glynn