8. THROW-AWAY SOCIETY.

A few years ago, I visited a large school in Gloucester and spoke to a man cleaning up the school grounds after the school-day had ended. He was a nice man, a retired factory worker who had taken the job to enable him to have a little more in life than his pension allowed, maybe a few treats, which for him was a day-ticket to the local coarse-fishery. We spoke for a few minutes and I asked if he was happy, to which he replied that he dared not say he wasn’t in case his boss found out and he lost his job! He said that respect and care for most things was missing in the modern world, but if it wasn’t for that lack of respect shown by the pupils of that school he would not be able to make that little extra, by picking up litter in the grounds of a state school, for four hours each day! I asked if I could have a few bits of litter, and he obliged, not even asking why? I went home and sat down to calculate. This is what I worked out. A SIMPLE MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION I was shocked by the results of a simple calculation that evening - There are 7m children at school in the UK. From my independent research, yes, using the Internet, I learned that each child’s parents spend about £2.60 on morning break, £4.80 on lunch, and about £2 on after-school confectionery, during weekdays, and a slightly increased spending at weekends, perhaps up to £10 per day. Perhaps none of these ‘treats’ are necessary, and the conventional, healthy packed lunch, for many children in our schools, is long gone. Purchasing unnecessary treats seems to be the norm. Almost everything they buy is packed in single-use plastic and is promoted as ‘must-haves’ by shops and supermarkets! So, 7m young people spend approximately £9 a day to exist; £3,285 per child p.a.! That equates to £63m per day, £441m per week or £22bn each year, spent mostly on unnecessary sugar products. Staggering! Has the world gone mad? Are we creating a society that fails to make a stand for children to become healthy physical beings and engage in the challenges of youth, and to engage in adventure as part of their lives? Health education and human science seem to only be taught in a very few schools. How can we change this in our schools and bring politicians to understand what children need, not what they want? (I am aware that sometimes what children need is also what they want, and that sometimes what children want is what they need)! Childhood is also the time when children, even the under eighteens, demonstrate a culture of drink and drugs that is instrumental in many losing their way, gaining excessive weight, failing to realise their true potential, and engaging in so much social interaction on their Smartphones that the potential learning offered in our schools seems to be boring and uninteresting compared to the new must-have – excessive food and the cyber world of Social Media! Obese society? Can we as a nation make a commitment to one essential ingredient of education that is sadly lacking, and ensure that every child spends at least part of a day a week outdoors, engaging in the multitude of physical activities that schools can offer, instead of lounging in their bedrooms clutching the latest must-have Smartphone?