GOVERNMENT POLICIES TO BLAME FOR RISE IN MURDER AND MENTAL ILLNESS AMONG CHILDREN?
While survey after survey shows that children who are raised by two married parents fare better in life than children raised in other types of family unit, the present government continues doggedly to ignore this simple fact, and to praise the benefits of single-parenthood.
This week-end we heard Harriet Harman, whose own record suggests she is driven by the rights of mothers rather than the welfare of children, telling GMTV on Sunday: "Often it's two parent families, not just one-parent families, where things are going wrong." Meanwhile, Alan Johnson, calling on his own experience of being raised by his 15-year-old sister, echoed Harman's views: "Not all children from married couples fare well and other family structures are not irretrievably doomed to fail."
One can always find an exception to any rule; some children raised by a single parent will turn out better than some children raised by two parents. What is unforgivable is that the Government should make such exceptions the basis for its policies, and one should not underestimate the harm which these policies have wreaked in our communities: · 1 in 4 children is now completely alienated from one or other parent. · Figures released today by Childline show that in the last year, 6,000 children, some as young as 5, called the help-line exhibiting some form of mental health problem. · Home Office figures, also revealed today (Daily Telegraph), show the number of youngsters being murdered has doubled in the last 8 years, and nearly all of them were killed by other teenagers.
Labour has turned politics into a TV-style game-show, divorced from real consequences. Labour just cannot bring themselves to promote what is best for children. Perhaps we need to ask, as would Anne Robinson: "The strongest link is two parents, while the weakest link is one parent, but will the contestants have noticed this?"
