Children's Stories
In The Times yesterday there was a story about three boys, aged ten and eleven, who were playing in the woods, gathering branches to build a treehouse like something out of Richmal Crompton's William books.
Whilst playing their merry game, the boys came across a holdall hidden in the undergrowth. It contained a double-barrel sawn-off shotgun, about twenty cartridges, some black balaclavas and traces of blood.
Knowing they weren't in an Enid Blyton story, they didn't try to track down the villains themselves, but sensibly picked it all up and took it home to their somewhat alarmed mothers. "I carried the gun really carefully in case it was already loaded," said the appropriately-named John Peace, 10.
Apparently the woodland was near Frankland Prison, a maximum-security prison, and police think the boys have unwittingly foiled a prison break.
Well, I'm very shocked. Not by the fact that they found a sawn-off shotgun: I think that Britain's undergrowth is probably stuffed full of such things. Just like you're never supposed to be more than ten yards from a rat, it's probably the same with sawn-off shotguns.
No, the shocking thing is that there are still three boys left in Great Britain who are allowed to go and play in the woods and build tree houses. I thought boys nowadays all spend their time on their computers and Playstations and are never allowed to go out in case they play in the woods and find a sawn-off shotgun. But look! When something really dangerous did happen, these three boys dealt with it very well.
Children have more sense than they're often given credit for. Which is why I was also shocked by the banner headlines about the McCanns. They, of course, are the parents of missing Madeleine, for anyone who's been living with a remote tribe in the Amazon Jungle since early May and doesn't know the story.
Now, apparently, for the first time, the McCanns have told their toddler twins that Madeleine is missing. Previously, Sean and Amelie had been told that their sister was on holiday and would be back soon.
Those poor toddlers! The tension around them must have been very obvious to them from the beginning. And why is everyone so tense, and everything so different? No convincing explanation - except their sister has gone on holiday and will be back soon.
Stupid. They should have been told the truth, as their parents understood it, from the beginning. Told that their sister is missing: reassured that it won't happen to them. Some things are too important to tell stories about.
Whilst playing their merry game, the boys came across a holdall hidden in the undergrowth. It contained a double-barrel sawn-off shotgun, about twenty cartridges, some black balaclavas and traces of blood.
Knowing they weren't in an Enid Blyton story, they didn't try to track down the villains themselves, but sensibly picked it all up and took it home to their somewhat alarmed mothers. "I carried the gun really carefully in case it was already loaded," said the appropriately-named John Peace, 10.
Apparently the woodland was near Frankland Prison, a maximum-security prison, and police think the boys have unwittingly foiled a prison break.
Well, I'm very shocked. Not by the fact that they found a sawn-off shotgun: I think that Britain's undergrowth is probably stuffed full of such things. Just like you're never supposed to be more than ten yards from a rat, it's probably the same with sawn-off shotguns.
No, the shocking thing is that there are still three boys left in Great Britain who are allowed to go and play in the woods and build tree houses. I thought boys nowadays all spend their time on their computers and Playstations and are never allowed to go out in case they play in the woods and find a sawn-off shotgun. But look! When something really dangerous did happen, these three boys dealt with it very well.
Children have more sense than they're often given credit for. Which is why I was also shocked by the banner headlines about the McCanns. They, of course, are the parents of missing Madeleine, for anyone who's been living with a remote tribe in the Amazon Jungle since early May and doesn't know the story.
Now, apparently, for the first time, the McCanns have told their toddler twins that Madeleine is missing. Previously, Sean and Amelie had been told that their sister was on holiday and would be back soon.
Those poor toddlers! The tension around them must have been very obvious to them from the beginning. And why is everyone so tense, and everything so different? No convincing explanation - except their sister has gone on holiday and will be back soon.
Stupid. They should have been told the truth, as their parents understood it, from the beginning. Told that their sister is missing: reassured that it won't happen to them. Some things are too important to tell stories about.
posted by Daphne at 9:26 pm
1 Comments:
(1) William and his outlaw horde would have pinched the gun, shot Ethel's boyfriend's toupee off, and been ratted on by that awful girl, not Verruca, but similar.
(2) I was horrified to hear that those babies had been lied to all this time.
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