I was interested to hear of the plans to deal with the appalling problem of cruelty, in all its forms, to children.

For a long time I have been concerned that there seems to be nothing in our education system that gives guidance for parenthood to our children. It seems to be assumed that parents teach their children. True, but what about the bad examples set that are copied and lead to anger and juvenile crime?

Children can be very, and deliberately, provocative. Parents can be totally inconsistent. A parent laughs at something one day and punishes for the same thing the next. A parent's angry response often stems from ignorance of how to deal with problems and how to forget and forgive in return for good behaviour. Loss of privileges works so much better than a hefty 'back-hander' that only shows a lack of control by the parent. Parenthood is not easy and some help in advance could work wonders. Let's try it!

Joan D Dales,

The Gallops,

Ainsty Park,

Foxwood,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.