It’s strange how the BBC can take almost any issue and use it to advance the notion that whatever the problem the answer is always more Nanny Statism. Take the story of the 63 stone Welsh teenager, Georgia Davis, who was “allowed” to become so large that she needed to be cut free from her house after collapsing with breathing problems. The BBC had Sunday Times columnist Minette Marrin and Enver Solomon, policy director at Children’s Society, on Today to discuss this issue earlier today.
Leaving aside the curiosity of someone getting to the 63 stone scale tipping point in a society which is allegedly characterised by people starving to death due to the wicked cuts at no point in the discussion is the catastrophic failure in modern parenting discussed. Once upon a time, parents were rightly held responsible for what their children ate but in this case Marrin was arguing for an even more intrusive State whereas Solomon demonstrated a lamentable lack of wisdom. The real crisis behind this story is the collapse of the family and the rise of the irresponsible parent – both encouraged by the liberal intelligentsia and their pals in the media, the BBC in particular.
I suppose personal responsibility is the elephant in the room but that might be a little cruel in this case 🙂
None of the media reports I have read cover how this poor girl was being fed. Presumably she can’t get out of the house so someone is bringing her the food and a heck of a lot of it which must be costing an absolute fortune so no guesses where the money is coming from.
I remember seeing one those awful Jamie Oliver helps poor people shows the other year. This showed the unemployed underclass he was with eating fast food every night while Mrs 1327 yelled at the TV about just how much it was costing them and why no one was asking where the money came from.
I dont know if Minette Marin has undergone a sea change since moving from the Telegraph, but she always struck me as pretty conservative there.
Nevertheless, good point about parental irresponsibility. ‘Amazing’ it was never introduced by the interviewer.
‘They,’ whoever they were, got her to America where she shed a huge amount of weight. On her return she chose to eat at the old rate.
Her choice as a teenager not as a child.
Ever tried to get a teenager to do something they did not want to, Ms Marin or Dr Stoppard?
“Ever tried to get a teenager to do something they did not want to…”.
Yes I have – WE have. Why? What’s the difficulty? It’s that attitude you have that is responsible for the broken society people like you burden onto the rest of society. The “well, what can you do? children will be children, if they don’t want to go to bed they won’t go will they?”, and the “Well, she’s 14, if she wants to have sex at her age what can I do to stop her – she’s a teenager”. It’s not rocket science so I’ll let you into a secret; here’s what you do: Say no. There you go, wasn’t hard was it? You are the parent, you are the adult, you make the rules, you decide the boundaries and YOU enforce them! Otherwise you bring up a child who doesn’t know what boundaries, rules and ways to behave are – and what pisses me off is it’s US, every other sucker that has to put up with your unruly, bad-mannered, self-indulgent slob when they shout and misbehave in restaurants and supermarkets and anywhere else where they mix with the rest of society. If you don’t know how to bring up a child responsibly – DON’T HAVE CHILDREN!
She is far from alone – whilst a quarter of the UK feed themselves to the point of obesity, those with actual impairment of mobility still numbers the hundreds. There is no analysis by the BBC of the root cause, which is in my view the general ‘its my right to do as I please’ society. Interesting the BBC treats this story as it does, given they have broadcast so many stories of people pleading that they are so poor that they must chose between staying warm or eating. I notice Ms Davis is a victim, not a culprit. She’s cast as being attacked by temptation, reacting bravely – both physically and emotially – but ultimately being beaten. The reality is different. These individuals are indulging themselves owing to numerous wider and social circumstances, which is tragic and appauling, but the answer is not to pretend this is akin to drug additction but to instill a sense of responsibility. The government have over the years tried certain things (e.g. The National Play Strategy, meaning more playgrounds), but there is no evidence that playgrounds at a younger age prevent teen issues later which – in some cases – lead to overeating. Why does the BBC not cover some of the wider issues that this disturbing issue entails? Perhaps because it might mean touching on self-discipline, family life, moral direction, coping with the problems of life?
Poor Sarah was in a tizz over this one wasn`t she?
Got to be SOMEBODYS fault….and the kid and her useless mum and family could not possibly be to blame.
That wet lettuce from the Childrens Society-funnily enough, not a child in sight, when there`s a salary to be drawn from the State-said that she was indeed a carer…for her clinically obese mum.
And this therefore means…what?…we never did find out because Sarah was in a tizz.
Let me guess who`ll be paying for the reinforced concrete, the repairs to the walls, the Fire Brigade, Red Adair etc…it won`t be the Davis family…or whatever name mum has for herself.
Ever tried to get a teenager….
Yes I have. Myself when I was a teenager. I forced myself to study every night when I would rather have been doing other things.
Ever tried to get a teenager
Yes, but the wife said I was to stop it or she’d batter me. 😉
Seriously though, I’ve brought up kids and non of them have ever been in trouble or been a drain on the nation – and that’s even without my ‘dad’s’ goggles on. How? By giving them boundaries and sticking to it. It takes effort and that, I think, is where many of these ‘parents’ go wrong. They either can’t or won’t put in the effort and leave it up to the state to take up the slack – and the state is the worse parent a child can have.
“Minette Marrin” and “Enver Solomon”
With such run-of-the-mill names as these – clearly who better to provide social comment on a fat lass from Wales?