Peatstack - November 2007

School Children & Lunch Breaks - Congratulations to BBC Scotland News this morning for reading out one of the most ludicrous listener e-mails I've heard in a long time!
In that e-mail the listener concerned suggested that a ban in Glasgow Schools on children leaving the premises at lunchtime would be in breach of their human rights.
Now, forgive me if I'm wrong on this but I thought that Schools were in loco parentis (if that's the spelling - my Latin not so good), and had therefore some kind of parental responsibility.
Surely, the rights of children (which I uphold and I am a very strong believer in the ban on smacking etc) do not extend to a complete right to wander off at any time.
How would this work at home? When my child comes in for lunch, I say to him lunch is ready and I expect him to sit down and eat his food. I don't expect him to turn around and say, no I'm not eating that I'm going to the chip shop up town instead with my mates, and there's nothing you can do about it, that's my human right.
A truly bonkers suggestion from the listener concerned.
But, to the issue itself. The call this morning by some in Glasgow for a ban in letting children leave school premises at lunchtime, is one that The Peatstack has full agreement with especially with regard to Stornoway and the children of the Nicolson Institute.
Lunchtime in Stornoway is a horror show of fast food being crammed down hungry mouths in shop doorways. Have a look at what they are eating everyday -chips, chinese, pizza etc - and this is not high quality stuff but cheap, fat-laden food prepared by unscrupulous fast food outlets who discount their lunchtime menus to obtain a slice of what is surely a constant and lucrative market. Have they no shame? Do their children eat this stuff everyday? Are we powerless to protect our children from this and move to ensure that they have a good diet?
These children are eating a diet that is so poor and harmful that I think it will harm their health for the rest of their lives - obesity, cholestoral, blood pressure etc. Not to mention the fact that many use this freedom to smoke.
I know that it is the human right of every adult to make a complete mess of his/her own life in every legal way they might choose. But that is not the same for children. We surely have a duty to protect children, and that includes their health.
I am not, by the way some naive, shocked parent. I think we're letting these kids down and if a lunchtime lock-in is what is required to protect them, then let's do it.

When I look out of the window on winter nights, across the village and beyond, where once there was only the faint glow of distant house lights dotted here and there, now there's a hideous mass of orange light coming from the hordes of street lights. If I'd have known that the future was really going to be this orange then maybe I would have protested more about the coming of this intrusion when it was first proposed.
Worst of all is the light pollution these sub-urban invaders bring, blocking out the night sky. The immense, star-lit sky is one of the great things about living on the island, and the fact that in many areas it is now not visible in all its glory until the early hours of the morning when the lights go out, is a real shame.
So here's a proposal for a compromise solution to this problem.
The Peatstack is very proud of his Irish ancestry. Mullingar in the County of the Westmeath being the starting-out point for a good, high percentage of the Peatstack's inner being, not to mention is truly unforgetable looks.
Many years ago, Mullingar acquired its first gas fired street lamps, but the town councillors, in their wisdom, decided that they would only be lit 17 nights in every month, allowing the moon to light the remainder. Genius! And that is my proposed solution for the villages of Lewis. We'd see the night sky again, and we'd have achieved a very eco-friendly compromise!