by Elizabeth Fearon

Created on: November 08, 2009

'Don't touch the iron, it's hot.' 'Tie your shoelaces, you'll trip.' Children have always been taught the risks inherent in the choices they make, it's common sense. But, any child these days could be forgiven for thinking that many adults no longer practise what they preach. Common sense has been vanquished by a new kid on the block - inertia.

We are outraged at the advance of 'Big Brother' technology and we accuse the government of running a nanny state. Yet when it comes to applying common sense guidelines within a family, up goes the cry that someone else should have taken responsibility. Common sense tells us that a diet of junk food is not healthy, that children need physical activity as well as TV time. All things in moderation, it's common sense, isn't it? So why are our children growing fatter? Why is there mounting concern over time spent on social networking? But serving up common sense advice requires commitment by parents who are in it for the long haul and, for so many, it seems far less bother to rail at the teachers who should be administering life skills, at software manufacturers who enable cyber conversations, at the fast food companies who tempt our children with their burgers and fries. A cop out. Common sense tells us that part of a parent's role is saying 'No' and laying down guidelines or we're on the expressway to anarchy. And yes, it's bloody hard work at times but it's what parents do for their children.

And so the government steps in because parental responsibility seems to be in woefully short supply. In 2008 it proposed to throw 372m at a campaign to promote a healthy lifestyle, with teachers monitoring the contents of our children's lunchboxes. Wouldn't the application of common sense in the home have been a far cheaper option? And that same government in the same year planned to implement its Early Years Foundation Scheme, subjecting toddlers aged 2 to 5 to computer and TV technology in order to acquire the skills that have been cited as partly to blame for producing a nation of couch potatoes. And then it comes full circle. Yes, that same government is now proposing to throw cash incentives at obese members of society to encourage them to lose weight. Can anyone else spot the deliberate mistake?

Common sense has not only gone out of the window, it clings to life like Tinkerbell, waiting for the salvation that will come when enough voices shout, 'I believe'. If we are to steer a path through this madness, we must, as individuals, revive those dormant instincts, take responsibility for our own lives and resurrect good old common sense.

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