Tougher is Kinder?

Arrived on our little allotment early this morning to find Nosher already sat in his deckchair outside his shed enjoying a cup of tea.
'Just enjoying the best part of the day' he replied to my muttered greeting. 'It's refreshingly cool, the sun has yet to rise high in the sky, and the birdsong has been wonderful. Enhances the feeling of peace and contentment that I feel.'
Almost rhapsodic for Nosher.
'What's brought this on?' I asked, almost expecting a coherent reply.
'Nothing in particular' he said, as I sat in my deckchair next to him. 'Although there are reports that the Government is thinking of making community sentences tougher so that they actually represent some kind of punishment. That can only be a good thing - if it ever happens.'
Nosher's clearly been reading the Daily Mail again, but I suppose he might have a point.
'Another report' I told him 'says that the Government should provide foster children with continuing care until they are 21 instead of the current 18, and that more structure should be given to their lives so that they learn self-discipline and can function better when they are cast adrift into the big wide world.'
'Do you mean "tough love"?' he asked. 'Not sure that will work. But given that a high proportion of foster children are already seriously emotionally damaged long before they enter the foster care system, and are disproportionately represented amongst young offenders, then I guess we should be grateful for any measures designed to encourage them to take a less jaundiced view of society.'
'Yep, convincing people who believe they've been given a raw deal in life that things can get better if they alter their attitudes and conduct is never going to be easy' I replied. 'But learning to give trust and kindness to others when having received hardly any oneself might be a great hurdle for some of these kids.'
'On the other hand' said Nosher 'and this isn't just about foster kids, all children either learn to conduct themselves with respect and consideration for others before they grow up, or life will be bleak and lonely and brutish for them when they have to fend for themselves. And that comes down to good parenting, whether it's the biological or surrogate kind. That's what is missing so often in our society these days - good parenting. But whenever the Government starts intervening directly in such matters you can be sure it will be done on the cheap and they'll make a mess of it.'
'As the saying goes, you can't always get what you want' I said 'get used to it.'
Nosher lay back in his deckchair, closed his eyes and a smile spread across his face.
More from http://www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com/ soon.
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