Addendum to yesterday’s post: Unhappy teenagers

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Britain has the least happy teenagers in Europe,  at least that’s what a new survey by The Children’s Society tells us. Why might this be? The charity’s chief executive, Mark Russell, believes he knows the reason. It’s down to “the increase in child poverty”, he says.

There are two big problems with this explanation. The first is that “there hasn’t been a rise in child poverty in the UK”. The second is that our children are actually far better off than many others in Europe. Take Spanish youngsters: 82% reported themselves happy in this survey (compared with a mere 64% of their UK peers). Yet a Eurostat study by the European Commission shows they’re of equal risk of poverty or social exclusion as British children. Their peers in Greece, Italy and Romania are at considerably more risk, yet they rank among Europe’s most cheerful teenagers. In fact, the correlation appears to be the opposite of the one Russell identified. It’s not a lack of money; if anything, it’s the “appurtenances of affluence” – feelings of entitlement, social media-fuelled dissatisfaction and envy – that are making our children miserable.  (Rod Liddle, The Sunday Times and The Week 5 September 2020).

My comment:  Mr. Liddle might have a partial point, but he omits (typically for a conservative) the issue of fear for the future. What is the future for the young,  and what do they have to look forward to?  I refer to climate change.  If the horrendous fires in California and Oregon don’t alert you to the danger, you have your head in the sand.  I can hear the unspoken words, “yeah, it’s going to upend the human race, but let me get through my allotted years, comfortable and undisturbed, and let the kids sort it out. Just don’t mess with my cosy way of life – I deserve it.”

Epicurus would, were he alive, would actively opt for addressing the problem head on, as far as is humanly possible.  He would spot the lack of ataraxia among the young, and draw the correct conclusions.

We had a really mean Mom

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“While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, egg and toast.

When others had a Pepsi or a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.  And you can guess, our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times.  You’d think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.  She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit , but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work.  We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth.  By the time we were teenagers she could read our minds.

Then life was really tough.  Mother wouldn’t let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up.  They had to come to the door so she could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced.  None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other people’s property, or being arrested for any crime.  It was all her fault.”

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults.  We are doing our best to be mean parents, just like Mum was.

I think that’s what’s wrong with the world today.  It just doesn’t have enough mean moms anymore.    (Mike Doyle)

My comment:    He might have added:  “We weren’t allowed to spend time on social media, ending up feeling inadequate”.  But then he is talking about a different era, when discipline, politeness, reliability, learning useful life skills – and telling the truth – were givens.  (it must be my age!)

Bumble bees

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Information collected by a University of Ottawa team using data collected over a 115 year period and covering 66 bumblebee species, show that bumblebees are in drastic decline across Western Europe and North America, owing to higher and more extreme variations in temperature. The likelihood of the bee population surviving has declined by 30% in the course of a single human generation. The trend appears to be “consistent with a mass extinction”.

As pollinators, bees play a part in every aspect of the ecosystem. They support the growth of trees, flowers, and other plants, which serve as food and shelter for creatures large and small. They contribute to complex, interconnected ecosystems that allow a diverse number of different species to co-exist.

Bumble bees are social insects who live in colonies, usually located in nests underground containing between 50 and 500 individuals. Except for new queens, which hibernate in winter, bumble bee colonies die in late autumn.

Bumble bees do not produce honey, but pollination services they provide are worth more than that product would yield.

Commercially traded bumble bees have become big business during the past two decades as demand for bumble bee-pollinated berries, peppers and, especially, hothouse tomatoes has skyrocketed.  But how are we to protect their numbers?  (Sources:  a variety of newspaper reports, including The Times, The Guardian and The Week)

My comments: Locusts swarming in East Africa, flooding, bigger than ever storms, California almost literally on fire – and now the bumblebees are dying.  And to those with vested interests in the status quo (we know who you are!) dismiss it all as “fake news”.  This gets scarier every week. Truly, it is getting more difficult to find ataraxia.  But it doesn’t matter about me ; it’s the grand-children’s generation that I fear for.  How we need leadership!

Curing the common cold

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Not exactly on the forefront of our minds at the moment, but we may be closer to defeating Covid 19’s  less deadly cousin – the common cold.  A vaccine that protects against one of the most common cold viruses could be available as soon as 2024, after it has proved safe and effective in clinical trials. 

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is so contagious that more than 90% of people have experienced their first infection by the age of two. While it typically causes mild cold symptoms, it can cause severe illness in the very young and elderly, with at least 70,000 people around the world dying every year after catching the virus.

The vaccine developed by Bavarian Nordic can triple the levels of RSV-fighting antibodies in the blood. The immune response was shown to last for six months – enough to cover a winter cold season – and was restored with a booster shot after 12 months. US company Moderna, known for its Covid-19 work, is also developing a combined vaccine to protect children against other cold and influenza strains.  (Athens Week 22 Aug 2020)

My comment:  Oh, how I wish the politicians would respect the scientists!  One can only assume that they had zero science in school, and the subject seems too difficult to comprehend, like learning Chinese.  What you don’t understand you are fearful of.  Regrettably, it’s a human failing, which, when a covid 19 vaccine comes onto the market, is quite probably going to guarantee that only part of the population, proportion unknown but too high, is going severely reduce the number of beneficiaries.

Moral: Too much of American schooling (can’t say “education”) is inadequate.

I was taught science as a teenager by the same man who taught my father! But, poor though my science is, I am in awe of the subject and deeply respect the professionals.  Why do too many people treat it as voodoo?

The global scale of lead poisoning

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One in three children around the world have enough lead in their blood to endanger their long-term health, scientists have found. The Unicef-published report, based on blood tests performed on hundreds of thousands of children worldwide, estimates that around 800 million under-19s have at least five micrograms of lead in their blood per decilitre – widely defined as the potentially unsafe level for children.

Though the use of lead in petrol, paints and water pipes has been phased out, a number of sources of exposure still remain – including car batteries, which use lead and acid to generate a charge, and food additives containing lead compounds, which are used in some countries to sharpen the colours of spices. Exposure to even modest levels of lead can cause symptoms ranging from pain, vomiting and seizures to developmental delay, mental difficulties and mood disorders.

Nicholas Rees, a policy specialist at Unicef and co-author of the report, described the findings as “absolutely shocking”.   (The Week 15 Aug 2020)

My comment: The situation in the US is getting worse as safety and health regulations are being (or have been) scrapped or rolled back to please big business.  The US health system is already skewed quite enough towards those with money to pay for it, good if you can afford it, but “exclusive” (shall we call it).  Epicurus, were he alive today would advocate a healthcare system accessible to all.  But first, he would demand that dangerous substances, such as lead, are immediately banned in products handled, breathed or eaten by the public.  Common sense?  Mmmmmh!

Why do I even have to discuss this?