Did anyone see last night`s programme on children in care?

[hairyfairy]

I watched a programme on tv last night, I forget what channel it was on. It was called "disabled & disowned" It was mainly about the care system in the past, & there were interviews with people who`d been treated appallingly by the system. There was one woman who talked about how she was drugged senseless by staff at a secure childrens home when she was a teenager. It brought back bad memories of my time in an adolescent unit in the 60`s, where if kids didn`t behave, the staff would knock them out with large doses of Largactil, a drug which is intended for use in violent schizophrenics & other pschycotic patients. It just goes to show how children are regarded in this country, objects to be seen & not heard.

[knowles8586]

what channel was it?

[cuddles64]

Well in some way I do agree. I mean kids are supposed to be kids and now too many childhoods have been ruined because they are expected to grow up in society too quickly. Gone are the days when Fathers, mothers and kids all knew their place. I am old fashioned and that's how I was raised. These days kids listen to and get involved in grown up conversation that most of the time doesn't concern them, they don't hear correctly and then repeated things to other adults which can cause many problems. I was raised that kids were seen and not heard, using proper discipline and where manners and respect were very important. Now the manners, respect and discipline have gone and the family unit has crumbled in society and too many do gooders going round trying to change the tradition of our culture and our society. I could go on all day but there really is no point because things won't go back to the way I believe was, in many ways, better than life is now. Oh and I have 3 kids which I also raised pretty much the same way as I was raised.

[hairyfairy]

I don`t remember what channel it was on, unfortunately. I was raised the victorian way, seen & not heard, & I was spanked hard & often, for minor things, & I believe that it did me a lot of harm.

[Mysteryreader]

I'm sorry I may have misunderstood Cuddles 64, are you saying it is okay to drug children when they misbehave and don't conform to societys norms? If so I totally disagree. children need to be loved and nurtured and yes there does need to be discipline but within the context of a loving family. There is a lot of research to prove how harmful both mentally and physically corporal punishment can be . Children are people too.

[hairyfairy]

I agree, & being drugged into submission just because adults want some peace & quiet, & don`t want to listen to their charges, is just as bad, if not worse, it teaches kids that no-one will listen to them, & that taking a pill or some liquid to calm them down is the answer to life`s problems. My past inability to deal with stress without resorting to drugs or alcohol is more than likely the result of what i learnt at the unit.