UK Ferry Tickets

My article about the technological revolution, and how we are losing the art of conversation, prompted many replies from readers.

The majority of people felt it was inevitable and said that you can’t halt the pace of change; others claimed it was important to ensure children do not spend their whole time behind a computer screen.

Isobel said she strictly limits the time her two sons, aged six and nine, spend on computers and insists they go outside and play for equal periods. But Jennifer, a single mother, said that was easier said than done and admitted that it was less hassle to allow her children to amuse themselves.

Steve said he and his ten-year-old son Jake used the Internet to help research school projects but added that he much preferred playing football in the garden with him and felt that was just as important as homework.

I know that when I was a child, we seemed to spend all of the holidays playing football and cricket, or causing mischief in the woods. Of course, there were no computers in those days and even television wasn’t that exciting.

But those days instilled in us a love of sport and the outdoors, and I find it scandalous that so many young people are now overweight couch potatoes who have no interest in exercise.

However, maybe all is not lost. Isn’t is heart warming to see that ‘The Dangerous Book for Boys’, an old-fashioned compendium of information on items such as catapults, knot-tying, conkers and tree-houses, has stormed up the Amazon Top 100 list? 

I’m just waiting for the health and safety lunatics to outlaw conker matches on the grounds that one could fly off and cause serious injury to participants.

Now where did I leave my iPod and mobile phone?!

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Thursday, June 1st, 2006