Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

Dear Ed Balls,

Are you beginning to see how Labour have failed society?  For all your talk of rising ’standards’ and investment in education, the truth of the matter is that children in this country are suffering and no longer feel safe.  Anxiety and childhood are a dangerous mixture that can have serious consequences when the children get older.

This is a not straightforward issue that can be solved by throwing money at it, just in case you were considering that option (I seriously hope we don’t hear about some stupid headline-grabbing new initiative in the near future).  As always, I believe these problems can be traced back to the family.  The report released today documents how “anti-social behaviour, materialism and the cult of celebrity” are taking over children’s lives and parents are doing little or nothing about it.  Watching too much TV, feeling anxious, lack of respect for teachers, no cohesive family life, involvement in gangs, unsafe streets, unsuitable computer games, childhood consumerism – it all comes back to the breakdown of families.  Parents need to provide a secure, loving environment for their children.  If both parents work full time and are exhausted when they come home, children will stare at the TV for hours every night or sit on their mobile phone chatting with their friends for hours.  Without any family interaction, the bonds between parents and children never fully form and are almost impossible to build from scratch when the children are teenagers.  It is time the government stepped in and increased paid maternity and paternity leave to give children a chance to bond with their parents.  The benefits system also has to be changed to encourage families to stay together and make sure that at least one parent can be there for their children every evening.  Furthermore, the advice available to parents of young children should be massively expanded and ‘parenting classes’ should be offered to everyone (and linked to the benefits system) to provide families with a wide support network.

You can’t measure the dangers of the dissolution of family life across the country, but there are some easy ways to try and prevent it.  I don’t encourage state intervention in most circumstances, but supporting strong families and helping to build enduring relationships between parents and children is most definitely an exception to the rule.

Yours sincerely,

A.Tory