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| A Letter from the Vicarage |
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Ashamed to be … an adultI have been thinking a good deal about the way the adult world treats children since reading a novel “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” by John Boyne. It is a powerful and haunting story set in Poland during WW2. I won’t say too much more, or I will give away the plot and the killer punch which is delivered in the final pages. The reader is invited to go on a journey with a nine year old boy called Bruno. In due time you arrive with Bruno at a fence – and fences, erected by adults, exist all over the world. Children living in the UK today experience one of the most unequal societies in the developed world – and the inequality is clearly linked to child poverty. In this country, one child in three is poor; in some city areas, this level rises to one in two. Poverty is one of the “fences” which restrict the lives of children – and we in leafy Harrogate find it hard to imagine, let alone enter, that world of impoverishment which many youngsters inhabit. As the Children’s Society (another Christian organisation which makes me proud to be C of E!) has observed, child poverty is not really about income, it is about how children experience it. The Children’s Society’s Good Childhood Inquiry heard evidence last year about children who live in a council flat where raw sewerage comes up through the drains daily; about a girl who wants to study GCSE Art, but lies to her parents saying that she doesn’t, because she knows that they couldn’t afford the art materials and the school trips that would be involved; about a boy who was unable to play football with his friends – not because he has the “wrong” trainers, but because he doesn’t have any at all. Poverty means that children eat a wretched diet, it means they cannot play outside because of discarded needles left in the park, it means that they have never been on holiday, never seen the sea. So many of the experiences which we would associate with the idea of what makes a “good childhood” are simply not available to poor children. What can adults do to help these children? “If rich people could give some of their money to other people they can help more young people have a better life” suggested a 13-year old boy who wrote to the Inquiry. “Making everyone ecwool”, added a boy of seven. These children are right. The causes of inequality have to be addressed if we are to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020 as the Government have pledged. Progress has been made – but a further £3 billion of public investment is needed to get us back on track to meet the 2010 target. It would be profoundly ironic if we adults, having just spent £billions of public money to avert a financial meltdown, failed to deliver. In the present financial climate, the government may not take this step without public pressure. The main threat to this isn’t so much a lack of will in government as a lack of support from the public. Prepared to be … one with usAlready, Christmas cards and catalogues are in the shops and the Harrogate Advertiser assures us that the funding is in place to pay for Christmas lights in the town centre. At the heart of this commercially-driven Christmas there lies a child, born in poverty. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders ,,” Isaiah 9.6. Through Advent there is a time set aside for us to wait - and anticipate the arrival of this holy child. Time also to consider how we who submit to his kingly rule should be active campaigning, working and giving to ensure that the scandal of child poverty is eradicated. Your friend and Vicar – Paul Hooper |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 November 2008 ) |
News Flash
| Paul Hooper is installed as Honorary Canon |
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Paul Hooper was installed as Honorary Canon of Ripon Cathedral by the Bishop John Packer on Sunday 9th November.
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