Madam, – Nothing could condone the horrific abuse suffered by children in industrial schools all over the nation. The perpetrators of this abuse must be pursued, named and jailed for long periods.
But woe betide anybody who makes the slightest derogatory remark in Ireland today against children. Irish children are the most cosseted, indulged children of all time. They don’t know the meaning of work; they are never asked to do anything; they are carted here and there by adults; every whim of theirs is satisfied, often to the deprivation of parents who cannot afford it.
They have to have the latest mobile phone, fly to Paris on the slightest whim, get iPods that cost a bomb and all the paraphernalia of youth without a thought of how much it costs. I cannot speak for other countries.
One daren’t say one word against young people, even when they do wrong – their parents immediately rush to their defence. How the world has changed!
– Yours, etc,