Contrary to popular belief in this country, our European neighbours, especially the French, look upon us quite fondly. When pressed, they will come up with terms such as "fair-play, sang-froid" and, significantly, "reserve".

Looking at the toe-curling array of exhibitionists in fancy-dress at Headingley, I could only echo the words of Sky TV commentator David Lloyd: "Why, oh why?"

I have a similar problem with fun-runners in the London Marathon. Yes, I know theyare supposed to be doing it for charity, but the incomparable Jane Tomlinson didn't feel the need to dress like Jemima Puddleduck to make her mark.

Say what you like about the terribly, awfully middle- class Wimbledon crowds but they don't indulge in the inane Mexican Wave. Nor do they dress like clowns, clap double faults as happens at other Grand Slam venues or boo players they don't support.

They are an anachronism, a relic of a bygone age that I, for one, yearn for.

It is only a matter of time before it dawns on our European neighbours that English reserve is no more than a fond memory.

From: Miss J. Hopper, Hazel Heads, Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire.

FOLLOWING the huge numbers of complaints to your newspaper regarding the crowd trouble at Headingley, your headline in the sports pages (Yorkshire Post, July 26) states "Yorkshire consider calling time on alcohol" and you quote YCCC's chief executive Stewart Regan regarding the trouble: "It's obviously related to the amount of alcohol, and we're looking at how we can improve the situation."

How much "looking at" does Mr Regan need to do? Stop selling alcohol, in all areas of the ground if necessary, and problem solved.

If people can't enjoy a day at a cricket match without alcohol, then stay at home and let those who can go and enjoy the day in peace.


Why did Obama draw the German crowds?


From: David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Acomb, York.

I FIND it almost unbelievable that nearly 100,000 people, mostly Germans, turned up in Berlin to watch and listen to American Presidential candidate Barack Obama (Yorkshire Post, July 25).

Why on earth have they done this? He is not in any great powerful position yet. His actions in going to Berlin may well backfire in the US.

He is bound to say what he knows that many would like to hear him say. He is a good speaker with a certain amount of charisma, and he does appeal to both black and white voters, but we really do not know what he thinks or would do if and when in power.

The huge turnout is more like a rock concert or a top-grade club football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Berlin is a very important and highly significant city in a very influential country, and the Germans have never had much "love" for George W Bush, but this reception for Obama is very, very hard to understand. Perhaps German optimism is far higher than mine.


Education system that misses its true target


From: John G Davies, Alma Terrace, East Morton, Keighley.

YOUR editorial is justified
in condemning the announcement of literacy targets for four-year-olds, along with Philip Pullman and host of others (Yorkshire Post, July 24).
I am fairly sure that their imposition will have a lot of negative effects, as have "targets" in many other places.

Far from being a "haphazard approach to policy making", these seem to fit well with the long established "targets for everything" system. It also appears to be based on the belief that children are a blank piece of paper to be written upon, and "the sooner that they are written on in the correct way, the better". It also involves the desire to control the children's development based on the managerialist dictum, "what can be measured can be controlled".

Children, even the youngest babies, are intelligent, interactive and rather unpredictable creatures, who interact with their surroundings. They quickly learn who and what they can manipulate. The learning process develops both the "knowledge base" and the brain itself. Each brain develops in a different way because of the different parents and environments that each and every one of us has.

Life provides a complex range of experiences which may or not impinge upon us at some time or other. The human brain is a wonderful machine for making sense of these chaotic encounters and this capacity needs to be fostered, not restricted by an artificial set of criteria. Literacy develops through the desire to communicate and to share our experiences. Children who have access to mobile phones from an early age, sharing text messages with friends, seem to become more literate than those who do not.

What an early years education should do is to foster this need and desire to communicate, in as wide a way as possible, perhaps starting with talk, music and dance, so they express themselves rather than conforming to some mandarin's or politician's criteria.