Family values

TIME may have moved on, but Britain’s culture of hard work and endeavour has not. It remains a constant, despite the current economic difficulties.

However a trait has developed whereby many families believe that the best way to raise children is to purchase expensive gadgets, and to worry about the financial difficulties at a later date.

One reason is peer pressure – hence Unicef’s call for advertisements aimed at children aged under 12 to be banned.

However, money does not always buy happiness, and that is the most important conclusion to be drawn from this report. What matters is that children are brought up in a loving home, and parents remember that quality time can cost little or no money – such as playing in the local park or those board games that provided so much pleasure to the post-war generation.

They would not say they went without. They, and their parents, made the most of what was available. And, as such, the young of today should not feel neglected if their parents cannot afford the latest “must have” gizmo – happiness is the most priceless commodity of all.