MADO family in the news.
Daily Mail Letters page, Friday May13th
How we fight the ‘cotton wool’ culture

WE ALL want our children to grow up healthy, happy, capable and self-reliant. But in these days of overweight children cocooned in a ‘cotton wool culture’, it’s getting harder to find opportunities to develop these life-enhancing qualities. _I’ve found a way to tackle this problem. Every weekend, my three children, aged 12 to 15, my husband and I have an adventure. _In the holidays, it could last a week. We might do it locally, we might go abroad, we might do it in the dark, in the rain, in the sun, by the sea, in the mountains — even in town parks on weekday evenings. _As a result, my children are athletic, adept at problem-solving and risk assessment, and know thrills and achievements no computer game can generate, as well as disappointment and defeat and how to deal with it. _They know success is relative and isn’t always about winning. They socialise freely with their own age group but also interact comfortably with others. They recognise the beauty of the changing seasons and our indigenous wildlife. They have friends all over the country (and abroad) and are not afraid of the world. _And at the end of the day, even though our children may be some of the most independent and capable young people around, we still get to see them (even if from a distance): it really is the answer to every thinking parent’s prayer. _The name of this panacea is orienteering — for the uninitiated, it’s a sport where you find your way across country with a map and a compass — and it’s happening somewhere near you.

Mrs LYNDEN HARTMANN, Malvern, Worcs .


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