The debate about childhood should focus on something more specific than the pros and cons of modern life.

It is tempting to dismiss yesterday’s letter to a national newspaper from 110 leading experts on childhood as a wail of nostalgia, or as Dave Hill put it, a reflection clouded by “banks of wistful cumuli”. After all, their chosen paper was the Daily Telegraph. And the list of causes included most aspects of modern life: junk food, sedentary based entertainment, lack of interaction with real significant adults and lack of time. But it is interesting how few people, including Dave Hill, are dismissing the letter in its entirety. The massive media response shows that the frustrations behind it are widespread.

Full article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/13/roscoward