English August Bank Holiday Monday is rarely a day to feel full of the joys of life in Scotland. What’s open? What’s closed? Who’s working? Who’s not? And where are all my usual TV and radio programmes? As if Monday’s weren’t bad enough…
And if the Bank Holiday wasn’t enough to make people hyper-aware of any English/Scottish divide, there’s all these stories about sports… I think I’m glad that the Olympics is over. The boundary between national pride and less contructive attitudes is such a fine one, and it’s been breached many times in recent weeks. The Olympics are based on such great sentiments, so controversy over the real age of teenage gymnasts, and increasingly heated discussions about Scotland’s potential sit uncomfortably with the ideals of international team spirit.
I’ve tried to encourage the ideas of particpation and being a good sport to my children, but it can be hard to hear other parents encouraging their kids to take a very different approach - particularly as it often means that the little terrors win at whatever is happening. As a parent, do you stand back, tell your kids that your proud of them, that it’s the taking part that counts, even when your children can see quite clearly that someone else has cheated? Or do you intervene, and get involved in what can quickly become petty carping and sniping over what is only a children’s activity, for goodness’ sake? And of course, I’m not talking just about schools here - it can happen in every type of extra-curricular activity.
Why does whistle-blowing sound so whingy? I suppose by definition it’s usually done by the losers, and I wouldn’t like to see my kids be bad losers either. Mind you, I feel certain that even a gold medal-winning fourteen year old in this country would be swiftly exposed if she tried to pass as sixteen. Neighbours, in-laws and the like would be clamouring at the media’s door with exposés - is that a healthier, or less healthy attitude than a country which might be able to pull off such a fraud?
I don’t always feel that our children are set the best example by the media and by national figures, who do seem to set such a high value on winning, and are swift to point the finger when achievements are in short supply. I’m viewing the whole 2012 business with some very mixed trepidation.
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