To think that most children are not feral and abusive?

[pointythings]

I was just at the Barnardo's survey that seemed to suggest that 49% of us think that all children are feral, violent and abusive. Who on earth did they ask?

The absolutely vast majority of the kids I see around me are absolutely fine, no different from the kind of children I grew up with, and we have some really deprived families in my area.

Who are these people who hate children so much?

some of it stems from a lack of community cohesion

That is so true, many, maybe most people have no regular contact with under 18s (I lived like that for nearly 15 years).

Meanwhile, The mischief my parents got up to as children was unbelievable; I am only slowly weedling the true stories out of them. And the things their siblings did, too. I was no angel, either. We mostly became higher achievers in life, quite respectable. It's like most people have forgotten about their own childhood and that children will make mistakes & take daft risks, society should help them learn & improve not just condemn.

ledkr, that was a brilliant post. Summed up what I've been thinking all through this thread. :)

YANBU. Most kids are definitely not feral. Some are badly parented but none of the ones I come into contact with ( I'm a teacher) could be described as feral.