To think the level of state involvement many posters expect is bonkers?

[FaeryRing]

It seems like there is nothing the state shouldn’t be responsible for any more! Feeding your kids, getting them to school, hiring ‘behaviour specialists’ for every classroom because parents don’t want to discipline their own children, giving you money towards virtually anything you ask for because it’s not fair you have to pay for anything yourself.. I find it absolutely wild and don’t think it’s at all realistic or representative of what most adults believe?

But as a previous poster has said everyone in her child's reception class was given a toothbrush and paste. It looks like it's covered and no neglectful parents have to feel singled out and outraged.
@BePinkReader I'm sure you can find a void to scream into about the wate of your taxes like Ebenezer Scrooge before he realised the joy of Christmas though.
But I'm sure it saves money that would of otherwise been spent on emergency fillings

I’ve been vocal about the teachers not having to brush children’s teeth. I’ve said multiple times them teaching a lesson on it yearly or whatever is a good idea. Please don’t make shit up.

My issue isn’t state involvement. My issue is peoples expectations and entitlement that THEY don’t have to take responsibility. The govt pushing them to do (and this encompasses educating and helping them where needed) so is something I would support funding, yes.

I think the days of people having ten kids claiming benefits, not working and getting a big council are over tbh. Child tax credits have been capped at two kids for how long a decade? Council house waiting lists are a decade long?
I think a lot of people on this thread are getting their panties in a twist over nothing tbh.

Drug addiction is still a big problem though

The benefits angle isn’t my angle. I have exactly as much of a problem with “naice” parents who practice a less obvious form of middle class neglect. Like maybe they brush their teeth 4 times a week rather than never, supervise young children playing after 1-2 bottles of wine etc. I see a lot from
the parents at DC fancy school. Lots of parents happy to pay for expensive holidays and cars but won’t spend the money if their child needs to see a specialist or plonking them in front of the TV for 6 hours day in day out but they speak well so no one would question it. One mother routinely used Peppa Pig as a third parent but put it on “in French” as she thought it would make her child bilingual. Plenty of parents take coke etc.

the same parents don’t read with their children and scream at the school that they cant read. They show up at school gates and ask the teachers to explain why their child can’t do XYZ. There is no personal acceptance of responsibility in any of these cases either.

if someone can push something on to someone else and make it their issue, including their children, they will. Doesn’t matter how much money they have.

I'm saying they can't tell the difference between a neglectful family and an impoverished one or one with DC with additional needs.

Unwashed clothes- I've known families who can't afford the electricity costs to run the washing machine. If they have one, which some families don't. Also known families where they can't afford detergent so when they have a washing machine, they just run them through the machine hoping it'll get out most of the dirt. Which it doesn't completely and the clothes smell.

Also, many families who can afford to run the washing machine and detergent but don't have a tumble dryer or can't afford to use it so laundry hangs around for days in their homes in the winter not drying so it smells when worn.

Untreated headlice - a very few UK areas provide headline treatment on the NHS and only if you meet eligibility criteria. Most of the time, parents need to buy the treatments themselves which costs money out of an already stretched budget so may not be possible.

Nit combing with conditioner every few days will help, assuming the parent has the time to do that if working or doesn't have a disability that would make that difficult.

So it really isn't as simple as teachers 'knowing which kids are being neglected' based on your examples and if those teachers suspect that to be the case, they should be referring to CYPSS as it's a safeguarding concern which teachers should be well aware of and commonly, have safeguarding lead practitioners in the school.

If teachers are not making those referrals, that's a shit school not meeting it's statutory obligations and if you worked there, you are responsible to flag concerns to the designated safeguarding leads.

"Untreated headlice - a very few UK areas provide headline treatment on the NHS and only if you meet eligibility criteria. Most of the time, parents need to buy the treatments themselves which costs money out of an already stretched budget so may not be possible.

Nit combing with conditioner every few days will help, assuming the parent has the time to do that if working or doesn't have a disability that would make that difficult"

Its getting into the wider community because of it. My niece is a TA (single and childfree) and lives with my 88 year old parents and my niece caught headlice while doing her job. My 88 year old mum has osteoporosis refuses help to be washed or to even brush her hair so how the fuck do we deal with it if she catches it. Its fucking unacceptable.

And no parents arent getting the big houses anymore. If a couple are pregnant with their first child here they are now being prioritized for the one bedroom flats instead so single and childfree couples going even further down the list. And as someone who is childfree by choice i would bloody resent it if i had to sort out headlice. I dont get the perks of being a parent so i dont see why i should get the shit bits either.

Whats the purpose of this comment other than thinking you've got one over on me? Whether a family is intentionally neglecting their kids or are too poor to afford a toothbrush is irrelevant just give the kid a toothbrush either way they need one.
No the school was not "shit" yes they did report neglect but reports can only go so far.

Interesting how you went from moaning about your taxes being spent on toothbrushes for poor kids to now being mother Theresa worrying about people who can't afford to wash their clothes.
Which is it? Or do you just enjoy arguing for the sake of it?

But the level of poverty you are talking about eg genuinely not having enough money to wash clothes, is so unusual. And, unpopular as it is and everyone will scream “shameless” etc etc - people should not be having children if they cannot afford to look after them like this. What sort of life is that for a child? And even with the nits “they are too busy working to comb children’s hair”. It’s not acceptable that children are being born into lives like this.

at least a quarter of children in the UK have tooth decay. There are not a quarter of children in the UK living in this Angela’s Ashes scenario you describe.

Neglect is neglect whether its that you had kids you can't afford or whether you willfully neglect.

@Gruffallowhydidntyouknow Peoples circumstances change, death divorce, illness, inc MH issues and accident.

Yes it would be great if people were more responsible but perhaps if we had greater early years intervention, we could break the cycle of generational poverty?

Lack of interventions just increases numbers, as we ve seen over the last decade or so.

@Againname Thought you might be interested in this.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5092486-to-think-the-mismanagement-of-social-and-council-housing-is-an-absolute-scandal?reply=135877668