Irritated

The title of this blip bears little relationship to the photo other than my irritation began to pile up like the marrows as the day went on.

My frustration was caused by the tone of interviews on BBCRadio 4 and BBC Scotland about the ability of children between 12 and 15 being able to decide for themselves whether to get a vaccination. Even if their parents did not want them to.

The tone of the interviews was very much “how can a child of that age reach a decision and express a view.”. The questions ought to have been “how can we best get the views of young people that age and help them to reach a decision?”and not about how patents’ authority over their child’s decision might e undermined.

The courts determined ages ago that, if a child is deemed competent they can have a say in what they want done. But it seems the media have a long way to go in catching up.

Of course there needs to be information and discussion but a line of questioning that suggests that does not reflect what has been the law for years at a sensitive time was not to my mind helpful.

In the end I had to concentrate on other family and church matters. In what was a busy day.