THE WEEK News
Spirit of the age
Nursery teaches have been urged to give witches pink hats rather than black ones to prevent children developing negative associations with dark colours. Early years consultant Anne O’Connor, who has advised several local authorities, told Nursery
World that to help eliminate racism, teachers should
also dress fairies in
dark clothes, and name their favourite colours as black or brown, even if it is not true.
scientists are saying...
What the
...Too much TV is lethal
Every hour spent slumped on the sofa, watching TV, reduces a viewers’ life
expectancy by almost 22 minutes. According to a new study from the University of
Queensland, people who spend six hours a day in front of the box will die fi ve years sooner, on
average, than those who do not watch TV. It is not, of course, that the box itself is emitting death rays. It’s more that people who watch hours of TV every
day take less exercise than others, and tend to have poorer diets. Spending hours in front of a computer is also associated with a higher mortality rate.
Poverty aff ects children’s faces You can tell a lot about people’s childhoods just
Pick of the week’s correspondence
Boys will be boys
To The Times The Letter about the feminisation of schoolyards reminds me of my teacher training. My fi rst placement was in a boys’ Jesuit secondary school, and crossing the yard at break-time meant running the gauntlet through boys all hurtling around, knocking footballs and each other noisily about. My second placement was in an Ursuline high school. Crossing the yard meant weaving between static knots of shivering girls sitting cross-legged in huddles, sharing food, conversation and homework answers. Schoolyards should refl ect the separate needs and behaviours of boys and girls. And perhaps we should refl ect on the microcosm they off er us of the wider world. Kate Greenhalgh, London SW19
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by looking at their faces: according to researchers at the University of Edinburgh, people who grew up in poverty are more likely than others to have asymmetrical features. The fi nding suggests that factors such as lack of nutrition, or exposure to cigarette smoke, can have a permanent eff ect on facial development. The team examined
the features of 292 people, aged 83, who had been followed throughout their lives, for a study called the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921. They examined 15 facial “landmarks” –
such as the positions of eyes, nose and ears – and compared them with data on the participants’ social status in childhood. In men, there was strong correlation between
class and symmetry, but this was less apparent in women.
To The Independent The modifi cation of British accents to conform to an acceptably understandable TV and radio norm is defi nitely to be regretted by those of us who appreciate a regional voice. The Geordie accent is clearly
distinct, but as someone who can remember it
dialect Death of the
as was spoken 50 years ago, I fi nd one thing missing – the old dialect words. These are sadly dying out as new generations listen more to the TV, radio and computer than to each other. The similarity to Scandinavian noticed by Mr
Hensher is a direct link to the Viking past. My father was posted to Norway during the Second World War and found that if he lapsed into broad Geordie he was speaking an approximation of Norse – “gannen yem” means going home in Geordie as well as in Norwegian; “spuggie” is a Geordie sparrow and a “spug” means a small bird in Norwegian. The sad thing is that within a relatively short time a manner of speaking that has lasted a millennium will be all but lost. John E. Orton, Bristol
www.fi rstelevenmagazine.co.uk Michaelmas 2011 FirstEleven 11
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