Letters

Children are getting ruder, less disciplined, more arrogant and totally detestable.

Why? Because there is no discipline in schools due to "liberal" thinkers like Ms Bradman disallowing it and because most parents do not seem to care nowadays how their children behave.

I received a detention in my first term at grammar school and found it did me good. I did not repeat the mistake I had made and it taught me a lesson.

We had total respect for our teachers, parents and adults in the community.

I would love Ms Bradman to travel on the bus with me in the afternoon when I leave work.

The abuse adults suffer from children cannot be believed.

Elderly people are pushed out of the way and if any remarks are addressed to them, the language is shameful.

My son is a teacher and usually works a day stretching from 8am in the morning, until midnight on most evenings, and even later at weekends because he has so much paperwork to do which cannot be done during the school day.

When does Ms Bradman think he can find time to encourage the out-of-control children of today?

Detention is the last measure of discipline left to a teacher. Take that away and you will have total anarchy.

Children think they rule the world and, if the action against detention succeeds, that belief will be confirmed.

Alice Murphy

Montem Road

Forest Hill

Give Ken a chance Rupert - I AM amused by Rupert Smythe's cavalier approach to the mayor's scheme to reduce congestion (He Says/She Says, January 8).

His attitude is, he should be allowed to do as he likes just because he has a car.

He needs to realise there are restrictions when one lives in a democratic, civilised society.

Sensible people accept there is far too much traffic in London, costing the country far too much money.

Businesses are driven out of the capital because they cannot afford the cost of transporting goods, causing workers to lose their jobs.

The health of the nation suffers as people become obese through lack of exercise and car fumes cause pollution.

It is clear Rupert Smythe does not have any answers to these problems.

Sensible Londoners have had enough of congestion and the many problems it causes, and see Ken Livingstone as the only person who is willing to do something about it.

J Stride

Elliscombe Road

SE7

Hospital did me proud - THE NHS comes in for so much criticism, I felt I must write to tell you about my treatment at Lewisham Hospital.

I was taken in as an emergency case and my family were kept informed on the bed situation while I waited to be transferred to a ward.

Everyone on the ward was hard-working but had kept their sense of humour.

When I returned home I received an outpatients' appointment, a report on the diagnosis and medication and future medical care. How competent is that?

G R Smith

Langdale Road

Greenwich

Fine bad drivers before a child pays ultimate price - THE issue of parking in Greenwich is always controversial.

However, I am sure I am not the only parent who would like to see more parking fines and restrictions.

For those of us living in quiet, residential parts of the borough, where parking attendants are never seen, the actions of some thoughtless people are endangering lives.

I have two children who attend Rockliffe Manor Primary School, in Bassant Road.

Twice a day, in Gilbourne Road, we have to run the gauntlet of avoiding cars parked on the pavement by the entrance to the school playground.

There are usually about five cars parked on the pavement, often with engines running, thereby pumping fumes into the faces of small children.

The space left makes it difficult to get a pushchair along the pavement and makes crossing the road extremely hazardous.

However, the greatest menace is caused by these vehicles parking and leaving, when they drive over the pavement with no care or attention for those entering or leaving the school.

I often have to grab my children to prevent them being hit by a car on the pavement.

My children are fortunate in that they are always taken and picked up from school. This is not the case for many kids who walk to and from school on their own, while others, even toddlers, are allowed to run ahead out of the school gates onto the pavement outside.

It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt.

We see so much about projects to encourage people to walk their children to school but the reality is everyday we risk being run over by people who cannot be bothered to walk a few hundred yards from a safe and legal parking space.

Name and address supplied

Israeli greed is to blame for conflict - WITH reference to recent reports about Chris Dunham's visit to Palestine (News Shopper, January 2), I would like to remind readers there are many ordinary citizens, both Israelis and Palestinians, who want to see a peaceful solution to the problem.

But it is very difficult for peace-loving individuals to take on the authorities especially as National Service is mandatory in Israel and the state does not recognise conscientious objectors.

Young people who do not wish to fight either have to resort to obtaining medical reports to support their case or go to jail.

One such man is Jonathan Ben-Artzi, the nephew of the late Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's former leader.

In spite his uncle's views, Jonathan is a pacifist who believes Israel should return the occupied territories and make peace with its neighbours.

He has offered to do civilian service instead of going into the army but has been jailed repeatedly.

Likewise many Palestinians realise violence is not the answer. There were reports of one would-be suicide bomber who came to realise what she was about to do was murder innocent people.

Torayah Hamour was reported to say: "I don't hate Israelis. I believe we are all human beings, all created by God and we all have a right to live. I hope there will be peace one day."

A peaceful solution must be sought in the Middle East because more atrocities will only lead to more violence, pain, bereavement and hatred.

I pray people on all sides will realise violence and terrorism has no place in a civilised world.

Efrosyni Hobbs

Glyndon Road

Plumstead

I MUST thank News Shopper for covering my trips to Palestine in such an objective manner during the past year.

Nigel Bowness, unfortunately, lacks that objectivity (Letters, January 15).

He paints a picture of an Israeli government searching for peace hindered by having to continually reoccupy Palestinian areas because of terrorist attacks.

However, since the 1970s, the Palestinians have been trying to make peace with Israel based on a two-state solution an Israeli state in the land it conquered in 1948 and a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

The world is agreed on this solution except Israel and its backer, the USA.

In 1972, Israeli general Moshe Dayan said: "We should tell the Palestinians there is no solution."

Imagine if Britain had been illegally occupied by a foreign power for 35 years. How would we feel? Israel has the power to end this conflict by ending its occupation and recognising the rights of the millions of refugees it has created.

Chris Dunham

Anacona Road

Plumstead

Don't forget the firemen - I AGREE with Fay Halligan (Letters, December 23) about the firefighters not being mentioned in your report on the Lewisham train crash printed in the December 4 edition.

I also wish to point out that you listed rail horrors in the area but failed to mention the one on June 9, 1972.

That evening, I was in an ambulance on my way to hospital, with my wife who had gone into labour with my son.

As we were driving, the ambulance men received a radio message which read: "All emergency vehicles to divert to Eltham Well Hall station where there has been a major incident."

A newspaper report later told how a seaside special train had been involved in a crash and had finished up in the coal yard by the station, which in those days was on the other side of Well Hall Road, right alongside the Eltham Pleasance.

It was reported many were killed and injured including children.

B Evans

Address supplied

WISDOM PREVAILS: Last year, you published a letter from me about the chaos at Lewisham station roundabout. I was scathing about Transport for London's (TfL) reaction to my complaints. Well, fair's fair, TfL eventually did something about the timing of the lights. It needed two shots but, in the autumn, they got it more or less right. There was an immediate improvement and, since then, Blackheath Hill has been reopened. Lewisham is now spared all that diverted traffic. The result is the roundabout is now perfectly clear, as it should have been when it was built in 1994! Hats off to TfL's representative, Gordon Wisdom.

Robert Davies, Lee Park

FIGHTING FIRES: Could someone please ask the firefighters to stop lighting fires outside every fire station in the country every time they strike? Can you imagine how many trees they have burned doing this? Also, is it not hazardous? This kind of self-indulgent display makes one wonder about the sincerity of their claims. It all appears to be just a publicity stunt but they could have made a wiser choice. They might not care for the environment but many of their supporters do.

D J, Email address supplied

No tube, no tax: I understand, in some areas of the country, council tax has been increased where public transport has been significantly improved. I wonder if it works the other way. Here, in Eltham Park, we no longer have a railway station. We have no tube or Docklands Light Railway. We have only one bus the infamous B16 which, according to the timetable, is supposed to run four times an hour at busy times. Surely, the residents of Eltham Park deserve a reduction in council tax?

Marion Langham

Address supplied

equal rights: The letter, titled Boys only, about allowing women into a working man's club (Letters, January 15), missed the point completely. Women are invited into this club but only on their husband's membership. I was not trying to get into a men-only club. I don't know why the letter writer got that impression or why he or she thought I was a strident feminist causing trouble. I just want equal treatment for all.

V C Light, Forest HIll

SCHOOL'S OUT: Why is the school in Milverton Way, Eltham, still empty? What happened to our state-of-the-art or, to quote Greenwich Education department, our flagship school? Has our flagship sunk? Along with others, I am beginning to feel uneasy about the council's motives for the lack of information and lack of progress on the building works. How about an update?

S Bishop, Eltham

January 28, 2003 10:30