Some good news!

Would you like some good news for a change?
News that isn't controversial, disruptive or alienating . . . news that will bring us together, something to celebrate and endorse?


With all that's been going on over the past few weeks, these items could easily have escaped your attention.
So, to restore your faith in humanity, let me share them with you.

The news in question relates, rather unexpectedly, to the country's prisons.
Did you know that, in this country alone, over two hundred thousand children have a parent sent to prison every year?

It's a sobering thought, and the effect on each child can well be imagined . . .  these children proving three times more likely than their peers to fall into anti-social behaviour. What's more, over fifty per cent of boys who have a father in prison will, unsurprisingly, go on to offend themselves.


So, what's been happening to help correct this disturbing trend?  First of all, a prison in North Somerset had decided to take serious action.  A new wing has been added which is used exclusively for family visits.  This has become a place where the prisoner can respond intimately to the needs of his children . . .  where time can be spent playing, cuddling, or helping with homework.  What's more, if a prisoner wants to learn more about his child's progress at school, teachers are being encouraged to visit the parent in prison.

The outcome?
To date, the children concerned have reacted with considerable positivity.  Most of them now feel more comfortable at discussing their parent's situation.  The sense of stigma has eased, and the parent in prison continues to play an important and active role in their lives.


Nor is the prison in North Somerset alone in recognising the need for improved prisoner/child relationships.

In 2003, Sharon Berry, a writer and prison visitor, set up a charity called 'Storybook Dads' (later to be joined by 'Storybook Mums') which, at that time, operated from Dartmoor prison.

Now, sixteen years later, a hundred prisons are involved in her scheme.
And what do they do?  They encourage prisoners to make audio recordings of stories, stories which can then be listened to and enjoyed by their children

Not only do these recordings provide an invaluable link between the prisoners and their families, but the act of making the recording offers the prisoner an occupation that is both positive and creative.
It's an activity for which they receive the charity's guidance and support, something to be valued in the often hostile environment of prison life.

And the outcome for the prisoners?
Those collaborating in this scheme have shown a markedly diminished tendency to re-offend, whilst family relationships have been sustained and broadened.

So, please, whatever the news this week, whatever the turbulence, discord and divisions . . . just remember that in some prisons, at least, life is actually becoming better!

A Me Too Cat!

Hello, it's Chloe here.
I'm sure you're far wiser than me, but I've discovered something recently that has certainly got my whiskers twitching.

Would you like to know what it is?

As my Mum is out of the room at the moment I can keep my paws on the computer and tell you all about it.

What's been bothering me is the fact that this boyfriend/girlfriend business is far more complicated than I'd realised.

Yes, as we agreed before, Blue is the perfect boyfriend . . . he's handsome, persistent and polite, and there's no doubt he's very fond of me.
I'm not arguing about that.

But, sad to say, he also suffers from what seems to be a very common male delusion . . . he thinks that he's the one who should always be on top.

True, we kiss noses as equals when we meet.
But, when we go on to play together, he's convinced that he should be the one who leads the way up the tree, or up the steps, or up the wall . . . enjoying a higher position from which he can look down on what he hopes will be his admiring and subservient girlfriend.

What he doesn't seem to know is that, nowadays, girl humans make a lot of fuss and come together to say Me Too when they think boy humans have been unfair.

Quite rightly, female humans won't let themselves be left at the bottom of the tree, or down at the bottom of the steps.

I share their feelings, and Blue has now discovered, in no uncertain fashion, that his new girlfriend is most definitely a Me Too cat!

Up the steps he went the other day, fully expecting me to remain politely and admiringly in his rear.

Not on your whiskers!
I soon let him know that, where Me Too cats are concerned, it's the girl who leads the way!


It didn't take very long and, after I'd made my point . . .  well, you should have seen the difference!

There we were . . .  me up at the top of those steps with Blue below me.  What's more, he was gazing up at me with a newfound respect in his eyes.

Not only that, he rolled over on his back to prove just how much he accepted my superior position.

Do you see what I mean?

And there's one more thing, something of which I'm quite certain . . . Blue finds a Me Too girlfriend to be far more fun than a subservient and passive one!

You ask him!