Tuesday 10th April

A song, not my favourite, by The Who – and from all the way back in the Sixties too.  And Pete Townshend got it right.  The kids are alright.  In fact, they are more than alright, they are brilliant.  Yes, they may have their heads stuck in their phones; they may not be able to do mental arithmetic like us ‘Oldies’ can; they may like music we don’t understand (and didn’t our parents shake their heads in amazement at our music too) – but they are more than alright.

Every day, and without even noticing, we are served quickly and with a smile our morning Latte by kids.  Do you ever stop and wonder what future they will have?  That they are paying hundreds a month for a crappy bedsit, that they may have Uni fees hanging over their heads; that unless their parents are wealthy they will never get on the housing ladder, that the girls will have to wait till their mid-forties before having the wherewithal wo afford children; that they must look around in wonder and disgust at the mess we, the baby-boomers, have made of the Planet.  And yet they still smile as they serve their hundredth coffee in the morning.

I watched, completely by accident, Young Musician Of The Year on BBC4; not my cup of tea musically, but the talent, the dedication, the skill of these kids was a wonder to behold.

And we mustn’t forget that even though we may hand over a broken and fractious planet, that we may have denied them their European future – all of that – it is they who will shape the World, our World for maybe a few years, and our children’s and our grandchildren’s.

So, when the Newspapers scream about kids stabbing each other, about juvenile criminals, about their inability to add up, about how stupid our kids are; just think a bit deeper.  They are wonderful, our kids.  And without them we and the World has no future.  Never forget – the kids are alright.