Decline of the traditional family

The Sunday Express reported the following on 17/10/2008:

Almost 40 per cent of British children are not living with married parents by the time they start school.

The high teenage pregnancy rate is being blamed for the growing number brought up by single mothers.  Just 63 per cent of youngsters are in “traditional” family groups at the age of five, according to a study of 15,000 youngsters born in the first two years of the millennium.  That means 37 per cent are not living with a married mother and father at home together.

The research also found the proportion residing with both parents – whether married or not – had fallen from 86 per cent to 77 per cent since they were first surveyed at nine months old.

Most of this decline was due to a sharp fall in those living with cohabiting mothers and fathers – down from 24 per cent then to 14 per cent.  The number of children being brought up by single mothers rose from 14 to 17 per cent in the same period.

Critics of the decline of the two-parent family called for Labour to re-think its disdain of marriage.  Research has shown that youngsters born outside wedlock face a higher risk of failing at school, suffering poor health and of going on to face problems with unemployment, drugs and crime.

Jill Kirby, of the centre-right think-tank Centre for Policy Studies, said: “These figures show that the expectation that marriage will precede childbirth is disappearing from British life.  It is a matter of great concern,” she said, adding that there was urgent need to change the welfare system to make marriage a more attractive option.  Study author Professor Shirley Dex, of the University of London’s Institute of Education, said: “These findings provide justification for policies to improve alternatives to early motherhood for the least educated young women. They also imply that young single mothers, who are still least likely to be employed, may benefit from further targeted support from government.”

Government figures have shown that children who live with both parents improve their GCSE performance almost twice as fast as classmates living with just their mothers.

Critics say the benefits system penalises couples with children for staying together. A low-income couple could be up to £100 a week better off if they lived apart.  The Tories have urged ministers to end this “couples’ penalty”, and there have been calls from the Liberal Democrats for the Government to do more to help disadvantaged families.

BBC Slammed Over Brand-Ross 'Prank'

The Christian Institute has released the following statement:

"Two abusive comedians are still in their jobs – for now – but the BBC was quick to blacklist a children’s author upon discovery that his books are Christian.

Just last month best-selling author, G P Taylor, claimed he had been dropped as a studio guest by the BBC after it found out his stories had a Christian theme.

Mr Taylor told newspapers: “A BBC producer told me ‘off the record’ that it was a matter of my faith and the fact that I was an Anglican priest. ‘We can’t be seen to be promoting Jesus’, he said with a laugh.”

But despite the vast tide of criticism levelled at the BBC’s handling of the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross stunt, so far no one at the corporation has lost their jobs over the ‘joke’.

The BBC has previously split with high-profile presenters for making offensive remarks. In 2004 the BBC suspended Robert Kilroy-Silk’s talk show after he wrote a Sunday Express column attacking Arabs.

But the BBC have so far failed to ditch Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand over their recent outrageous behaviour on Radio 2.

The two comedians sparked a storm of protest when they left an abusive ‘prank’ message on the answer phone of 78-year-old actor, Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in the hit show Fawlty Towers.

The calls, made for a BBC radio show, featured Ross and Brand making lewd comments about Mr Sachs’ 23-year-old granddaughter.

On the show Ross yelled on Mr Sachs’ answer phone that Brand had slept with Mr Sachs’ granddaughter. They then invented obscene details of the imagined encounter. The pair even giggled that Mr Sachs might hang himself as a result.

The show was pre-recorded. According to the BBC: “A senior editorial figure signed off the programme, including its strong language, before it was broadcast.”

This has led to calls for BBC bosses to explain how such a decision could be reached by senior editorial staff.

Brand is thought to be paid a six-figure sum for his weekly radio show. Ross is paid a staggering £6 million per year for hosting a package of BBC programmes on TV and radio.

Ofcom is now investigating the incident after receiving a surge of complaints. The BBC Trust has said the broadcaster is conducting an internal review.

Simon Calvert, Deputy Director for Public Affairs at The Christian Institute, said: “The BBC’s failure to act decisively on this matter reveals a warped set of values at the publicly-funded broadcaster.

“If you’re a Christian who believes in family values and traditional morality you’re treated as an object of ridicule who never gets a fair hearing.

“If you’re a foul-mouthed lewd comedian you’re given millions of pounds of public money and your own radio and TV shows to fill the airwaves with sick jokes and abuse.

“The outrage being expressed by the British public isn’t just directed at two twisted comedians, it’s directed at a privileged broadcaster who has lost all touch with taste and decency.”"

Call for Creationism in Schools

MSN News reports the following:

A leading biologist and education expert called for creationism to be included in science lessons.

The Rev Professor Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society, believes banning creationism from the classroom is likely to backfire with children who hold sincere beliefs.

He wants teachers to be open to discussing creationist ideas. Some creationists reject the concept of evolution and suggest that the Earth is only 10,000 years old.

At the same time they should endeavour to explain scientific theories such as natural selection and the Big Bang.

Prof Reiss admitted he used to be "evangelical" about spreading the word of evolution when he taught biology in schools.

But he added: "I realised that simply banging on about evolution and natural selection didn't lead some pupils to change their minds at all. Now I would be more content simply for them to understand it as one way of understanding the universe."

Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science at the University of Liverpool, he said it was better for science teachers not to see creationism as a "misconception" but as a "world view".

Around 10% of British schoolchildren come from families with sincere creationist beliefs, said Prof Reiss, an ordained Church of England minister. In the US, the proportion of creationist schoolchildren was 40%.

Many of these children came from Muslim backgrounds or families with fundamental Christian views. Teachers in science lessons ought to be willing to talk about creationism if students brought the subject up, said Prof Reiss.

At the same time as making clear creationism is not accepted by the scientific community, they should convey a message of respect that does not "denigrate or ridicule" the children's beliefs.

F2A UK - the above is a good start but Creationism is more than a "world view;" it is the truth of God.

Teachers in fear of pupils

CLASSROOMS are turning into war zones with one in 10 teachers injured by pupils in the last year.

Nearly one-third of tutors have experienced “physical aggression” from one of their charges, according to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). Almost all of a group of 830 teachers surveyed reported problems.

The survey also shows knife crime has spread to classrooms, as 3.3 per cent of pupils who attacked a teacher used a knife. Two-thirds of teachers attacked were punched and almost half were kicked. ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said: “No teacher should have to tolerate these levels of poor pupil behaviour and certainly no-one should be attacked. Not only is poor behaviour driving teaching staff away at an alarming rate – 65 per cent have considered leaving as a consequence – it is also damaging the chances of other pupils during lessons.”

The union is to call on ministers to do more to make parents and pupils take responsibility for bad behaviour.
Evelyn Gothard, a secondary school teacher from Hampshire, said children “play up frequently” because they know teachers’ hands are tied. “In the past two years we have only successfully permanently excluded one pupil,” she said.
Jean Roberts, a primary school teacher from London, said: “I have permanent marks where I have been kicked.”
In one case in Scotland last year, a pupil filmed a “happy-slapping” attack on his headmaster.

There was an outcry in 2006 when a pupil who broke his teacher’s cheekbone got just 12 months community punishment. Dexter Hungwa, then 16, attacked Liz Jones when she asked him to close a door.

Government statistics show more than 70,000 schoolchildren who assaulted teachers or other pupils were allowed back in the classroom in 2006. In that year, teachers were awarded around £25million in compensation for attacks by pupils and parents, stress and accidents.

The ATL says bad behaviour is also taking its toll on teachers’ mental health, with one in three suffering problems and stress. Almost one in 10 has taken leave because of intimidation, while 12 per cent saw a doctor.
A Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesman said: “Good behaviour and respect for staff should be the norm. In the vast majority of cases, it is.”

And parents shouldn't smack their children???

Family breakdown threatens child education

A “TOXIC circle” created by the breakdown of traditional family life threatens the education of generations of children, teachers warn.

They say there are increasing numbers of pupils who can’t concentrate at school because of the “emotional turmoil” suffered when their parents split up. Many of these youngsters will be unable to create stable families for their own children – who are then also more likely to fail at school, it is claimed.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers at the union’s annual conference in Torquay, Devon, called on Labour to recognise the damage done by broken homes.
Delegates backed a resolution proposed by delegate Phil Whalley who warned that nearly half of children were now born to unmarried parents.
Mr Whalley, from Hardenhuish School, Chippenham, Wiltshire, said evidence shows that co-habiting but non-married parents are twice as likely to separate as married couples.
He added: “No matter how brilliant the lesson or how much has been spent on rebuilding the school, if a child comes in angry and in emotional turmoil because of their family life they will not learn.”
He added: “This means that we have a significant problem in Britain because we already have worrying levels of social dysfunction and family breakdown and the situation is getting worse.
“The great sadness is that the consequences of an unstable family background are felt long into adult life. Those who underachieve in their education are much more likely to go on and live dysfunctional lives and be unable to support a stable family life for their own children.

“In short, as a society we are in danger of creating an expanding, perpetuating and toxic circle.”

One teacher said many children are “losers before they even start”. Teachers also warned that white working-class boys were failing at school. Only 15 per cent of white boys from poor backgrounds in England gain five good GCSEs including maths and English.

But union members said that politicians were reluctant to discuss the issue for fear of lending support to far-Right groups.
The Department for Children said: “What happens outside school is as important as what happens inside when it comes to driving up standards. “We don’t want to turn teachers into social workers or housing officers.
“That’s why we are focusing on how we can make all schools 21st Century schools, with integrated services for all children and early intervention for those who need it.”

Sex lessons for primary school pupils?

The Christian Institute published the following article on its website on 27/08/2008:

Primary school children aged as young as four should be forced to undergo sex education regardless of parents’ wishes, a group of MPs has said.

A cross-party group of ten MPs has written a letter to The Daily Telegraph calling for sex lessons to be made compulsory in primary and secondary schools.

At present, the law requires that schools teach the biological facts about sex in science lessons to secondary school pupils.

Anything more than this is not currently compulsory. While many schools choose to offer extra sex education programmes, parents can ask for their children not to be included.

Despite the widespread use of such programmes – and some critics say because of them – levels of sexually transmitted infections have risen sharply amongst teenagers.

The number of teenage abortions has also increased and the reduction in teenage pregnancies looks set to fall short of Government targets.

However, the group of ten MPs says the answer is more sex education. They have called on the Government to make sex education compulsory, even for primary school children.

In February the Government launched a review of sex education. The UK Youth Parliament was asked to play a leading role in the review. It supports removing a parent’s right to withdraw their child from sex lessons.

According to press reports in June, Ministers have repeatedly hinted that the proposal will be adopted. But the Department for Children, Schools and Families has said it has “no current plans” to make sex lessons compulsory.

The signatories of the letter are:
Chris Bryant MP (Lab)
John Bercow MP (Con)
Doug Naysmith MP (Lab)
Martin Salter MP (Lab)
Clive Efford MP (Lab)
Sandra Gidley MP (Lib Dem)
Robert Key MP (Con)
Martyn Jones MP (Lab)
Julie Morgan MP (Lab)
Evan Harris MP (Lib Dem)

And:
Gill Frances, Chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group
Andy Hamflett, Chief Executive of the UK Youth Parliament

Stars blamed for new breed of football louts

A SENIOR police officer has blamed football’s millionaire bad boys for a “new breed” of drunken hooligans.

Superintendent Andy Ball said fans mimic the actions of some Premiership stars who “get away with behaving badly”.

Supt Ball spoke out after it was revealed that 25 British Transport Police officers were assaulted during the 2007/08 season on match days – the highest number ever.

He called on English football’s elite to “do their bit” by modifying their behaviour.

“We do have growing problems with youth groups and we need to recognise the threat they bring along to football,” he said.

“They bring a new dimension. They have less respect for authority and they are more inclined to drink heavily. “They see their role models being paid lots of money and behaving badly and they see that often these people are not sanctioned for it.

From a lay person’s perspective, this is a problem in society and these players have a role to play.”

Police are worried that fans who see their idols getting away with foul tackles, swearing at referees, getting drunk and falling out of night clubs and also cheating on their partners are inspired to copy them, leading to a new breed of hooligan.

Football bad boys over the past few seasons have included Newcastle United star Joey Barton, who served a jail sentence for his part in a street fight, and West Ham ace Craig Bellamy, who waved a golf club at his then Liverpool team mate John Arne Riise.

Supt Ball, who is in charge of BTP’s event planning and co-ordination unit, said officers were now facing growing problems from fans aged 16 to 22 whose aggression could be directly linked to the behaviour of the players.

He also claimed that alcohol-related violence and disorder on trains taking fans to matches had increased by 10 per cent, with drink-fuelled disorder rising from 305 to 337 incidents.

“Our job is to make going to football matches an unpleasant environment for them,” he said.

His comments came after the Football Association launched its Respect campaign to coincide with the start of the new season. Football bosses plan to clamp down on disrespect or aggression towards referees by encouraging officials to be tougher in applying the rules.

Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, said: “Whether they like it or not, footballers are role models and, while there may not be a proven link, if a player behaves well on the pitch it can only have a good effect on fans’ behaviour.”

DC Graham Naughton, a football intelligence officer with BTP, said the breed of younger hooligans posed a new threat, because they have no respect for the police and attack normal fans rather than fight rival hooligans.

He told Police Review magazine yesterday: “These younger groups are different. The core hooligans we are used to dealing with had some sort of code of conduct when they met to fight each other.

“For example, they would never attack what they classed to be ‘normal fans’ and they knew that if they bashed a policeman then they would be in deep trouble. These younger groups do not respect that.”

Abortion at all-time high and rates soar for teens

The number of abortions taking place in England and Wales has reached a record high, new figures show.

Numbers increased by more than 4,000 according to official statistics published today. There were 205,598 abortions in 2007 compared to 201,173 in 2006.

For girls aged 14 or below, the number of abortions have shot up 12 per cent to 1,171.

The highest abortion rate is among 19 year-olds, with 36 per 1,000 having terminations.

Abortions among women aged below 18 increased by 8.5 per cent to 20,289. The abortion rate among that age group is 19.8 per 1,000 women.

Attempts to reduce the number of abortions by lowering the upper time limit were defeated in the Commons in May, though they were supported by the majority of the public.

Claire Curtis-Thomas MP, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group said: “The numbers of UK abortions are truly horrifying.

“We should be putting all our effort into reducing these numbers through sensible precautions such as offering a full range of information to women considering abortion.”

The latest figures cast serious doubt on the Government’s teenage sexual health strategy. Critics say the ’safer sex’ approach is a clear disaster that is only getting worse.

More twelve-year-olds are having abortions

The number of twelve-year-old girls becoming pregnant and having abortions is increasing, and “society just has to come to terms with that”, a leading abortion provider says.

In 2004 there were 15 girls aged twelve who had abortions, up from 10 in 2003, according to figures obtained from the Department of Health by The Sunday Times using freedom of information laws.

Among 13-year-olds, 142 girls had abortions in 2004, increasing from 138 in the previous year.

Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, a nationwide abortion provider, told The Sunday Times: “This is a tiny number of girls. Children grow up very quickly in our society.

“They are maturing faster physically, psychologically and socially, and society just has to come to terms with that.”

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service is a registered charity heavily funded with public money. It latest published accounts show an annual income of over £23 million, but only £2,000 of that came from donations.

Almost all its income comes from fees. It facilitates abortions for almost 50,000 women each year, nearly 80% under contracts with the NHS.

Dr Rhona Knight, a family doctor, disagrees that girls are simply choosing to have sex at earlier ages.

She said: “The message given out is that the boys will use a condom or the girls can go on the pill, but they end up pregnant which is extremely sad.

“We need to empower these girls to realise that they do not need to have sex at that age.”

The 'Benefits' of Binge Drinking

A man labelled "one of life's nice guy's" has been badly beaten after complaining to a gang of drunks urinating in his garden.

The incident comes as a leading police chief warned Britain is breeding a generation of binge drinkers and cheap booze is to blame.

Gareth Avery's attack is just one example of the heightened concerns about crimes involving drinkers. Just this week a gang of teens who beat to death father of three Garry Newlove were jailed for life.

Ken Jones, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, blames parents and the drinks industry for filling A&E wards and police stations with boozed-up youngsters.

Mr Jones demanded: "Why is it we have got ourselves into a position where lager is being sold cheaper than water? Why is it we have got huge entertainment and drinks companies marketing alcohol to children? "We've got a generation of binge-drinkers now who have become habituated to that."

"It's got to stop."

Superbug Linked to Homosexual Behaviour

Eerily reminiscent of reports a quarter century ago of the rapidly spreading AIDS epidemic, a new variety of staphylococcus bacteria, highly resistant to antibiotics, is now spreading among homosexual males, according to a new report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Wake up, medical and political establishment: Homosexual behaviour is unhealthy – no matter how many secular sermons you preach against 'homophobia,'" wrote Peter LaBarbera.

"Due to liberal political correctness, which insists on treating aberrant – even deadly – behaviours and lifestyles as a 'civil right,' we as a society don't seem to have learned much from the AIDS pandemic," he said.

He called it an "eerie reminder" of the first stories about AIDS. "It is unfathomable that after that plague, disease specialists and the media are now surprised at the correlation of a new infection with homosexual behaviour," he said.

The study noted that cases were found in the highest concentrations in patients who visit health clinics that treat HIV infections in homosexuals.

The bacteria is called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and has been seen previously in hospitalized patients. However over the last few years, researchers said its impact has expanded, and the new strain has now been documented as an exceptionally drug-resistant variant.

The bacteria is resistant to six common antibiotics, and the study revealed that the risk homosexuals will contract it is 13 times greater than the rest of the population.

The infection causes boils and other infections but the report said what is unusual is that up to 40 percent of the infections occur in the buttocks and genitalia.

"Data … suggest that multi-drug-resistant variant has spread rapidly among men who have sex with men, and that having male-male sex seems to be a risk factor…," the report said.

The report also warned that because of the "patterns of increased sexual risk behaviours" among homosexuals there also has been an accompanying resurgence in early syphilis, rectal gonorrhoea and new HIV infections among homosexual populations.

Some cases even have developed into "necrotizing fascitis," the so-called "flesh-eating" disease because of its quick progression that often requires surgery, or amputation, to halt its progress, the report said.

"It is not clear whether the behaviour potentiating these infections among men who have sex with men is anal sex …, skin-abrading sexual practices [ETC.]; prevention messages may therefore need to suggest caution in each of these practices," the report said.

LaBarbera said the following questions need to be answered urgently:

• Why aren't all schoolchildren being taught that there are special health risks associated with homosexual behaviour?
• Why won't the news media make the common-sense connection between these frequent stories about (male) homosexual behaviour and disease – to the idea that perhaps it’s probably not smart for society and pop culture to celebrate homosexuality and bisexuality?
• Why isn't there a concerted government effort – akin to the current anti-smoking campaigns – to reign in homosexual promiscuity – beginning with closing down all sex businesses [especially those] that facilitate homosexual perversion?

One commentator remarked, "We as a species just don't seem to get it: There are consequences to behaviour! We no longer take AIDS seriously anymore because of drug treatment, so we go back to doing the same behaviour, which brings on a new epidemic that now threatens to jump the boundary to become a hetero scourge as well."

The report noted the bacteria resists "several important antimicrobial classes for treatment … including clindamycin, tetracycline, and mupirocin." It actually fails to respond significantly to erythromycin, Cipro-like antibiotics and drugs in the penicillin family, too.

Of the antibiotics still available in the battle, the study warns, "prudent use … for suspected MRSA disease in men who have sex with men is advisable to slow the emergence of even more resistant community-associated MRSA."

Various forms of MRSA are costing a great number of lives annually, and the number of cases being reported has risen.

Matt Barber said society has adopted a lassez faire attitude toward such sexual behaviours. "Television shows like Will and Grace glorify the homosexual lifestyle while our children are taught in schools that homosexuality is a perfectly healthy, alternative sexual 'orientation.' 'Stay out of our bedrooms!' we're often commanded by militant 'gay' activists," he said. "Well, now the dangerous and possibly deadly consequence of what occurs in those bedrooms is spilling over into the general population. It's not only frightening, it's infuriating."

"Citizens, especially parents, need to stand up and say, 'No More! We will no longer sit idly by while politically 'correct' cultural elites endanger our children and larger communities through propagandist promotion of this demonstrably deadly lifestyle,'" he said.

"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." ~ Romans Ch. 1:27.

Al Gore's Inconvenient LIE !

The United Kingdom court ruling, smacking down Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" as shameless political fantasy unfit for schoolchildren, elicited an interesting reaction from the former vice president.

Did he challenge the court's findings?

No.

Did he provide new evidence to bolster his case for any of the specific findings of falsehood and exaggeration by the court?

No.

Did he argue that the court itself was corrupt or incapable of understanding the "science" behind his film?

No.

He didn't do any of those things.

Instead, what Al Gore did was to make scurrilous and unsubstantiated accusations about the concerned parent who brought the case to court, at some personal sacrifice, to protect his child from the mental abuse of being forced to watch "An Inconvenient Truth."

The people who created and distributed this propaganda film throughout the world are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world. And here they are questioning the motives of one obscure parent who battled, like David vs. Goliath, the national education establishment in the United Kingdom and won!

Interestingly, Gore himself has publicly said nothing about the court case – nothing! Apparently, he hopes you won't learn about it. He hopes that by not commenting on it, the amazing story of one parent's battle for truth and justice in the United Kingdom will not be heard in the United States. And, he may have something there.

This story had no legs whatsoever – which is why we are writing about it in this space.

A reputable court of law has heard the facts on "An Inconvenient Truth" and found it seriously wanting. That court has determined that the movie is unfit for viewing in public schools in the UK without specific and explicit disclaimers explaining that the assertions offered by Gore are not supported by science. And the reaction in the U.S. is like nothing ever happened. The movie is still being shown in classrooms from coast to coast. It is, besides evolution, the very centrepiece of what passes for science education in American schools today!

This raises a number of important questions:

• Why isn't Al Gore being hounded in all his public appearances to address this court ruling and its implications?

• Why isn't he put on the spot in every venue to answer the specific findings of fact?

• Since Al Gore won't comment nor dispute the court's findings, why aren't his acolytes in Hollywood and elsewhere, all those involved in the film and supporting it, being asked to take up the challenge?

• Why aren't U.S. parents challenging the showing of this film in schools the way the British parent-hero, Stuart Dimmock, did?

• Is there not even one prominent school authority in America who is willing to re-examine his commitment to the educational value of this film in light of the UK court ruling?

Well done Stuart!

Thank you!

Alcohol ''hits young hard''

Doctors are seeing patients in their late teens and early twenties with severe alcohol-related disease.

More than a hundred specialists from around the UK have told the BBC of their concerns in response to a questionnaire.

They said their hospital wards are being filled by a growing number of young people, particularly women.

The warning comes as a new alliance calls for a rise in alcohol taxes, and a bar on advertising before 9pm.

Twenty-four organisations, representing doctors and charities, have joined together to form the Alcohol Health Alliance.

It wants government to make alcohol misuse a higher priority.

Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said the government had already drawn up a plan for concerted action.

Generational shift

The specialists who responded to the BBC believe the social acceptability of heavy drinking is the most important influence on young people.

Their comments reveal a generational shift on hospital wards around the UK.

Whereas before most hospital consultants would have seen patients in their fifties or sixties, they now describe patients in their early twenties with alcohol-related hepatitis, and women whose livers are permanently damaged with the scarring known as cirrhosis by the time they are 30.

If you look at the burden of damage to society, it's hugely greater for alcohol than for drugs.

Dr Jonathan Mitchell, a consultant hepatologist in Plymouth, is one of the specialists who contacted the BBC.

He said many of his patients don't realise the permanent damage to their health caused by regular heavy drinking.

Until it reaches a critical stage most liver disease is virtually without symptoms.

Dr Mitchell said: "I've seen patients who've been admitted with pretty catastrophic bleeding from stomach and oesophagus with no prior warning of a problem of their liver.

"Others may present with jaundice or swelling of the abdomen because there's a lot of fluid in the abdomen.

"All these three things are signs of quite advanced liver disease and can come out of the blue."

Fatty deposits gradually build up on the liver as alcohol interferes with the way it would normally be processed.

What follows is an inflammation within the liver which often leads to low grade hepatitis.

Although the liver has a remarkable capacity to regenerate the damage eventually reaches the stage where the scarring permanently alters the structure of the liver.

For some patients this will lead to an agonising wait on the liver transplant waiting list before they are forty.

He is not alone in his concerns that the normalisation of heavy drinking is putting a generation at risk from a silent killer.

Of the 115 consultants who contacted the BBC 101 said there had been an increase in the number of patients they were seeing for alcohol related disease.

The shift in the age profile of their patients is also very marked, with 77 saying they had treated a patient under the age of 25.

Worrying snapshot

The doctor's responses are a depressing snapshot of the ages and condition of the patients they see:

• 24-year-old woman with advanced cirrhosis who died
  
  
  
• 25-year-old with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis
  
  
  
• 19-year-old female with end stage liver disease
  
  
  
• 21-year-old who died from acute alcohol poisoning

While attention is often focused on the social disorder caused by binge drinking, many doctors say the serious health effects are not given enough attention.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, is one of the leading figures in the new campaign.

He said: "If you look at the burden of damage to society, it's hugely greater for alcohol than for drugs, but the majority of money has always gone on drugs, partly because of the strong link to crime."

The Bible warns us about the problem of alcohol in very clear, black and white terms; "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1).

Playground Shooter Avoids Punishment

A 73-year-old farmer who admitted he shot a five-year-old boy in the head at a school playground near Enniskillen has been fined £5,000.

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Darragh Somers recovered from his wounds

Fergus Cleary of Ballydoolagh Road, Garvary admitted maliciously wounding Darragh Somers at a playground near Enniskillen more than two years ago.

After the court hearing, Darragh's family criticised the fine.

He was shot in the back of the head as he played at St Patrick's Primary School, Mullanaskea in April 2005. Darragh was critically injured and spent two months in hospital. Surgeons carried out two major operations to remove the .22 rifle bullet from his head.

Cleary was arrested two months after the shooting.

He had initially denied maliciously wounding the boy, but in a surprise move last month, his defence team requested the case come before a judge in Dungannon. It was at that hearing, with no journalists or members of the Somers family present, that he pleaded guilty.

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Fergus Cleary changed his plea to guilty

Darragh's father Gerard said the fine was inadequate.

"I thought I was coming here today to get some closure, but it has just left me in a daze," he said.

"What we would have liked was for the man to come personally and apologise."

It is beyond belief that someone can "maliciously'' shoot a five year old child in the head and walk away with nothing more than a £5,000 fine. This is utter madness beyond description.

What value does our society place on our children? The legal answer appears to be around the £5,000 mark!

Government Slammed Over UK's "moral collapse"

The Conservative Party is pledging tougher sentences for rapists, as David Cameron slams the Government over society's "moral collapse".

Jail terms for those found guilty of rape have on average fallen to less than seven years, and according to the British Crime Survey, one in every 20 British women has been the victim of rape.

However, at least 75 per cent of these incidents are never reported, and only a tiny proportion of those actually result in a conviction.

Mr Cameron will claim offenders increasingly think they can "get away with it" and will unveil new research suggesting England and Wales have the lowest conviction rate of any European country - at just 5.7 per cent.

He will say: "Studies have shown that as many as one in two young men believe there are some circumstances when it's okay to force a woman to have sex. To my mind, this is an example of moral collapse."

He will tell the Conservative Women's Organisation conference in central London that Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert is to carry out a review of punishments for rape to ensure they are "proportionate to the crime".

Additionally, ways of making it less harrowing for victims to testify in court will also be examined.

Calling for "widespread cultural change", Mr Cameron will also warn that society has become increasingly "sexualised" over the past decade - during which time treating women as sex objects has become viewed as "cool".

He will say: "The average custodial sentence handed to rapists in England and Wales has fallen over the last three years for which there is published data to around 80 months.

"We have a situation where rapists think they can get away with it, while victims fear not being believed and wonder what's the point of pursuing the criminal process."

He will add: "How can any civilised country accept these facts?"

Indeed, how can any civilised country accept these facts? Mr Cameron is right to point to the increasing sexualisation of our society, the general moral collapse of the nation, and the need for "widespread cultural change."

It remains to be seen whether or not this is mere rhetoric. The facts are the facts, and nothing short of a thorough root and branch reform will address this devastating problem.

Society should never tolerate weak, meaningless, short jail terms for rapists. Only the reinstatement of the death penalty would deliver the justice, punishment and deterrence that is so necessary for the continuance of civilized society.