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Children are becoming increasingly isolated in our society today. Their parents are products of the instant gratification generation (as evidenced by the debt-ridden society we have become) and anything that involves effort and imagination and actually interacting with their children is anathema. Far easier to shove another DVD into the machine or buy a new PC game.

So you have a new breed of kid that simply can't amuse themselves - reading isn't 'fashionable' - and when they are placed in situations where they can't watch TV or be glued to Playstation XXXIII, they act up because they're bored.

Of course there are still many parents out there who make the effort but they are no longer in the majority and we are all probably guilty of wanting certain places to be 'kid-free', rather than make the effort to be pleasant to other people's children when in restaurants and help share the load of  harrassed parents who do try to make some attempt to keep them in order. I defy anyone on this forum who is a parent not to admit to having had a toddler throw a 'wobbly' at least once in their lives in some public place ! It's every responsible mother's nightmare but, other than being firm, quiet and controlled with the child, there's very little you can actually do about it!

I had the pleasure last week of taking my friend's almost 11yo daughter away for a night to cattle sale up in Carlisle. It was her first trip on a 'proper' train (a five hour journey!) and she enjoyed every minute of it. She's an avid reader, which helped but we also chatted away about the places we were passing, a very pleasant couple opposite also made time to have an interesting chat with her, various people at the sale that we knew took time out to talk to her and so actively interested adults made her trip into a proper event for her. We genuinely had great fun !