It wasn't just National Poetry Day I was writing about a year ago. Looking through the archive from October last year I find that I spent a lot of time discussing reports that schools were banning children from playing conkers because it was too dangerous.
This year there have been no such stories. Why is this?
Explanation 1: Autumn has come late this year, proving the global warming theorists wrong. This is unlikely to be true: a late autumn would have been taken as evidence for global warming just as readily as an early one.
Explanation 2: Every one has got more sensible since last year and realised that it is silly to make a fuss about conkers. This is self-evidently absurd.
Explanation 3: Today's children have been won over by the attractions of DVDs, play stations and masturbation and no longer want to do anything as old-fashioned and uncool as playing conkers.
My money is on 3.
2 comments:
Explanation 4: the press has got bored with reporting stories about conkers. Isn't this the likeliest of all?
The kids round Durham still seem to be into conkers. Or at least I keep seeing them throwing huge lumps of wood at horse chestnut trees - I can only assume they want the conkers for the traditional reasons...
Post a Comment