We'll be helping our kids too

Nirpal Dhaliwal, writing in today's Evening Standard urges adults to become more involved in children's lives, rather than criticising. If not, he warns, gang culture will fill the gaps in those lives where adults should be. His well founded comments make intuitive sense. I'm sure parents up and down the country want to be more involved in their children's lives, but find they're exhausted by stressful jobs and long hours. The assumption is that kids - particularly when they hit the teenage years - will fend for themselves. Is this what we want? A generation growing up with an absence of healthy role models showing them what a balanced life looks like? People often feel they've no choice. Stepping off the treadmill signals career death. It's HIGH TIME we re-thought the whole thing; and began to look for a different type of hero. Let's throw out the "driven workaholic" role models and instead take as the objects of our admiration those brave employees asking for better balance. If we change the stories we tell ourselves about what successful lives look like, we'll change workplace cultures. Then we can all be heroes by being there for the most imporant people in our lives - the next generation.