[Acrylic-bob]

Not especially, Jaysay. I just don't like to see money wasted on schemes that are of little practical benefit to society. God knows money is hard enough to come by, so why are we spending it on not teaching kids to cross the road safely on their own? I had to learn how to do it, my parents and my grandparents made sure of that. And, as a consequence, though I have lived and worked in Central London and Paris, I can happily report that I have never been run over by a car and killed. not once - result!

It used to be included under the general heading of "looking after your kids" and it was what responsible parents did, without having to think too much about it. It came along with other nuggets of sage advice such as 'Don't stick your fingers in the fire, you will get burned.' and 'Don't talk to strangers.'. That was of course before the Nanny State stepped in and decided that everyone needed cosseting from the harsh realities of modern existance. Weening people off this ridiculous and costly dependence on the State is going to be difficult, but a start must be made and I think that Lollypop persons are a very good place to start.