A Happy Childhood?

A constant feature of many TV ads is the depiction of happy families and contented children, but for many children the reality is far from the advertisers fantasy. 'The prison population has doubled from 41,800 in 1993 to 84,000 today. In our macho times, the courts incarcerate vast numbers of minor offenders - 37,527 served sentence of six months or less in 2013. The judiciary's treatment of women is particularly scandalous. Sixty per cent of all women in prison in 2013 were incarcerated for minor offences. ....... Today, some 200,000 children a year in England and Wales have a parent in jail.' (Observer, 1 June) With a mother or father in jail the lives of many children must be far from idyllic. RD