afraid 26 May 2008
I caught some of a Panorama programme tonight about teens on the net falling prey to all sorts of perverts. It made me wonder about vulnerability. I think anyone with teenage or smaller kids tries to get them savvy to all of that but it’s hard when everything is so accessible and open these days, and you can;t be there 24/7. It’s awful (and unacceptable) to see a childhood taken away or under threat. I worry about other individuals in our society too. It strikes me that my Mum is not getting any younger and she is getting shorter tempered with it, but perhaps the underlying reason is that she is afraid. She is becoming increasingly vulnerable as she slows up. She cannot physically outrun anyone or fight back very hard if threatened. She isn’t up to date with all of the latest technological wizardry – even using an automated bank machine can get her riled. I have been taking this as crankiness but it’s probably much more. I’ll be paying closer attention from now on. I mean it as a compliment when I say she is ageless to me (or no older than 59) but I have to take on board that she’s not able to do some things at all anymore and often unable to do things still within her grasp as well as she would need to to make her confident with them. We owe it to all of our vulnerable people to look out for them and care for them as they need be cared for.
