Advice from a 7-year-old!?!

So! If further proof were needed that the world has gone completely mad, it must be the reports that a local radio station (Mercia FM, Coventry, England) has invited a seven-year-old girl to be its “agony aunt”, after she ’phoned in with some advice for a caller who wanted to dump her boyfriend! The broadcaster was apparently so impressed with her advice - to go bowling with friends and drink a mug of milk – that she was offered a weekly slot to give tips to thousands of adult listeners. Breakfast host Andy Goulding said adults responded to the child's straight-talking attitude.

Interestingly, on the same web page from which I gleaned this information, there was a link to an article that showed how the State examinations for schools in England (and Wales and N.Ireland) have been “dumbed down”. One has to ask if our society can be dumbed down any further than having a seven-year-old provide “advice” for adults. The very fact that so many appear to think that this is an acceptable state of affairs surely confirms that, as a nation, we are suffering from something much more serious than a credit crunch/recession. We are suffering from an increasingly steep decline in standards of morality, intellect, and plain old common sense! There is also, surely, a hint of cynicism about the whole situation. Are adults really taking this “advice” seriously, or is it more of a case of a certain type of adult finding it all very amusing that such a “cute” little girl should be coming out with seemingly adult responses?

Personally, I blame the parent(s) for permitting this little girl – who should be out playing with children of her own age group – to be exploited in this way. According to the writings of the Biblical Book of Psalms, “Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him.” (127:3). Those same children should be raised up “…with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.” (Eph.6:4).

Perhaps someone, with sufficient influence, will act as “agony aunt” to the parent(s) of this little girl, and offer the advice that childhood is short enough and should be enjoyed as a child!