CoD

Yes, I do feel very sorry for the children being cooped up inside the house. You are the parents, you brought them into this world, you are in charge. This entire affair arises from choice and the carrying out of parental responsibility. So make your choices carefully. I hope the kids are doing fine.

Lol at Saffron! (Sorry Iaineasy, but I think she is absolutely right).

It is unconscionable that a child of eight is in loco parentis of a five year old under these circumstances. This is busy South London, not some bucolic 'Cider with Rosie' village scenario of the fifties. This abandonment of parental responsibility is woeful, and endemic among certain types of people. What if someone reverses out of their drive, unable to spot a small child on a bike? Is it reasonable to expect an 8 year old to spot and prevent this? No. Can the 8 year old protect her little brother if a dog attacks them? No. Can she stop a mugger from nicking their bikes? No. Only an adult can. An eight year old cannot keep a five year safe. And an eight year old should not herself be unsupervised in any event. And a quick note to those who think that there is some kind of silly imaginary paedophile hysteria going on here. There is not: There have been two incidents of attempted abduction of girls walking through Dulwich Village to school. One was about three years ago, one was three months ago. (The school sent letters to the parents after these incidents.) The first girl was eleven - I don't know how old the second was but she had the foresight to reverse in her tracks, and hid in a front garden (calling for help on her mobile) while the man in the van reversed and tried to follow her again. Paedophiles are rare, but they ARE out there. What a sensible, clever child - but I'm thinking she is probably older than five or eight. How would an eight year old deal with that situation? I pray that we never have to find out. Why don't the parents walk/cycle with their kids themselves? Why doesn't their nanny? The kids should be supervised - they are too little to be doing this.

It's not actually - it is spot on. Over and out

Dulwich_ Park_ Fairy Wrote > Yeah, its that kind mean spirited, sneering from > the aspiring classes that forces young black men > to shoot each other at an alarming frequency. More of the same. So sad.

Thanks Krosfyah and Felictynormal - I am fully expecting to be flamed out of all existence by 'the man' (joke). We are scared of violent crime - we want to be safe and not caught up in gang warfare - we want Jacqui Smith do actually live in her main residence in Nunhead and pull her finger out. And we are sorry that a man was murdered. And we don't want anymore.

Well said Marmora. (Applauds) I logged on to this site this morning, as the shooting is such a sad, horrible local event, and I knew it would be discussed. Quite frankly I was appalled at many of the comments made, (and even more appalled at the "we're only joking - it's mordant humour, get over it." saddo excuses that were used to slap any criticism down). Do you ED's have any idea of how the general tone of this thread comes across? I know that the media read it. Do you really want to be known as sneery, racist, aspiring, East Dulwichites? Cos (despite many attempts from decent types to keep things in perspective) that's how it is coming across. Loud and clear. And not for the first time, which is why I very rarely post on here. Oh, and yes I am black. As black as your blackest nightmare. You are making this excellent Forum come across as really mean spirited and racist, which is deeply sad - but is just a fact of life. Like this awful shooting.

Yes, in Caribbean folklore duppies are evil spirits/zombies. But this is meant perjoratively (maybe akin to 'gwailo' in Hong Kong). Must be a Jamaican thing