How to be nice

How very middle England of me. After staying up late last night browsing the Primary School league tables that I've so often derided, this morning I was up early to go to the supermarket for fresh rolls and a copy of The Sunday Telegraph. As a life-long reader of the Observer and latterly the Independent, this left me feeling vaguely as if I should have been driving home in a Land Rover with a golden retriever and a Countryside Alliance sticker in the window.

The reason I bought the Telegraph was that it contained an article on schools teaching classes in "how to be nice". The government feels that the breakdown of traditional workplace-centred communities, extended families and millions of marriages has led to a generation of children who can't rely solely on their parents to give them the social skills needed to interact in a socially acceptable manner. So they are going to teach them how to do it.

It is - to peddle a cliche - a sad indictment of society that it has come to this, but I think it's to be praised that somebody has finally dared to say so and do something about it. I have no doubt there will be cries of "nanny state", but frankly when the child is running wild it's time for the nanny to do something. Something more than tut tut. It remains to be seen how effective nanny is.