Hi Paul,

We've no problem with that - go ahead!

It sounds like a brilliant idea, so the best of luck!

Best wishes,

Thomas

Thanks for the "greenl liht", Thomas!

I'll make another posting and include a direct e-mail for anyne who wants tocontact Fnk Field MP directly.

I'm also happy to act as 'middleman' for anyone who would feel more comfortable contacting me!

Regards

Paul McD.

Okay, fellow writers!

 Thomas has approvedme using the Community Forum for this purpose, so I'm posting my letter to Frank FieldMP below.

If you feel inspired to contact Frank directly,his e-mail address is:    frank.field.mp@parliament.uk       

and my letter to him reads as follows:

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Dear Frank,
I take it as a compliment and an honour when you ask me to offer my own personal thoughts regarding what I consider to be the desirable qualities in a “good citizen”.
A few of my scattered thoughts follow, but before I ramble off it might be pertinent to explain for you a little of my background.
I was brought up a practicing RC [and as the joke goes, I’ll keep practicing until I get it right!].

This doesn’t mean I’m in the habit of preaching to people about how I think they should behave, nor am I a religious fanatic. I’m just an ordinary person, no different to anyone else. Eight years under the gentle tutelage of the Jesuits at SFX grammar taught me the difference between right and wrong, and I’ve
always tried to live by what I was taught.
The ‘older’ version of the Scout Promise put it very succinctly, I thought. It runs: “A Scout thinks of others before himself, and does a Good Turn for somebody every day”. Is this really such a hard thing to do?

One way of encouraging Good Citizenship might be to encourage a closer link between school curricula and the principles behind the Scout Association’s merit badges Perhaps a programme of practical and useful social skills could be provided for young people who for whatever reason are NOT interested
in joining a Scout troup, Church-based Youth group or other organisation e.g. Boys/Girls Brigade, Cadet branch or similar?

If the character Jenny Anydots (from “Cats”) can organise ‘gainful employment’ for cockroaches, it must be possible for us to provide something.
Simple things like being aware of an elderly neighbour who might need some shopping (especially in bad weather) – or hasn’t been seen for a
day or two. Are they alright? Here I’m thinking of the all-too-rare letters in the Echo thanking a local paper delivery boy for his help,
or someone who stopped to assist a total stranger after a fall in city centre, reported on different dates in this week’s edition.
Unfortunately, these stories aren’t as “newsworthy” as reports of crime and violence

Later continuation (Monday)
Had the opportunity to read your follow-up article in today’s Echo. I believe the Bill you wish to introduce identifies the “elephant in the
room” which nobody is prepared to acknowledge exists in British society. Everybody KNOWS what it takes to be a Good Citizen, so why
are small, random acts of kindness so rarely seen that they are treated as newsworthy items? Have we somehow ‘regressed’ to a stage
where “dog eat dog” has become an automatic response?

I don’t want to sidetrack into a ‘rant’: that wouldn’t achieve anything. What’s needed is a sea change, something which will
influence society and persuade people that ‘looking after number one’ is not necessarily, always and forever, the only possible reaction. It
seems to me that this “re-education programme” has to be aimed at the younger generation in the first instance, possibly by changing the
emphasis of the PHSE content of the National Curriculum as taught in schools? At the same time, this is not likely to have a significant
effect if they then encounter a vicious, uncaring and egoist ADULT society all around them when they leave school. Re-education cannot be
restricted to schoolchildren: they need the guidance of an acceptable ROLE MODEL – this should be one of their basic Human Rights.
It is an inditement [* NOT a ‘typo’ but intended to carry the full LEGAL meaning of the word!*] on society in general that we should even
have to consider introducing Legislation to force people to treat each other with respect? Introducing the concept to future generations
while still young might easily prove to be the least of the problems to be overcome in building a better, more humane society.
Mr. Fields, I hope this letter has something useful in it which you can use to support your campaign at governmental level to improve
society. I will ‘drop a pebble in the pond’ amongst my friends and acquaintances and see how far the ripples spread
Yours Sincerely,
 Paul McDermott

PS.     The Pen is mightier than the Sword. I will float the idea of ‘defining a Good Citizen’ amongst my writer friends: I might even
           suggest the subject as the theme for a Writing Competition

......... Which is what I'm trying to do with this Forum! 

          Sorry I can't offer any prizes (much as I'd love to!)

Sorry about the grotty formatting of the post - it didn't look like that in "Preview" mode