As my Old Granny used to say: “You can’t trust a dog to watch your food”.
And here’s another thing which is equally true: “You can’t trust a politician to take care of your children.
You want proof?
Schools Secretary Ed Balls (Oh, how much fun I could have at the expense of THAT name! But sometimes it’s just too easy) has decided that primary schools will offer career-related learning, along with the opportunity to experience university life and the world of work.
Yes, that’s right. Careers advice for seven year old kiddies.
Balls also said that: “change” is needed in careers advice, as it is “too late” for children to start thinking about their future at 14, when they start choosing subjects at secondary school.
What?
Two things here, Mr Balls. Firstly, had I been offered “careers advice” when aged seven, I would have been little more than a tiny bum and rubber skid marks as I ran screaming through the school gates.
I had more than enough to contend with trying to get to grips with the big bad world without trying to work out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
Had you offered me careers advice when I was seven and not much taller than a Wellington boot, you would have discovered that I wanted to be an astronaut… or invisible. Or – even better – an invisible astronaut. Or a dinosaur.
That’s the answers Mr Balls would have got. It’s the answers he’ll get from today’s seven year olds, and – do you know what? – it’s exactly the answer he deserves!
Secondly, about it being “too late” for children to start thinking about their future at 14, I remember when I was that age I was asked what I wanted to do when I left school. I pulled a solemn face and told them I wanted to be an architect. I did that because it was the sort of answer they would want and would, hopefully, get them off my back. (In truth, by then I had worked out that an invisible dinosaur would be a good way to spend the rest of my life.)
Well, get THIS Mr Balls: I’m 54 years old and I STILL don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
In a further statement we discover that this careers advice will be made available through internet social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube. This from somebody who obviously has no idea what these sites are actually used for, then.
Mr Balls, that’s not going to work. Ask ANY seven year old kid.
Additionally, a £10 million fund will support innovative careers education. So, there you go; ANOTHER £10 million down the YouTube. Still, the bureaucrats will all get their salaries out of it, won’t they?
Politicians and children? I would have more success trusting a dog to watch my food.
Drew McAdam
Drew's Views 
good article
Although I am a youngster compared to you Drew, I believe that at this stage in our lives some people already class us as dinosaurs. Therefore we have both achieved one part of the career path we set out on all those years ago…
Keep up the good blog it’s always a joy to read.
Dave C
My 7 year old cousin was recently asked by a teacher what she was going to be when she grew up. Her answer was quite confidently, an artist. The teacher told she couldnt be an artist because it wasnt a ‘real job’. She would have to ‘pick something else’, like it was a prize at a hook-a-duck stand.