So it was with interest that I spotted earlier in the week that The Netherlands is rated the top country in the world to be a child. Being something of a cynical dragon I assumed it was down to the easy availability of pot and porn but reading a bit deeper it turns out that, in a way, it is.
Here's a Miss Fox on the issue:
Laura Vos, a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Amsterdam agrees. "In this country, it's very free, you can do anything you want," she told the BBC's Newsnight programme. "You can smoke at 16, you can buy pot in the store next to the school. You can do what you like and because it's not illegal, it's not that interesting for us to provoke our parents with it."
And on matters of a fleshy, wobbly nature:
"I think in England, for example, there is a lot of pressure on teenagers. There is something on MTV called Virgin Diaries. Girls of 16 and 17 worry because they are still virgins. It's like they have to have sex to be cool," she says. "In Holland, it isn't that important - it doesn't matter to anyone."
See, you get all this stuff out in the open, don't make a big deal out of it and it ceases to be an issue. It's there if you want it and if you don't want it that's fine too.
Smashing people the Cloggies. If I spoke the language better and their country wasn't so crowded I'd emigrate in a heartbeat. Hup Holland!
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