SHAME on you, Mrs Citizen Smith! You had a son at home for 18 years and you never taught him to cook.

What sort of preparation for life is that? Every parent should teach their children to cook and if they don't know how to cook themselves, they could go to evening classes or read a cookery book. Perhaps the Citizen could run a basic cookery course.

The Jesuits say "give me a child until he is seven and he's mine for life." Well, to teach a child to cook you need to start young and give lots of encouragement.

We have three boys aged eight to 14, and they can all cook and bake. The older boys make perfectly acceptable sponge cakes, often far better than some we have bought! And they are expected to do the washing up afterwards.

May I suggest that parents start their boys off before they are five years old, making chocolate rice crispies.

Then move them on, aged five and six, to biscuits, then buns and pizzas. By nine or ten they can take their turn at cooking simple meals and helping parents with the more complicated ones.

We can't expect our children to become responsible young adults unless we give them responsibility in a controlled and structured home environment.

Dr Andrew Ross

Goodshaw Close

Blackburn

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