* November 10, 1928

The present generation has known war; that which is succeeding knows it not. On our generation it devolves to create a tradition of peace, to ensure an atmosphere of peace too good to be despoiled... We cannot teach children peace, but we can point them the way to it; we can live peace for them, not with lip service, but in our lives, that they may learn from us as they grow. For not what we teach, but what we are, inspires and guides our children...It is but sober truth, and no exaggeration, to say that the parents and teachers of this generation hold the peace of the world in the hollow of their hands. If our ideals are selfish, competitive, the product of fear and suspicion, theirs will be the same.

50 years ago lNovember 6, 1953

Even if the half-term break falls before October is out, it always has a pleasant aftermath, a festive evening appendage, on the Fifth of November.

Guy Fawkes could not have timed his explosive escapade more considerately.

But this morning the cold ashes of the bonfire lie on the sodden grass; there are only the stick of the rocket and the battered remains of the jumping cracker, melancholy reminders of the Festival of Fire. The long stretch of the second half begins; our revels are now ended, and Christmas is a dream of the future, unimaginable weeks away.

25 years ago *November 10, 1978

If it was not already obvious, a recent television series which followed a group of Newcastle teenagers through their last year at school and first year out revealed how haphazard the process is by which young people choose their careers. Only a handful of parents took an active interest in their children’s possible careers. In each case the children seemed unimpressed by the parental advice - fortunately in the case of one girl who wanted to use her abilities but was under constant pressure from her family to take a low level, undemanding job. This rather anecdotal evidence offers a little hope to counteracting the depressing findings of a new Youthaid report which shows that many children are set off on the wrong road in life by out-of-date careers advice from their parents.