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James Chapman-Kelly - July 10 2008

10/ 7/2008

THE other day someone said to me: "What were you like as a child?"

Now that could be a leading question couldn’t it? How many of you out there can remember just what you were really like as a child?

Your parents may have kept all your school reports from your first day at school to your last, but the chances are you no longer have them to hand.

I can only really remember one school report, when I was about 14 I think, and all that sticks in my mind about it from over all those many years is that I came 23rd, which I was quite pleased about, out of a class of 30.

Some of you clever academics out there will perhaps raise your eyes, look down your nose and sneer a very large sneer as you remember when you came top of the class, but I was quite happy with being 23rd.

After all, the people at the lower end have to be strong enough to support those on top!

But it’s more than academic prowess that makes the child the father of the man.

Even when we were under six we knew who was poor and who had money.

Before we were seven we knew who to play with and who to avoid. There was nothing clever about us Manchester kids knowing such things for just like children throughout the world we had been reacting and surviving the same way since homo sapiens walked out of Africa.

There’s an old saying that’s a favourite of mine, which goes like this: ‘There’s no point in getting old if you don’t get wise’. Wisdom comes from the moment you are born and expands exponentially with the amount of babies, toddlers, children, kids, teenagers, young men, and people you meet on this journey called life.

Try this quick test: Can you remember the names of the children you played with before you went to school? Now think of the names of the kids in your first year at junior school.

Quite a few names from a long time ago eh? Now, try and remember the names of just three people in your first job. It’s weird to think that we can remember our childhood friends better than the so-called ‘friends’ we’ve made over a lifetime isn’t it?

As a member of a gang of kids who roamed all over south Manchester and abroad carrying my trusty sheath knife attached firmly to my snake belt I learnt an awful lot about whittling wood, making pipes and smoking leaves.

We understood the religious differences between Protestants and Catholics. Had a working knowledge of the inside of fishes caught in the canal and many other important disciplines not covered in our academic work at school.

We also learned about fairness, friendship, sharing, helping, fighting, and cooking over an open fire on the meadows and in Whaley Bridge, Castleton and other far-flung places (if somebody had mentioned the word ‘barbecue’ he would have been chucked out of the gang for the word did not exist!).

I’d even go so far as to say that as kids we showed each other what life was really like. Structured schooling and teachers also had a profound affect on our lives but we learned an awful lot of behaviour (good and bad) from each other.

Whilst us boys were gallivanting around the countryside on our bikes and generally creating havoc I’m sure you girls got up to just as many escapades of a girly nature with your special friends! I’m not saying we were angels or that at times things didn’t get out of hand but if they did then it was unintentional, and if things got really wrong then we learnt from the event and tried to ensure it didn’t happen again. I am just grateful that I’m not a child growing up in this day and age as I don’t envy them at all.

And as for the question as to what I was like as a child? I was exactly the same as you. That’s right, smaller!