A Usain Bolt Moment.

I remember the title of the day conference very well. “Slaying The Dragon”. It was held in Glasgow and was aimed at dealing with the issue of drugs and substance abuse. I recall nothing any of the speakers said. But what I do recall is being stunned and gob-smacked by the statistics on the overhead projector (you know, that antiquated machine with the acetates which you now see in museums or in Church cupboards).

So much was being said about heroin and ecstasy. But by comparison, the graph showing deaths from smoking and alcohol related illness were miles ahead. It was a Usain Bolt moment! I was wide-eyed and almost disbelieving what I was seeing.
It occurred to me that we are influenced so much by media attention on particular things, especially the tragic deaths of young people. But the enormous detrimental impact of smoking and alcohol, at the time were way down the list somewhere and not on the agenda. I came away feeling the need to be more accurately informed by the facts than just swallowing what the media serve up.

Now when it comes to family breakdown I feel the same is happening. We are told that the form of the family does not matter. What matters is good parenting. But the facts tell another story. The cost of family breakdown is an enormous problem. It costs £42,000 million every year, according to the Relationship Foundation. A Usain Bolt moment?

Most of this represents the cost of supporting lone parent families. This vast bill is bigger than the entire defence budget and yet we still have no government policy to manage it better. This is not to lay blame at the door of single parents but simply to acknowledge that uncommitted relationships, cohabiting, simply does not work and it is this which is driving family break-down. The financial costs alone are staggering. And it is largely preventable.

Slaying this dragon is not impossible. It requires a shift of emphasis from cure to prevention. A Government led strategy to put prevention measures in place rather than simply be there to pick up the pieces would be a good start. We need to think long term and not just be reactive to emergency present needs.