Where is our Olympic legacy...?

One of the best aspects of London 2012 has to be the brutal truth and honesty of the events.  Each competitor had given their season and lifetime best performance data to the organising committee and they in turn had set it into a handy little app allowing even the least sports minded viewer to have a quick glance before the starting whistle and gain some insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of each country and their likely chances of success based on historical performance data.  The events were played out live on the red button across the nation meaning the viewer saw every pulsing movement of the competition, was held up by delays to electronic equipment or waited patiently for the kettle to boil during the half time break just like those of us lucky enough to attend the events live and just like the competitors themselves, although I am sure kettle boiling was not part of their half time routine at all.  If there was controversy or enquiry about rules or judgements then discussions were held in public and TV recordings played back to help the eyes of the referee see what he or she had missed in real time action.  The outcomes of these appeals were also reported publicly and efficiently to all and in turn discussed and given personal slant on twitter and across Facebook as the nation kept up with medals winning performances and defeats alike.  When apparent cheating was discovered this too was not hidden from view, but dealt with firmly as with the badminton fiasco when both pairs from China and South Korea attempted to lose the game by serving into the net so they would benefit from an easier run into the final of the competition based on the draw.  The referee and Olympic committee dealt with it firmly and and fairly by banning all competitors involved.  Now there are many in the world of top class badminton that will state the Chinese have been at this match fixing mischief for some time now and there needs to be stronger action outside of the Olympics, but for London 2012 they made a decision, stuck to it and moved on.

So what of this legacy in our Britain that is Great?  Where are the role models of honesty and trust for the young to look up to once inspired by the athletes of the summer games? That is for sure a challenge when you look at the news of this week.  To begin with a matter close to the hearts of our young people will be the exam fiasco, which everybody can see was a blatant unfair change of the points needed to score a grade C in the middle of the exam year.  Friends in the same school gained the same points in the same exam and one has a C because they sat the paper in March, the other has a D due to June entry and has missed out on a place to study A'Levels as a consequence.  So what of the honest robust role models dealing with this matter? Ofqual investigate, blame teachers for cheating and marking controlled assessments too high, head teachers release the exam moderators reports saying their marking was exemplary and Mr Gove is not prepared to get involved! Not involved, I think most Year 11 English students would tell you they think he is very much involved in the manipulation that started this row.

Moving on with the weekly news which yesterday stated more children needed to be taken into care.  The government has decided too much time is given monitoring young people living in unsafe situations when a quicker decision should be taken to remove them from the family home and into care.  This in the same week we here Teresa May announce another shambolic opportunity to muddy the waters of the past as she commits yet more public funding to three very separate enquiries into the abuse cases of the 70s and 80s in children's homes.  Buoyed by the confidence of the Saville victims these adults have shaken with fear and shame staring into a TV camera to tell the details of their abuse some 20+ years ago to a news reporter.  The author of the initial report, John Jillings says he can't recall any senior politicians names being mentioned in evidence back in the 90s when he did the report, which was shelved at the time it seems in case the victims decided to claim for compensation!  It leaves me cold wondering how the story might have looked of the 'care' at Winterbourne View had it not been for the secret filming evidence.  On that point why oh why do relatives have to resort to secret cameras in a care home room to tell them the truth about the abuse being dished out under the guise of care at some of these facilities?  The message here one would assume for the minds of our young is that when something really serious needs investigating it is best done by several different people who can all find conflicting details and draw varying conclusions helping to muddy the waters sufficiently to hide even the most disgusting events from the public eye.

Surely there must be good news that can boost the moral of our dejected youth struggling truly against the odds to pass exams and gain access to better future pathways in their lives.  Well Lucy Spraggan decided to pull out of X Factor due to ill health so the reports tell us.  Or was it due to her album going to number 2 in the charts in August until the producers made her withdraw it from sale whilst she took part in the competition, after all we wouldn't want a successful artist being in the program would we?  A superb out lesbian role model who I hope has gained enough exposure to bring her talents to the fore and will release her album again soon to show the world Simon Cowell does not own creativity in all it's forms.  Why open the competition to songwriters, then insist they try to sing a different genre of music every week?  What we love about the artists we love is their style, skill and character, not their ability to impersonate all other artists surely!  So here there is surely a positive message to be gained, be true to yourself and dont let the money people in suits lead you down a path that feels uncomfortable under your feet.

So as Christmas adverts hit the screens and I am still awaiting the first christmas song to be played on the radio, anti bullying week approaches so quietly it must have its new slippers on already, a primary school head teacher takes her own life on an inset day and the Americans have managed to make a sensible decision not to put a loaded redneck bigot in the white house despite almost half the country voting for him.  What I wouldn't give to bring back the Olympics.  To be surrounded just for one more day by the challenge, skill and determination of success and failure side by side, but more than all the tension and excitement just a day of truth, honesty and integrity which made such a welcome change to the twisted mangled mesh of deceit and confusion pumping out of central government departments and no doubt influencing the minds of the future.