It’s harsh, but being left out is part of life

This week a headmaster said that his pupils should invite everyone in the class to their birthday parties and not miss anyone out.

This is all very well in an ideal world, but has this man ever been to a children’s party?

There’s less carnage at an after game booze-up for dozens of drunken rugby players, or at a crowded teenage rave.

Also when classes consist of 30-plus pupils where on earth are you supposed to put all the little darlings, never mind the cost of feeding and watering them. And you also have to worry about the entertainment. A game of hide and seek or spin the bottle will not cut it anymore.

Children these days want a proper “act”. Younger ones will settle for a man making interesting animals out of balloons, but once your kids get into double figures they want something serious like a DJ, or for you to hire a hall with proper catering.

Then you have to take into account the goodie bags, which can cost a fortune and are usually all about oneupmanship.

As for the guest list, I totally understand some children will be very upset not to get invited to a fellow pupil’s party, but if we keep trying to protect them from difficult experiences in life then they’ll never be prepared for the big bad world.

Not everyone gets on with everyone else, and that starts in the classroom.

School is made up of cliques and groups and sadly some kids are left out. Making it compulsory to invite the whole class isn’t going to suddenly make them all play nicely together. The bullies will still throw their weight around and the quirky, “different” kids will have a tough time of it, until they band together and create their own clique.

You can’t force children into forging friendships and I think this is a very bad idea indeed.