Mal Fletcher comments

Recently, the UK government announced that sex education classes in schools will soon be expanded to include instruction in such things as transsexual issues - even in primary grades. New legislation, it said, will also mean that parents will no longer be able to remove their children from such classes on moral or religious grounds.

Whatever government department dreamed up this patronising nonsense provides a clear example of money wasted on 'non-services'. It shows a complete disregard for the smarts of parents who should, after all, have the biggest role in the sexual education and development of their children. Governments come and go about every four to eight years, but parents are for life.

We would do well to downsize departments like this one and use the money to support better education on things that will actually help people rise to the challenges of day-to-day life.

Perhaps some of the money could go towards offering employers training materials to enhance the problem-solving and creative-thinking skills of their workforce.

If we're less self-reliant than our parents' generation, we're definitely more self-contained and individualistic. This makes it more difficult for us to pull together as local communities when times are tough.

This is the age of telecommuting. Millions of people, something like ten percent of the UK workforce, now take advantage of the opportunity to work from home using digital technology.

The advantages are clear: flexible working hours, more environmentally friendly lifestyles and a better work-life balance, to name just a few.

Yet telecommuting also means fewer opportunities for building face-to-face relationships with co-workers, less time to 'rub shoulders' with people of diverse experience and backgrounds.

It can also mean less opportunity for teamwork which, if the team is well-led, can breed encouragement and motivation - and improve our problem-solving skills.

There's a lot to be said for the digital world, virtual friends on Facebook and Twitter can't help you dig your car out of a snowdrift, or help you keep the roads and pavements free of ice.

Yes, there's a lot that governments local and national could be doing better in these days of 'big freezes', climatic and financial. In the end, though, the real change we need starts with us.

Because of economic pressures, we're entering a new era of 'make and mend'. This may be the best thing for us. It may give us the chance to rediscover just how innovative, self-reliant and resourceful we can be, as individuals, families and local communities.