Am I too old?

Am I just too old now, on BBC news this morning there was a report of a pop concert where the artist, and I use the term loosely. I had never heard of him until this morning turned up 2 hours late for his slot, parents were queing up to collect their children at 7.30 as it was a school day and the guy hadn't shown by then one parent of a 6 year old was telling the tale, a 6 year old left at a concert, it was way past her bedtime and was falling asleep cost of the ticket £55, tell me I am way out of touch and it's the norm now to leave 6 year olds at concerts in London.

I would be extremely surprised if the 6 yr old was at the concert alone. With friends? Yes. With friend and parent? Yes. With aunt/cousin/much older sibling? Yes. This gig was in the UK. Kids are not allowed to walk home from school without an adult until at least 11yrs - it's not like France, social services would be called if kids in the UK had the freedom kids in France have. There is no way a 6yr old would be let in alone. Oh, and the price of the ticket is an abomination, even if the artist in question is very famous in UK/N America (but not so much in France...)!!

Hello.

1. Parents who leave their children in such circumstances should question WHY they wanted to be parents in the first place. Surely it must be a criminal offence to leave your child alone at that age.

2. I am not a Justin Beiber fan, however I did here him sing Live and it was an Acoustic version. he is a very talented singer.

3. Comment by Christophe le Barxs sums. " Couldn't have said it better myself".

4. Finally. It really annoys me while people feel the need to put down children. I wander wether these people have ever had any? If they have I wander what their children would think of hte comments they make of 6 year olds.

I know many 6 year old children in the Uk and in France. None of them are foul-mouthed, sport tattoos or have body piercings.!!!!! People need to get out more, or get a LIFE one thinks.

Ha ha. I have misread a few myself.

With this post anyway, I suppose none of us really know the true facts because newspapers put their own slant on things. Whether one would or would not take a child to this, its just a sign of the times and how many parents treat their kids.

As for the price of the tickets. Its no different to ticket prices here. It was €70 to see Australian Pink Floyd, who are hardly famous, and plenty paid for that and if you see someone in Paris its more. There are lots of different styles of singers and musicians and I don't think one should judge them just because you don't like them. The record companies are the ones who make the images more than those artists.

You can't legislate against or cure stupidity. There's always been stupid people and there always will be. As for the "artist" - if it was me, I would INcrease the prices every week to find the current stupid level. If people are stupid enough to pay then I don't see why he shouldn't rake it in. Best of luck to him .... but he will have to do WITHOUT any contribution from me.

I must have missed so much in the 60s as the drug scene totally passed us by, there was a cafe near us that was rumoured to be rife for drugs but if it was true we were never offered any, having gone through all the 60s i was 13 so officially a teen in 1960 never encountering drugs until the late 80s i suppose i was to busy learning a trade and playing in a band in my spare time this discussion isnt about the drug scene or a different type of music its about a 6 year old girl out late at night with her parents on a school night, no its not half term then having to get up and be alert in class the next day, some obviously see no wrong others differ,Gigs in France tend to be in the summer when the schools are closed, Carol your comment about aping the young brought back a memory ,my son and myself were on the Dover Calais ferry when what obviously were a mother and daughter came walking towards us dressed identically even the same hair style my son laughed and said is it the mother trying to look a teenager or the daughter trying to look like her mother mutton dressed as lamb

i have a very broad musical taste taking what i like from each and every era some artists adapt to changing musical tastes others with less talent fall by the wayside only time will tell if Justin Bieber is still entertaining in 10 years

Hey Celeste, Not only did I misread the blog but also the report in the newspaper and the tv report. If you're going to cock-up, might as well do it properly.

my apologies, must have misread the article.

Sorry Peter but you have misread it. The girl was not left alone at the concert. She was accompanied in there by her mother.

DISGUSTED! Your other readers seem to be missing the point. It is illegal to leave a child at home unsupervised while the parents go out, but, it appears, quite ok to abandon them in a public place at night. These parents deserve prosecuting and this is one occasion when I would completely support the Social Services.

too right, my Grandad and Dad smoke and both have had heart attacks fairly young, my father in law is currently recovering from a cancer of the spine which followed lung cancer (he stopped smoking 15 years ago). My grandad has liver issues (whisky!) and I know far too many who like to drink just a bit too much than is healthy...so absolutely if my kids can see what these supposedly socially acceptable forms of drug can do....why the hell would you mess with about with any of the other stuff. Incidentally I do know people who have messed with the other stuff too much and I can tell you it has screwed them up!

I do like a drink but I know my limits...

Suzanne Fitzgerald and I have not seen any drugs other than Cigarettes & Alcohol

It's the fags and booze you should worry about, not the dope and Es

I don"t see a problem in taking a child to a concert of whatever sort. I agree on noise levels but a Bieber concert is hardly Guns n Roses. Surely its half term over there anyway. I see plenty of French kids out socialising at concerts/dances until the early hours. I can't see that makes them bad parents. If Bieber was talentless why do fans go to see him? He has been around since 2007.

We may not like him but I never liked Bob Dylan, does that mean I have to think he is talentless too? I could never stand him because I found him depressing, so I will not be looking him up on You Tube. Surely its the same? Its a generation gap, that is all.

You obviously did not go to see rock/blues/pop bands in that era then. The choice available in drugs then is the same as now, they just changed some of the names over the years. The only difference with alcohol now is the binge drinking. The clubs were full of drugged up people. Marquee Club, Hammersmith, Chalk Farm etc etc. Drugs were huge then, they were definitely worse.

Incidentally I am not aping the young. The bands I mentioned play French traditional music and it is only David Guetta, who is actually a DJ. I love trance music and why should I stop liking it because I am older. I don't fit in to the "I am old so I should like this stuff" category.

agree Celeste - I think I am probably one of those who is over worried. I need to lighten up a bit sometimes I think. I'm sure my middle one Izzy will do that job perfectly over the coming years!

I didn't think the 6 year old was left alone - I thought the mother was with her. But anyway imho paying that much money and going to that type of concert on a school night is daft. As for how kids dress - I am criticised for dressing my girls 'too girly'. I like kids clothes to look like kids clothes not mini adults so they are always well dressed but prettily attired. No bikinis and spray tans but I will let them play with kids makeup for fun but not to wear out. The problem these days is everyone is quick to criticise and tell you what you should/shouldn't do. We are in danger of stifling kids through being over protective whilst at the other end of the spectrum, you have those who let the kids rule and not the parents. I do hope we manage to find a balance somewhere in the middle and can let the kids grow up as kids.

hhhmmmmm. As a mum of 3 music loving girls aged (eldest almost 4), 2 and 1 I would happily take my kids to some smaller concerts. Jasmine went to her first concert at our little village cafe aged about 3m old. Ok so a small touring band for example http://www.laminederien.com/ might not be the same as the massive Justin Bieber and I'm talking about 100-200 people watching the band rather than the many thousands, but they love music of all different types and I encourage an interest in recognising the different instruments which can be seen and heard in small concerts with REAL musicians. The hour of the concert and whether it is appropriate for a 6 year old is an interesting debate. In our village in Summer we are literally on a completely different time schedule to during school terms. Throughout July & August our kids have siestas for 3-4 hours in the afternoon during the hot sun hours and then stay up late till about 10/11 at night (we eat around 9pm when the sun cools down). During Summer we often go to concerts which start usually around 9.30pm but depending on the band can be around 10pm. There are lots of children at these concerts with their parents/grandparents. The children of all different backgrounds/nationalities play together and listen/dance to the music. If the music has offensive language then we leave, but generally it is good and we are happy to expose them to these live events for about 1-2 hours at a time.

I wouldn't pay to take my kids to a concert of a big manufactured artist before the age of 14. Before 16 I would probably offer to go with them if they really wanted to see a band/artist perform BUT I would make them pay for themselves (yes I am probably mean but if they want something badly enough they will work out a way to make it happen). I went to see Oasis at 15 and I was sensible, I believe if my kids grow up to be sensible too then I will happily take them to a concert but I wouldn't pay for them and there certainly won't be any limousines involved.
As for exposure to drugs - I've been to loads of concerts & festivals over the past 15 years (from my first being mid 90's with Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Ocean Colour Scene, into the 00's with Coldplay, Robbie Williams and the lovely Kylie) and I have not seen any drugs other than Cigarettes & Alcohol!

I thought the Kardashians were villains from one of the Star Trek spin-offs. Then I saw a photograph of one of them and knew they were aliens.

Could not agree more John. The comments by Claire Perry about children accessing inappropriate material surely apply here. A pop concert is not suitable for a child of six. Exposure to this type of environment a too young an age will do untold damage. The lyrics are pure slush but not the type of thing I would want a young girl swooning at (That would break my heart to pieces Honestly the truth is If i could just die in your arms i wouldn't mind cause every time you touch me I just die in your arms oh it feels so right So baby baby please don't stop girl). Over sexualisation has been a matter of concern for some time. The peer pressure brought on others by the girls who are allowed to attend such events - dressed up in their designer clothes and make up - cause serious issues within Primary Schools. My Granddaughters teacher has a constant battle with parents who do not consider school to be more important than a social life - it seems the average bedtime for a five year old is after 9pm (judging by what they watch on TV) and that reading a bedtime story is a rarity. He has now taken to bribing the class just to get them to read the books sent home. And this is in a middle class affluent area! It seems that the values have been mixed up somewhere along the line.

I am eternally grateful that my own daughter sets firm boundaries and has two delightful daughters. Certainly not angels (and not adverse to the odd tantrum - they would not be human if they did not play up sometimes) they can push a little too far on occasion but fully understand that no means NO. Discipline is a word that appears to be frowned upon by some parents. I have a feeling that they should be applying it to themselves as well as the children.

I don’t claim anything but your picture does look some what like him,

I just finished reading Keith Richard's autobiography, Life. He describes the transition that the Stones went through, from small bar band to big venue spectacles. The swollen technical entourage required is boggling, plus he had to constantly keep check on Mick's desire to make it even more grandiose... and expensive. The book was a surprisingly good read.