What are we doing to our children in this so-called age of enlightenment?

You don't find them playing in the street any longer. All the fun seems to have gone out of being young.

What dreadful demons must have persuaded a bright, likeable lad named Daniel Overfield to wrap a dressing gown cord around his neck and hang himself from the top deck of his bunk bed? He was 12 years old.

Daniel, from Leeds, did well in most subjects at school, but he hated art and had been placed on report, which meant teachers had to comment on his performance each day.

His art teacher's contribution was to say Daniel had "the attention span of a goldfish."

The coroner's verdict of misadventure was supposed to be the end of the matter, but I think there's a lot more to this tragedy. To me, it's a shocking reflection of the way we treat our children in the 21st Century.

Daniel's parents were divorced. Nothing unusual in that in today's world, but as a divorced father myself it seems to me the break up of marriage disturbs many children to a far greater extent than generally acknowledged.

A Leeds council spokesman thought the incident showed the need for teachers to reflect carefully on their words. In my book, Daniel's death merited a sterner response than that.

Perhaps most disturbing of all, Daniel was a victim of the pressure placed on both teachers and pupils to achieve ever-higher standards and meet targets laid down by bureaucrats who then propose to link pay to performance.

Do you know the educational hierarchy has introduced learning goals for children as young as three and tests are now being carried out on children of seven, eight, nine and ten?

As if they didn't have enough on their plate at school, the children of today are losing the art of conversation and social skills because most of them spend at least 25 hours a week glued to the little screen.

Not just watching television, but devoting endless hours to computer games or trawling the internet where in days gone by they would have been outdoors riding their bikes, running about and playing.

Teletubbies and the rest may be endearing, but too many parents plant their children in front of the screen from an early age as the soft option.

This will make you think: Television is banned in the home of my god-daughter, who is nine. For years I thought her mother's attitude rather severe, but now I realise Michelle is brighter than most children of her age, far more articulate and, wonder of wonders, plays the piano and flute.

The sound of Grieg floating through the house beats the ugly screech of electronic games any day. Pity more parents don't try it.

Warning may be a downer for addicts

Ciggies get the blame for everything from stunted growth to insomnia, but I must say impotence is new to me. I thought it was April Fool's Day all over again on hearing cigarette packets are to carry a health warning about smoking affecting performance.

You might have thought Smoking Kills was the most devastating message of all, but millions carry on puffing away regardless. There are times when nothing seems to work.

Last week Robert Plumb, 56, a Manchester storeman, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for seriously injuring his wife Glenys in a knife attack because she refused to join him in giving up cigarettes after he developed heart disease.

What the world needs is a prince on a white charger to break Queen Nicotine's all-powerful spell over those she has enslaved. Until then I fear people will carry on smoking, whatever the cost or frightening message. Impotence, though . . . now that's really clever. Could it be the cure?

Why money cannot buy sport

Somwone has to say it - Manchester United is now firmly in the camp of the big money boys who are turning the beautiful game of football into a kickabout for millionaires with money to burn.

Okay, we accept Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is a superb footballer and will do well when he joins United from PSV Eindhoven next summer.

Yet can he possibly be worth nearly £19 million? My fear is big money will destroy the game.

Look at it this way. A handful of clubs buy up the world's best talent at astronomical prices and create a team of virtually unbeatable supermen. The result will be obvious before the first whistle.

So they finish up playing each other, which explains why television networks and others with a vested interest in the game's finances are demanding a super-league limited to top clubs.

At this level, football will no longer be a competitive sport, but rather a variety turn like the Harlem Globetrotters staging exhibition matches at sky-high admission charges.

And to think we've just said farewell to Sir Stanley Matthews - twelve quid a week and no complaints from anyone.

Airs and disgraces

God help Prince Andrew if it be true he has got himself involved romantically with Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the disgraced publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell.

I've met the lady and my toes still curl at the thought. Let me play the gentleman and simply call her snooty.

One thing is for certain - her superior air won't cut much ice with the Queen's second son.

Andrew, 40, was spotted holding hands with the 39-year-old heiress in a New York restaurant.

His love life is a mystery. He adored Koo Stark, but lost her because she had starred in soft porn films.

Subsequent marriage to Sarah Ferguson hit the buffers, though he remains close to his ex-wife and their two daughters.

Any romance with Ghislaine would infuriate Maxwell pensioners like myself. While she enjoys five-star luxury in Manhattan, we are left wondering what happened to all our missing millions.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.