Every generation remembers their football team’s kit from their childhood – was the Newcastle United you remember sponsored by Northern Rock? Virgin? NTL? For children these days, however, the team they watch weekly is emblazoned with ‘Fun88’, a betting company. And the chances are the team they are playing against is also sponsored by a gambling firm.
“Dancing mania” hit the city of Strasbourg in 1518, and some people danced until they died of exhaustion. Numerous children in East Africa were afflicted with a “laughter epidemic” in 1962. Fourteen schools were closed. The 1980s saw an epidemic of teenage anorexia. Social contagions are a historical phenomenon, and crazes a sociological category.
Women’s sport is on the rise. Initiatives such as the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign have seen an unprecedented increase in female participation. The heroics of the England Lionesses at the 2019 World Cup led to growth across all levels of the women’s game. Greater media coverage has made female role models in sport far more visible to the next generation of sporting greats.
Viewers tuning in to The Big Questions on BBC One to hear a discussion on the pros and cons of lockdown recently may have been surprised by one man’s assertion that not all lives are equal.
In a year which has seen disruption, anxiety and upheaval, The Christian Institute has continued to work hard to promote biblical Christianity in the public square and to defend Christian freedom.
This week has been UK Parliament Week, an annual festival designed to encourage people to engage with their political representatives.
