“It is the right of the young to question the wisdom of their elders”.
Those are the words of Aztec philosopher Xypopolopoquetel O’ Flaherty (The Third), who, you’ll recall, died of a sprained wrist after losing his bet that he could sign his name 100 times in under five minutes.

Today’s young often question their elders opinions through social media platforms, including the one that constantly tells them that life was so much better fifty years ago.  What’s it called?

Oh yeah. InstaGran.

Social media enables young people to debate serious issues that concern them, gives them opportunities to question long-held attitudes… and send photos of their chicken curry dinner to a friend who lives two doors down.

But what’s genuinely worrying is, people who’ve grown up with social media mistakenly feel only their opinions are the right ones and anyone who’s been on the planet somewhat longer has been getting things wrong.

One of their latest targets is the work of Enid Blyton, specifically her series of best-selling adventure novels which have thrilled and entertained generations of children – The Famous Five and The Secret Seven.

Why? Because they believe that stories about resourceful youngsters freely roaming the countryside, enjoying picnics with lashings of ginger beer in between capturing smugglers and spies, raises unreal expectations in children, particularly those who live in inner- city areas.

Have these people not read any Harry Potter books? Or the Narnia stories?

Enid Blyton’s books have been read by millions of kids and very few of them live in picturesque villages.  They were read by children who grew up in Glasgow tenements where one toilet was shared by three families.

Kids who lived in terraced streets where many of their neighbour’s  houses had been destroyed by German bombs.  And they were and still are read by bright, imaginative kids on council estates and in tower blocks who, simply by opening a book, are taken out of the everyday lives and immersed in exciting adventures for a while.

Isn’t that a better use of their time than sending a ‘photo of a chicken curry to their friend two doors down?