The key to serenity? Knit one, purl one

LONG gone are the days of chalk boards in schools. Today, teachers use iPads and electronic ‘smart’ boards to give lessons.

Subjects such as home economics, needlework and woodwork have been replaced by technology and computing.

These are, apparently, far more important because they are meant to give the future generation the edge in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Perhaps. But research this week showed that skills such as cooking, knitting, creative writing and painting can help students ward off depression. Yet practical classes in such skills have been dropped in most schools.

I think this is terribly sad. Not only does it mean we are creating a generation who won’t have such basic life skills as being able to darn a sock, more importantly, they’ll never learn the fun to be had from making something.

I think of my Uncle Tod and the remarkable wooden toys he made for me as a child. Also, the playhouse my grandparents created out of plywood and decorated with tiny painted creatures. And the jumpers my Auntie Cis knitted for me over the years.

They did it not just to make me happy, but also because they loved doing it. As well as a sense of achievement, making some- thing with your own hands gives your mind a rest.

I am hugely grateful that I went to school just before these traditional lessons were killed off. In textiles class, I knitted a robin one Christmas. Although my mum said he looked like he was in the Mafia (his eyes were a little close together, apparently), he still makes an appearance each year.

Of course, children should learn about modern technology, but not at the expense of other more human skills. There is more to life than computers.