Yesterday, a Department of Health taskforce published a report recommending sweeping changes in the funding and operation of mental health provision for children and adolescents. The report follows a series of Times articles on a growing epidemic of mental health problems in children and adolescents resulting in a huge rise in children resorting to self-harm and exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and depression in schools.

　　Many are seeking treatment for mental health problems in hospitals, or worse ending up in prisons. In one of these articles, the columnist Libby Purves highlights the urgent need for parents, to re-set their priorities and recognise the ground realities of pressures on their children.

　　Her comments reminded me of a story of Guru Nanak meeting with a group of people in a mountain retreat searching for an understanding of God. They greeted the Guru with the words ‘ how goes the world below’ the Guru was not impressed and told the group that God was not to be found in the wilderness but in the service of family and wider society.

　　Today there’s not much wilderness left for retreat – selfish or otherwise - but it is all too easy to spend all our time on personal pursuits or lose, ourselves in the virtual wilderness of the internet to the neglect of those around. Worse, in the absence of comfort and support from parents, children may look to friendship, love and support on internet chat lines oblivious to the dangers of grooming, blackmail and the hurt that can be caused by on-line bullying.

　　While yesterday’s promise of enhanced provision will help, Sikh teachings and those of sister faiths suggest that the real remedy lies in the home.

　　Reflecting on parental responsibility, Guru Nanak reminded us that the birth of a child comes with an attached responsibility for the child’s care and comfort that continues even if parents split. It is the family rather than on the internet that children should share both triumphs and concerns and receive time consuming but necessary encouragement and support. Today, obsession with personal fulfilment has replaced a search for God. Our different faiths remind us that both personal fulfilment and God can be found in looking beyond ourselves to the care and support of those around us.

　　词汇精析

　　1.columnist n. 专栏作家

　　Clarence Page is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

　　克拉伦斯·佩奇是《芝加哥论坛报》的专栏记者。

　　2.retreat n. 撤退;休息寓所;撤退 vi. 撤退;退避;向后倾 vt. 退(棋);使后退

　　He spent yesterday hidden away in his country retreat.

　　他躲在乡间的休养地度过了昨天。

　　3.oblivious adj. 遗忘的;健忘的;不注意的;不知道的

　　She lay motionless where she was, oblivious to pain.

　　她一动不动地躺在原地，感觉不到疼痛。

　　4.wilderness n. 荒地;大量，茫茫一片

　　Dangers lurk in the path of wilderness.

　　在这条荒野的小路上隐伏着危险。