Late start school petitioners are in for a shock – Dad’s Diary by Simon Carter

In the interests of fairness, she's probably glad I’m not her dad.

Hannah, for those of you unaware, was the student who launched a petition for secondary schools to start at 10am. To date, around 180,000 people have signed it – not far off the population of Portsmouth.

‘Teenagers are so tired due to having to wake up very early to get to school,’ said Hannah. ‘The government should require secondary schools to start later, which will lead to increased productivity at school.’

Millennials, eh? You’ve got to love them. At least Hannah has a good sense of humour.

I know, I know - she’s not joking, is she? She’s deadly serious. 

I asked Ben whether he would have preferred to have had a 10am-4.30pm secondary school day rather than the 8.30am-3pm shift he was asked to put in.

Bearing in mind he has never been one for early mornings, he instantly said he wouldn’t have wanted the later start.

Poor Hannah. One day she will have to live in the real world and get a proper job. Almost certainly, if it’s in an office environment, she will be asked to start at 9am, if not earlier.

I’ve been in an office at 7.30am for most of my working life, and I know from the state of the roads that I’m not alone in this. Anyone stuck on the M27 each day please nod your head in agreement.

Schools are there to teach kids life lessons as well as educational bits and pieces. I know a 10am school start will never happen, but if it ever did no way would that be a life lesson.

I wrote recently about today’s children being molly-coddled, and ridiculous health and safety rules being introduced. 

Hannah, I would guess, has been molly-coddled too much. When I was 12 I walked 40 minutes to school every day, and 40 minutes back home. In the cold and the wet, and I started school at 9am.

To most people, that would sound normal. To Hannah Kinder it must sound like the start of a call to Childline.

Vicki Dawson, CEO of The Children's Sleep Charity, told the media that support is needed to make sure teens get the right amount of sleep.

Surely the word ‘support’ needs to be replaced by the word ‘parenting’?

My friends and I did not need any support to get through our schooldays. 

"Getting up for school can be a challenge,’ says Ms Dawson.

True, but then getting up for work can be a challenge. Lots of things in life can be a challenge, but the answer is not to put the clock back 90 minutes and hope everything is sweetness and light.

One day Hannah will realise that, and she might not like it …

A warning to all motorists …

I bring good and bad news for our nation’s motorists.

First, the good news - Prince Philip has said he is unlikely to get behind the wheel again. A recent report said he had ‘voluntarily’ given up his licence - why, that was mighty fine of him, wasn’t it?

Anyway, now the bad news - my son could soon be replacing him on our roads!

Of course I jest. Or do I?

Ben turns 17 in a few weeks time and has already applied for his provisional licence. Soon, he will be taking his first lessons. It was £10 an hour when I learned to drive in Yeovil many moons ago, so I’m presuming that’s still the rough cost of an hour’s lesson ...

I’ve told Ben his ‘learning to drive’ experience will be a lot different to mine, as well as a bit dearer.

Nowadays, learner drivers are allowed on the motorways. That certainly wasn’t the case in the late 80s. The first time I drove on the motorway I was like Hugh Grant in the opening scenes of ‘Four Weddings ...’, scattering swear words all over the place.

So within a few months there will be another Mr Carter on the roads. Hopefully he won’t forget - unlike his dad - to put the handbrake on if he stops in the middle of the New Forest one day to admire the scenery (I was impressed, however, at how quickly the garage sent a truck to tow my car out of the ditch it had careered into ....)