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What happened twenty or thirty years ago, none of us can change. What we can do is resolve to help our own children make better decisions.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have such bitter regrets about things that happened in the past. Mostly for things I did, how I behaved and decisions I made.

I don’t mean to go on about them. I don’t mean to stir things up. I don’t want others to feel bad about all that happened then either. Like I say, we can’t put back time.

No doubt others had reasons for treating me the way they did. I was a stranger amongst them; I didn’t know their backstory. Perhaps they were justified in their behaviour towards me; perhaps it was a defence mechanism. Perhaps I was just too oblivious to all that was happening around me.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m not after redress for things that happened way back when we were all young and foolish. Nobody owes me anything.

All I seek is that we all commit to raising our own children to treat everyone with whom they interact with kindness and respect. That we agree to teach our children to be truthful and to seek the truth.

And that we teach our boys to treat girls honourably, interacting with them with the proper respect due to them, regardless of their cultural background.

All of the above would be a good outcome to make up for all that once went wrong. That’s the least we can do for the next generation. A good start.