Lucy Stephenson: Criticism shouldn’t be the end for common courtesy

Lucy Stephenson: Criticism shouldn’t be the end for common courtesy

I’m not saying you should, of course. But politicians, for example, are generally seen as fair game; as are taxi drivers, traffic wardens, developers, the police, anyone who works for the taxman and, of course, us journalists.

Then there are those people who society says you should never, ever have a go at – nurses (give them whatever they want), firefighters, old people (unless they fit into another permitted category), seriously ill people (even if they fit into another permitted category), charities and breastfeeding mothers.

Tamba Park, it seems, is also exempt. (With the exception of when their fireworks scare your horses.)

Park owner Jonathan Ruff recently announced via the business’s Facebook page that the attraction is to close its doors on Mondays and Tuesdays during term time in order to ‘maximise profits’. It gave just four days’ notice of the change, and also amended some terms and conditions for members by taking away the ten per cent discount they were previously entitled to on food, drinks and in the park’s shop, because it was costing too much money.

The post attracted a very mixed response. But what was very clear was that anyone who dared to criticise was at risk of being personally attacked.

‘It helps a charity, how dare you’, they said. ‘Back off the amazing Tamba Park,’ they cried and, my personal favourite: ‘Stop moaning lazy parents and take your kids to the beach or woods or park instead.’

Now, first off, let me declare an interest – I am a stay-at-home mum for the first part of the week and will really miss being able to visit Tamba Park on a Monday and a Tuesday. And I am considering cancelling our membership because the changes mean it’s no use to us. As we have a toddler we avoid school holidays and weekends, when there are bigger, naturally more boisterous kids around.

And therefore I am hugely disappointed by the decision to reduce the park’s opening hours. But understand it as well, and will certainly not be losing any sleep over it – unless, that is, my son decides to start having nightmares about the daddy dino at Tamba Park again.

Tamba Park’s uses a clever business model – and one which there is absolutely nothing wrong with I should point out. It gets families (including grandparents, aunties and uncles etc) onside, and by also supporting a charity it means they are in the hearts and minds of a significant proportion of the population, and a very vocal and powerful lot at that.

The park occupies a special pedestal as one of the most loved family attractions in Jersey, but that does not mean that it should not be open to scrutiny or criticism should someone have legitimate concerns.

There’s more to scrutiny and criticism, however, than just having a valid and honestly held reason for it.

In order to be acceptable and effective, it should also not overstep the boundaries of what is polite and reasonable given the circumstances and context.

And that is not always something that people in Jersey understand.

As the election draws nearer and more candidates declare, interest in those already in the House or seeking to be a part of it in the future is increasing online, often very legitimately.

It is good to see Islanders engaged or engaging with local politics, and hopefully this will only increase as May approaches.

However, one particular Facebook page caught my eye this week as being totally unhelpful in the process and indicative of how even those on the ‘fair game’ list can still be unfairly targeted.

It focuses, so far anyway, on Deputy Sam Mézec, who we all know is a bit of a Marmite politician.

And while some of the comment might be fair and honestly believed, some of it is just downright offensive, childish and verging on bullying, for which there should be no place in our community. And, let me be clear, I say this as someone who probably would not actually choose Marmite given the choice.

Most right-thinking adults get that there are unwritten social rules which say it is okay to call out a politician for a particular decision, or to draw a cartoon poking fun at a particular incident (in fact there’s actual laws on political satire), or make a joke about traffic wardens or whinge about how much your taxi to St Ouen cost.

And the public are even invited to comment on what us journalists write for these very pages.

But none of those is a carte blanche invitation to ignore all other acceptable social norms. And neither should the perceived ‘safety’ of a computer screen be seen as one either.

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