BANNING daytime television and soaps for children would not help combat poverty in Flintshire, according to Leader readers.

They said the council should instead improve youth services, repair homes and show more respect to the public.

The Leader reported on Thursday that councillors had claimed better interaction with children would reduce crime and unemployment in the county.

At a social and health scrutiny committee meeting at County Hall, Holywell Central councillor Peter Curtis said daytime television and soaps should be banned.

The idea was given short shrift by some Leader online readers.

Reader ‘a cahill’ said: “Councillors should look to the underlying causes for the lack of aspiration amongst working class people like poorly maintained housing estates that are built for the sole purpose of providing industry with workers, the lack of facillities for youth, where they can interact with their own age group.

“In any area we will always have a number of under achievers and the provision of training opportunities is esssential.”

Another reader, ‘tommy’, called the idea an “insult to the poorly-paid and unemployed of Flintshire.”

The councillors’ ideas did get some support though.

‘Roland Cleth’ said: “I’d ban reality television shows too,” he said.

“I’m sorry. We are breeding an illiterate, uneducated, unmotivated underclass who can’t even function as cheap labour.”

Cllr Curtis said he stood by his suggestion that daytime television has a negative impact on children.

He told the Leader: “People who write Eastenders need psychiatric help. Young people are copying what they see and hear on these programmes and talking like a Cockney even though they’re from Wales.

“TV is the best medium to get things across and children and adults are too easily influenced by it.”

Cllr Curtis said he welcomed ideas from the public on how to crackdown on poverty.

“I would agree that sometimes the council are slow to respond to people’s complaints and they do not get the attention they deserve,” he said.

“When you’re dealing with institutions like the police and the council that is often the case but we do strive to do what we can.”

But the councillor was unsure whether improving the state of council houses would solve the problem.

He added: “I live in Pen-Y-Maes Gardens which is technically a deprived area of Holywell but I turned out OK.”