OF all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that the lottery of life can throw at us, there can be few things more awful than the loss of a child.

Only those who have experienced such a tragedy can know what it is like so for those of us that have not experienced such a thing let us not pretend that we can understand.

But it goes against the natural order of things.

The loss of a child must be awful in any circumstances be it accident or illness or as a result of crime.

On average every day in this country a family will lose a child because of suicide.

Five hundred young people a year take their own lives in this country.

There are many reasons why young people take their own lives but at the core is that so many, even if they do not go to the extremes of suicide, have to cope with huge pressures.

It is at this time of year that head teachers, whose prime responsibility is the care of the young, will line up their best performers to parade like show-ponies when the examination results are released.

Young people are caught up in what many consider to be a great confidence-trick of the further and higher education growth industry.

Of course, some young people will go on to get very good degrees from good universities that will set them up for a career when the qualification is important.

In this category fall doctors, engineers and some scientists.

But the fact is that many, probably a majority, will go on to gain dubious qualifications from dubious educational institutions that will not be worth the paper on which they are written or, more probably, not written in this IT age.

Many will end up in jobs that require a good basic education, inter-personal skills and a work ethic but not something that leaves them with, on average, more than £50,000 of debt.

When and if the young person eventually gets a job, whatever job, the chances are that it will be on a short or fixed-term contract at minimum wage or not much better.

Unless they have access to the ‘bank of mom and dad’ and parents that are well-off and willing to act as bankers, the idea of many young people even in good jobs from middle-class backgrounds owning a home of their own is little more than a pipe dream.

It has been reported, and one can hardly credit it as true, that the average age of a first-time buyer is 37.

Can it really be such a surprise that so many young people are so angry?

For some that anger will manifest itself in political activism and it is indeed a good thing that it would appear that more young people are taking an interest in politics.

But for others the hopelessness of their situation and the injustice of it all will manifest itself in mental health issues in some cases with tragic outcomes.