I understand where JB1 is coming from, and there are many like him (her). I'm not 100% on the side of nurture, if only because I have five children of my own (who all went to State schools), and I can see the differences produced by sibling order and almost indefinables like 'spirit'. But I ask JB1 to consider the alternative: what if I'm right, and it's say 10% nature and 90% nurture? By not taking that into account we keep on reproducing a society in which there are only a few winners (JB1 is proud to be producing a couple) and a lot of losers through no fault of their own. Some of them take to drugs and then to crime. There is a huge amount of resentment. We pay such a lot to remedy the consequences of bad nurturing after the event. Why not think a bit harder about how to prevent the bad nurture in the first place? I know it is hard, and it requires an imaginative leap. But once you've made it, a lot of good policy follows.