Is the lack of jobs the reason.....?

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Is the lack of jobs the reason.....?

by joebangles @ 2008-05-22 – 14:45:49

Is the lack of jobs the reason for the young hoodlums that roam our streets and cause trouble?

Yes they are a minority of the young, but a very noticeable minority by their very actions. It is unfortunate that all teenagers are tarred with the same brush, but, that minority appears to be moving to a majority as it increases with the end of each school year.

In my day, and admittedly a long time ago, you left school on the Friday and commenced work on the following Monday, you immediately moved to an adult society and learned to live amongst adults, but more than that, at the end of each week you received a wage, you had some money in your pocket.

If every youngster could be found employment immediately upon leaving school, thus a wage, would this make a difference?
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- teenagers
- hoodlums

13 Comments to Is the lack of jobs the reason.....?

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- DominicGee
- 2008-05-22 @ 15:43:56
Hmmm, I'm gonna have to put my thoughts about this into order before I write anything down. Not that it's anything earth-shattering, I just need to think about it because there are a whole myriad of reasons behind it. Let me just say for now that every generation has dealt with troublesome youths (Mods & Rockers, Punks, Acid Ravers, Chavs) and they are in their own way a reaction to their environment - that much is obvious. The question is, what is it that the youth that you speak of (gangs, happy-slapping, vandalism, apathy, anti-social behaviour)reacting to? They must be a reaction to what has been developing over the past couple of decades. I'll get back to you on this.
- - joebangles
  - 2008-05-22 @ 17:24:33
  You have covered most groups of teenagers there dominic, I know that I, as a Teddy Boy, behaved myself although the senior citizens of Worthing, Sussex, had different ideas, just typical of old people.
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- nultygoestopartick
- 2008-05-22 @ 15:44:56
There are jobs and they were there long before the Poles came to ''take our jobs from us''
I agree with you starting work and getting into good habits at that age are very important.
but the jobs that are there are not ''Cool'' so they don't want them.
Something should be done but don't hold your breath.
nice post Joe.
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- joebangles
- 2008-05-22 @ 17:29:55
I believe that there is a lot that can be done should any Government really try nulty, lets start by taking those who are not academic away from trying to learn advance subjects when they are 14 and steering them to trade schools, we need as many builders, plumbers, engineers, hairdressers, etc, as we do lawyers, doctors, bankers and financial experts.
- - DominicGee
  - 2008-05-22 @ 19:37:06
  I think the abandonment (and the subsequent backtracking) of grammer schools was a bad idea. The 'vocational' colleges are basically going back to the old system.
  I think a lot of the problem actually is too much government involvement. The government has gleefully taken over many of the responsibilities that are usually left up to parents. We are now easily into the second generation of this behavior, and the kids whose parents (or parent in many cases) have been bought up on welfare without a real understanding of their place in society. On the one handthey are given a lot of attention and on the other are completely mishandled. Government's cock things up 100% of the time, so relinquishing power and responsibility to them has and will cause major problems in my opinion. What needs to happen is a re-enforcing of the principles of parenting and allow the government to shut up. They won't of course but we'd all like them to.
  
  I blame the media blamers. ha ha
  
  Actually I do blame the media a bit, but as we are their consumer, they pander to our trends too.
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- deana24
- 2008-05-22 @ 19:41:48
According to our marketing deaprtment we're going to run out of teenagers soon - or there will be far fewer to go round unis - due to a dip in the demographics. It's a nationwide HE flap so I'm guessing there's some fire under the smoke.
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- skelly
- 2008-05-22 @ 21:33:17
Successive goverments have screwed things up, it is the nanny state from my perspective to blame for this. Youngsters are not taught respect at home, they lack basic discipline. For example, if you own a dog and it bites someone you are liable to prosecution. If your child mugs someone, as the parent you can rely on someone else carrying the can for your failings (the rest of society basically).
The erosion of family values is the real cause. Too easy to get a divorce, a system that encourages youngsters to carry on having babies and leaving the burden to society rather than the parent who failed to educate them. The Human Rights Act is fine for the offenders, but does nothing for the victims.
-Bring back the birch.
-Stop benefits for teenage unmarried moms, it is their parents responsibility, not the rest of society.
-Stop state benefits for school leavers who have never had a job, you need to earn benefits, other wise it is a reward for doing nothing. It is their families who should bear the burden.
-Bring back apprenticeship. Not these namby pamby initiatives the Government has now, real ones like the late '50s.
-Curfews, get them in their homes where they should be.

Rant over.
- - joebangles
  - 2008-05-23 @ 10:11:07
  Hi skelly, that's not a rant, that is a good comment with, in my opinion, many sensible points that I agree with, maybe this is a blog that we could send to Gordon Brown for him to read.
  - - skelly
    - 2008-05-23 @ 16:03:04
    To be honest I think it would be a waste of time, we have, unfortunately, gone way past the point of no return. That does not mean we should give up that faint flicker of hope that one day, the light will be seen.
    
    Bobbies back on the beat, not PCSOs (Plastic Cops Sauntering Outside). Youths know that PCSOs have no powers of arrest, they do have the power to detain, but they cannot use force, so that's non sequitor too.
    
    In my youth, and I know you are slightly older, we were frightened to see a copper, not just forthe fact of what he could do, but also the fear of secondary, and probably more serious, punishment from your father.
    
    No, for me this is an issue for parents, they are the ones who initiate the behaviour of their children, they are the ones who should instill respect and the work ethic into their offspring, rather than the rest of us who work and contribute to society.
    
    If they do not wish to be part of an ordered society then they should be outside of it altogether, no benefits, that includes financial ones.
    
    I sincerely believe it is the benefit culture that has created the majority of the issues we see today and why half the globe try to beat a path to the UK shoreline, this is where reform MUST start.
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- Slip-Digby-Dee
- 2008-05-22 @ 22:59:17
As a teenager myself, it's not the fact there isn't enough jobs, it's that no employer would like a 'hoody' working for them because they think they're trouble, and I know that a lot of teens do not want a job because they'd rather sit on a park bench and get drunk. But teens who do actually want a job are tarred with the same brush, employers are wary about it.
If teens were to get straight into work I doubt that there would be as much antisocial behaviour as there is now...

xDeex
- - joebangles
  - 2008-05-23 @ 10:04:45
  Hi Dee, thanks for the view from the age group that the question is about, I am sure that if we, the older section of the public listened more to their voices and acted upon them, things could change for the better for all of us.
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- RichardHead
- 2008-05-23 @ 03:30:51
In the past there were wars (WW1 & WW2) and suppression (the cane and control freak fathers).

There followed an uplift in income and freedoms (The teddy boy then Mods and Rockers).

Increased pocket money led to new youth culture and commercial exploitations (Pop music, soft drinks and fanzines).

Manufacturing was steadily automated, quality was built in and soon manufacturing declined as cheaper labour was made available outside of these shores.

Income continued to rise only for those who could fill the new wave of jobs, but you had to be able to read and communicate with customers first!

A National Curriculum was developed by academics who still persisted in the notions of Shakespear as a standard by which we should continue to live. Loosing touch with reality this way education failed those who had an independence never previously experienced. They said "No" without appreciating what that might mean as an outcome or as an income. The system then failed them at an early stage.

The "There's nothing to do!" excuse has followed our youth down the ages. In yesteryears kicking a ball around or endless skipping was a simple solution. Today the problem starts with those parents who were failed by yesterday's education and who do not have a secure job. The kick-back is these same parents are unable to provide their kids with the support they need and so there is a steady deterioration generation by generation in such households.

The secret that will unlock this predicament lies in a new-thinking educational attitude where English, for example, involves texts written by the living and not whole books either. Discussing one chapter will suffice where there are some ten different modern authors to be tested on. A school where students begin to see themselves as sales staff or electricians and not as disadvantaged drop-outs.

Pragmatic in everything with a real understanding of the world outside school. Where budgets, planning and being responsible all have an understandable role to play. After all, if when a student leaves they are equipped to cope with the realities of life that face them and as early as possible they are likely to benefit their own progeny in a more positive manner.
- - joebangles
  - 2008-05-23 @ 10:08:01
  Good post Richard, good comment. very much agree with most of the points that you make. A major change in educational methods seems to be a good starting point.
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