Who is to blame for the recent riots?
It seems that everyone has their own demon in this and most of them have a point somewhere in their own argument. It is not one single thing that is the cause of the recent unrest; it is a succession of events and circumstances that have brought the country to this point. First of all lets just remember that even though they made up a large percentage of those arrested and suspected of being involved, there were also grown men, some arrested were in their 30’s, 40’s and even 50’s and held down decent jobs so it is not simply down to the ‘Youth’ element, or benefit culture.
I suppose no single person or culture is to blame for where we are now, here is where I see the problems: -
Governments should never have made such devastating cuts to vulnerable young people depriving them of services, or to services such as police or fire services, which mean that they struggle to cope, should events like this happen. Recent austerity measures have forced cuts to a lot of public services and made it very difficult for police to react to situations like this, and whatever they do, they end up getting grief. If they stand back they are not doing enough, if they take active measures, they are being heavy handed and end up being sued. They were in a no win situation right from the start, although they are also not without blame (see later)
Cuts end up costing not only peoples jobs, but cutting often very vulnerable young people only consistent line of support. Programmes which aimed to engage young people before they started putting themselves at risk of getting into trouble have since stopped, left them in the lurch, and now we are dealing with the results. I have worked with young people for the majority of the last ten years, and have worked with some excellent youth workers, teachers, teaching assistants and education workers and slowly but surely all these support structures are being taken away. Many of my jobs have included trying to engage young people with school and looking towards where they want to be in the future, but if no one is there to help them find there place in society then what hope do they have.
Parents also have a big place to play in all of this. There is no way a parent should be letting their young children out during such dangerous events. Some parents are brave enough to admit they struggle with their children’s behaviour and look for help in dealing with it, but again these services aren’t as prominent as they were a few years ago. If children have become part of a gang element, the parents can struggle even more, as loyalty is a big part of gangs, and who are impressionable youngsters going to listen to, the parents, or someone older who appears ‘cool’ and offers them better opportunities than what they would normally get.
The media played a massive part in all of this for spreading the fear, for adding to the divisions in class, which is part of the reason people, feel so disenfranchised. The constant references to ‘Leafy’ Ealing and how people had damaged an ‘up market organic food store’ in one report. What does it matter what has been damaged, the problem is that something has been damaged. And why shouldn’t people be revolting in Ealing if they are in Hackney. People can get angry whatever their circumstances. Also during the disturbances, ‘social commentators’ had a lot to say about the troubles. Broadcaster and journalist Julia Hartley – Brewer recently appeared on daytime TV saying that there is no such thing as true poverty in the UK, has she ever visited the inner cities. I know there are many people in this country who have nothing, and little hope that this will change in the future, and this needs to be recognized. Rich people have no place telling poor people how it is.
The Daily Mirror (*) recently tried once again to blame music and the culture that it attracts, but this is an argument that is often used by the likes of the Daily Mail to scare the people of the Home Counties. For example, I have always said that by listening to Heavy Metal as well as Rap, owning hooded tops, watching violent films and play violent video games I must be the Daily Mail’s nightmare. Most of the people I associate with are similarly evil, and yet we have all managed to get through life without being involved in any civil disturbances. Some of them have come from broken homes and single parent families, have been out of work at times during their life and yet again have not committed a single violent act, so I fail to see how that can be the excuse used for any type of bad behaviour of the young.
Young people of course should shoulder their part of the blame. They should stand up and take account for their actions, if they are willing to get involved in criminal acts, then they should be ready for the consequences. This is one of the few things I agreed with the Prime Minister about during his recent speeches. He said (**) “if you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishment” and they should follow through with that. There are ways of protesting and getting your point across without causing damage and endangering people’s lives and livelihoods.
The answer to all this is people need to respect other people more. This may sound fluffy and hippy, but it is true. Nine times out of ten when talking to someone and my job comes up, I get the response ‘so you work with all those little bastards eh”. Maybe it is sometimes meant in a jokey way, but the fact is that that is the way people think of young people. I have worked with youngsters who have at first given me grief for the way I look having long hair, but once you show them respect, you tend to get it back.
The governments respect policies were often aimed one way, but it needs to be thought out again worked on to show that they want to help people rather than just being another set of rules. Governments need to respect young people by giving them the support to make a better future for themselvesPolice need to respect people right to protest when it is needed and use the correct measures to deal with what is in front of them fairly without danger of being castigated for it.Media need to stop demonising ‘youth culture’ as whenever it is mentioned it is nearly always in a negative way.Young people need to respect the rest of society, and realize that they have to help build bridges with community so they aren’t thought of and treat like ‘outsiders’
What an intelligent and thoughtful blog you did Mr Stevo look forward to reading more Annie xx
ReplyDeleteA very insightful commentary, Mr F.
ReplyDeleteI think what happened last weekend is demonstrative of the cultural disrespect and lack of regard for acceptable behaviour standards that currently permeates our society. This is by no means specific to young people, and in fact young people have increasingly poor role models to look to.
Financial cuts only bring very short-term gain, as you know-in five years time, the government will be reviewing increasing NEET figures, higher drug use rates and so on. There is a reason youth and community work works: informal education complements schooling, and offers young people and communities the opportunity to develop and fulfil the potential that everybody has. If you withdraw services you withdraw opportunities and damage aspirations.
Norfolk CC has just wiped out its youth service. Forced to make immediate cuts, the service ceased within a matter of weeks. Norfolk is rural and isolated, and soon enough it will see the downfall of its actions. Its only saving grace is that it has allocated a sizeable amount to early years provision, but we won't see the benefit of that for ten years...
I am disappointed to see what we have seen so recently, but sadly I am unsurprised. Young people and adults are capable of making choices, but they are much more likely to make positive choices when encouraged to by positive role models. Growing up was, for me, shaped and directed by those I respected. How can people respect those who aren't there any more?
The media encourages moral panic, and feeds our fear while placating us with lifestyles of the rich and famous. And let's face it, celebrities are less than adequate examples of how to live life right...