Riots

[Shadow]

Well its quieting down now but I wonder what peoples thoughts on this are?Ive had alot of lively debates with my teens about this and think Ive got a good perspective on how they feel-anyone got anything to throw into the mix???

[foxy]

Its a hard one, they should be punished but throwing them in jail, taking houses and stopping benefits is going to cause more problems. Get them out doing unpaid work, in the areas they've ruined in the riots. Parents also need to stop giving their kid everything without earning it too, its worrying where we will be in 20 years time

[skintagain]

i think they should bring back national service, i dont agree that those doing it though should be sent into conflict zone unless they want to, they should bring back the whip and the stocks for the looters, taking away their benefits will just mean they will turn to crime to get money.

[Jazz]

I'll come back on this one....it's late & I'm off to bed but something must be done to narrow the gap between the rich & poor for a start....how you do that is another matter......will think about it & be back.....or is it about money at all?..........

[Shadow]

Its also worth bearing in mind that although some young people were involved they certainly arent the only ones going through the court system.And the majority of kids werent involved-so we are punishing the others why?

[ramona]

Shadow, I agree.
One of the many problems with society right now is that people are so quick to generalise and make baseless assumptions when ever whenever a "crisis" comes about. As a young person I find it very disrespectful that the idea of national service is even being talked about. Speaking for myself and many other decent young people the idea of being forced to serve this country is wrong.

[Shadow]

I agree Ramona-its a knee jerk reaction that tars all young people with the same brush and I get the impression this government is looking for quick fix solutions to try and address issues that have been going on for many years.I know many young people are extremely concerned about the future-be it worries about job prospects or tuition fees for college-let alone the violence they see around them now.When I lived in London you could see things in some areas begining to go downhill in terms of lawless behaviour and that was 15 years ago.I cant see anything that was done to try and address the issues since then.

And the same goes for here-sentencing for serious crime is laughable and those doing those crimes know it.

[ramona]

The worst thing is that the people of this country don't see what the government are trying to do. There isn't a way in hell that when national service is introduced (if it even is) all of the problems and social issues that exist in our society will spontaneously disappear.
These social issues will just get worse with time whilst this government is in power. If the people of this country want change it's essential that a new,real democratic government will need to be introduced. There is nothing democratic about the British government at the moment. The younger generation are extremely angry and forcing the innocent members of the younger generation (which happens to be the majority) to do forced labour and take responsibility for a crime they have not committed is going to make things ten times worse.
There is no way in this earth that I will do any national service for this country, I would rather go to prison.
I strongly oppose the invasion of Iraq/Afghanistan and Libya. It would kill me inside to serve our military in anyway.

[ramona]

Britain is becoming a plutocracy. The whole goverment is controlled by the rich and upper class. This is the real issue. The media spends so much time inciting hatred and fear towards young people, you all forget the real issue. You all forget that our army is killing innocent people. You forget that our goverment is exploiting us ...

[Shadow]

Alot of good points.

Weve seen a hell of alot of freedoms go out the door in the name of protecting the public and weve tended to let em go without a peep.Theres some mad proposals around and no-one says owt but its when some elderly person gets in trouble for putting the wrong thing in the wrong bin but in the meantime scrapyards are doing a booming business buying off the blokes that steal the copper and the fines etc for that are laughable.Schools turning into acadamies-a money making thing if ever I saw it.Our local comp has spent most of the budget on tank tops for the pupils-meanwhile the computers dont work

Suddenly tie length is important but kids dealing isnt.Honestly-things are so upside down right now

[Jazz]

Aye, some good points raised in the above posts. I can understand young people being disillusioned about many things but the government still spout the same old stuff. My daughter is still looking for a job despite obtaining a degree. Another issue coming from this is that she has to keep paying for a "Criminal Records Check" every time she applies for a job. Some may pay this back, others, I believe don't. However that's a side issue. Until we get decent jobs for decent hard working young people we, as a society are going to pay the price. I was lucky growing up in the early 60's, there was a lot of choice about, even though universities were for the more academically minded kids. We, in our school were not encouraged to aim for "higher education" as, I suppose there were plenty of jobs of some sort around at the time. Several of my school friends, however, ended up with wonderful jobs....my two best "mates" being a university lecturer and a hedge fund manager, among other things (boo!). I'm off to bed again.....more later on this subject!

[heatonharrier]

It's Your Time You're Wasting: A Teacher's Tales of Classroom Hell by Frank Chalk (Kindle Edition - 14 Dec 2010) - Kindle eBook

If you want to know why they happened, this book encapsulates it all.
Should be a "must read" for all existing and aspiring politicians.

[skintagain]

ok a lot of young people may not agree with national service but thats because they see it as a bad thing, it does not have to be like it was after the war and havent got a clue Camerons idea of sending on adventure holidays wont be a good thing either, i think it should be used as a chance to learn a lot of things kids dont learn these days, how to cook, how to iron, how to sew, little things that everyone should know like how to change a plug, its a lot better having them learning something than having them hanging around street corners getting into bother.

[fourrums]

I don't know what you guys expect but things like this are going to get a lot worse in the UK. Fill our Towns and Cities with third world economic migrants, encourage them to breed, and hey presto. Third World behaviour on our own doorstep.

Thing is, unlike you, I don't blame these people for it. It's evolution of the species coming to the fore. Darwinism applies to Humans just as it does to the Galapogas Finches.

Those to blame are the people who let them flood in, all to secure votes for Tony Blair and his successors. And we pay the price.

Britain will never now recover.

GB

R.I.P.

[Ann1]

Thought you'd left that cracked record at the Chron Rums???