Just been on news, 1 in 4 young people in north of England are not in school, work or training, shocking stat that is and they cant all be lay abouts. Whats this got to do with Sunderland, well, kids who cant go to games, parents who are keeping those kids so cant afford to go to games.A mood of hopelessness amongs them all with no light at the end of the tunnel. Sad thing is it wil get worse before it gets better, is your family affected.
Luckily no: My oldest lad has recently started college, has worked in a visitor farm during the summer and has now secured a part time post at Debenhams. My two youngest who are 11 and 9 are both at school....
My son is at university and wants to do a PhD so will be there for a few more years yet. My daughter is in Uganda doing voluntary work as, even with a masters degree, she cannot get paid work in her field. Last year we paid for her to live in London for 6 months, doing an unpaid internship and now, again funded by me, she is working with a poverty/AIDS relief charity in Kampala. She doesn't want to earn a fortune, she just wants to make the world a better place but, with the worldwide recession, all the major charities have seen their income slashed and there are very few paid positions. Fortunately so far I have been able to support her financially but for how long? She is 24 now and she needs to be earning her own money and making her own way. She knows this and has worked on and off at a call centre to earn a bit of money but she hated it which is why we found this placement in Uganda to see if this was what she really wanted. Have to say she is loving it and she feels she is making a big difference. Her role is to assess families for support from an American charity that funds the education of children in needy families where the parent or parents have HIV/AIDS. But we can't fund her forever so when she comes home she will try to get a job with the UK international development agency, or a major charity like the Red Cross, Oxfam or Medicins sans Frontieres, so she can go back out there. Unfortunately the few jobs they have tend to be senior posts, not entry level ones for young people starting out. It's the usual stuff you can't get a job because you don't have the experience, but you can't get the experience because no one will give you a job! Many of her friends are in the same boat. Told to go to university because it will get you a better job. After graduation, if they are working at all, they tend to have short-term contract jobs in call centres etc. with no job security or long term prospects. I know it is even worse for those kids who never went to university. pushed from one crap job to another if they can even find a job. It's no wonder the younger generation feel betrayed and abandoned by successive governments. As you can probably tell, the unforgiveable waste of any young persons energy and talents is very close to my heart!!
Louisa Peacock, 6:22, Friday 4 November 2011 Grimsby, Doncaster and Warrington & Wigan have the highest numbers of "disengaged youth" compared to any other city in Britain, where as many as one in four young people are not in education, employment or training, a new report warns today. The Government has been urged to take urgent action to help the so-called lost generation or risk a "crisis" in Britain's communities, with a surge of anger and social unrest similar to this summer's riots which took the nation by storm, according to experts. The study out today highlights the stark and growing North-South divide between jobs and opportunities for young people, with several major Northern towns making it into the worst 10 areas in the UK for young people. These include Grimsby, Doncaster, Blackpool and Newcastle (Frankfurt: 725198 - news) . Southern (Hamburg: SOT.HM - news) towns, including Oxford, Plymouth, Southampton and Milton Keynes were among those that recorded the lowest levels of disengaged youth. The report found that as many as a quarter of young people are classifed as "Neet" - not in education, employment or training - in the worst affected areas, with the recession exacerbating the problem. The largest increase in Neets has occured in those cities which already had high levels, the report by the Work Foundation and the Private Equity Foundation warns. Shaks Ghosh, chief executive of the Private Equity Foundation, said: "This report has highlighted the great disparity in opportunities for young people across Great Britain. The fact that nearly a quarter of 16 to 24 year olds are disengaged from education or employment in certain cities is not only shocking but very sad. "Children from deprived areas urgently need the right support to continue in school, go to college or to get a job. To neglect these Neets risks a crisis in too many of our communities.”
well it seems to me, no expert mind. Lots of young people out of work. Lack of discipline in the country. Forces in need of back up. Can anyone see a solution?
Against...For me it would be a case of the wealthy being able to by-pass the system leaving working class and poor families kids being used as cannon fodder.
May be get a job or a training scheme or its the forces for 2 years, mind I dont know if I would want my lad to do it
Thanks lads she is a star, even if an expensive one!! And of course I am very proud of them both. She wants to save the world and he wants to explore the universe, what more could a parent want? I often think how different things might have been. I came from quite a humble background, like most of us on here, I guess. Lived in a council house and had parents who worked in factories for low pay. I had 4 siblings (in 3 bedroomed house ) and often remember having chip butties for tea on a Wednesday night cos there was nothing in the cupboards (didn't have a fridge in those days) the day before pay day. But everything changed because I passed my 11 plus and got the opportunity to get a decent education leading to a good, and fairly lucrative, career. I have drummed it into my kids since they were little that they are really lucky to have so many advantages, which most of my peer group didnt get, and that they only have these advantages because of education. I really feel the 11 plus, despite its down side (making kids feel a failure at 11 is not a good thing i realise) was the greatest social mobility device ever invented for kids like me. It is so much harder for the bright talented kids around now to get on in life unless they have family connections, or live in London and the South East, so can live at home while they do unpaid internships etc. to gain experience. I would support a type of national service where all young people get the choice of the forces or community or volunteer work (in the UK or abroad working with organisations like the Red Cross or Oxfam) in return for their keep and a little spending money. But, as MrRAW said, I also think that the rich kids would bypass the system and still end up taking all the best jobs. Something has to change, but I don't think politicians of any flavour have the desire, or the guts, to do what needs to be done. Sorry, very long post!
Good post mate, its funny how we influence our kids. Like you I came from a council background and a father who was the pit blacksmith. I was usless at school, always a rebel and failed my 11 plus. Served an apprencticeship and worked in engereering but hated it so moved into sales and built a good career out of it. My son was not an obvious scholar but started growing plants in his bedroom age 11 then sold them to his teachers, I always preached to dream then be poitive and turn those dreams into reality. He left school, attended Houghall Agriculteral College and now runs his own landscaping, business and is very successful at it, the key is he loves what he does. There seems a strong link between what the parent did and what the child did. BTW, I still cant spell, did you notice
Syd, you are obviously very intelligent and articulate, just were not academically inclined when you were at school. In the trade we call you a "late developer"!!! This is the very reason that the 11 plus was doomed because the system was quite unfair to non-academic kids. But I don't believe it's replacement is a very good alternative. Education should be about giving kids the basic tools of literacy, numeracy, and an awareness of our history and place in the world in primary school. In secondary school kids should be helped to find their talents and learn how to make the most of them, just ike your son did with your encouragement. Education shoudl not be about being coached to pass irrelevant tests, which is what modern exam factories, aka 'Learning Villages' and 'Academies', seem to be about. There were issues with the old system of Grammar schools, Technical colleges and Secondary moderns, because it sort of fitted in with the 'class' system (we all knew our place!) in the UK and that class system was always doomed to die off (somewhat) with the economic boom that came after the second world war. But how can the current system be right either, when teachers and politicians tell kids to be aspirational and then crush them by not providing the jobs they have been promsed at the end of it? It sickens me, it really does.
one of my sons is in college, doing animal care, not my cup of tea but he loves it, NVQ lvl 3, then he is thinking about going to university if he can get in anywhere doing animal care. My other son has just started Teeside University, he is doing a degree in Game design, and wants to work for Naughty Dog (Unchartered 1-2-3) when he passes, luckily I was reading there is a severe shortage of graduates in the industry, so hopefully in 4-5 years when he is finished, he can walk into a job doing what he wants (even if its not with Naughty Dog). I just hope they dont leave and have to settle for Mcdonalds or Morrisons, got nothing aginst those professions, but i think if you put the work in off your own back (its their decisions to do this) and you pass, then you should get a job in what you are after, not a job in something you dont want just to pay off the student loan that you had to aquire by learning to get the job you want. My 2 daughters are 6 and 2 so dont have to worry about them so much yet, wont be long though. National service i am all for, as long as its not forced on them (IE if they have a job/college/uni place they dont have to do it) but if they dont care, definately, even if its just for 1 year, basic training will sort most out anyway. but dont kids have to stay at school till they are 18 now? Was watching a trailer for that ides of march film, the candidate for president wanted to bring it in as part of his manifesto for 17 year olds, goerge clooneys char said, are you sure, the reply was "those over 18 will vote for it, as they are over 18 so dont have to do it, those below 18 cant vote, its a win win situation" but he has a point.
