How do we break those cycles? Only by engaging with and supporting those people at a societal level.
Which brings me nicely to the uproar on the local Spotted page last night when the neighbouring parish council failed to object to a house in the next village being converted to a children's home. I innocently asked if the folk were unhappy at the council apparently not asking them first, or at the proposal itself.*
To be fair, several of the official objections submitted were into the quality of management, care, and staffing of such homes, which is a valid concern. There were also a couple concerned at a potential drop in property prices, and a general concern that the (checks note) 4 child residents in the middle of an estate in a small Derbyshire village would turn the whole area into some sort of inner city ghetto with a murder rate to rival the worst parts of Detroit.
The poor kids have to go somewhere, and their chance of getting their lives turned around will be greatly increased if the community tries to support them and not isolate them.
*the FB group moderator messaged me to say "I know you did that deliberately, and I know you can handle yourself, but message me if you want the thread deleting if the pile on gets too much"
How do we break those cycles? Only by engaging with and supporting those people at a societal level. The cost of this vs. perpetuating the cycle of poorly equipped parents has surely got to bring net benefits.
Hard to see how this will happen in the UK with our adversarial politics and ongoing, polarising culture war.
My 20year old engineering apprentice who was dumped out of school straight into lockdown is still a virgin and doesn't even have the awkward alcohol fuelled chat up techniques that I used to little effect.
You make that sound like a disadvantage!
My 20year old engineering apprentice who was dumped out of school straight into lockdown is still a virgin and doesn’t even have the awkward alcohol fuelled chat up techniques that I used to little effect.
At least you know what to get him as a Secret Santa...
I’m talking about 15-17 year olds making themselves ill because they can’t bring themselves to use a public toilet or not eating and drinking because they don’t find exactly the foodstuffs they eat at home or they have to ask for them rather than have it laid out.
I started helping out with my daughters school DofE as she is Type 1 diabetic, it was really an eye opener for me, getting given a sheet for all the kids medications, mental health issues and behavioural issues.
So many at 13-14 years old could not do the basics, such as boil a kettle, some struggled to make a Pot Noodle, some were making themselves ill as they just didn't eat, others were desperate for the loo, but refused to use the campsites etc, and after the very first practise weekend, they had a drop out rate of nearly a third as "it was too tough" etc, this was a lovely sunny weekend in Norfolk
But, on the flipside, it has been great watching those that didn't have the skills, persevere at it and grow from it if they did carry on.
I enjoyed it so much, i now volunteer at a large school in the city that mostly neuro-diverse young people, watching them come out of their shell is even more satisfying.
I think a lot to struggle with just attention spans, with any sort of (good) physical hardship, even just communicating and making decisions in a group.
I think the COVID times, also really were different for different kids and different areas of the country. We are lucky to live in a rural area, surrounded by farm tracks, bridleways and some amazing beaches, our kids could get fresh air, see their friends easily outdoors etc. It must have been very different for those living in very urban areas or where it was difficult to access outdoor spaces easily i would imagine?
And whilst social media has a lot to answer for, during that very strict initial lockdown, it meant my daughter as an only child could speak to friends, via the internet, the school still did its best to teach etc, so it has its uses
Whatever the cause, the outcome will be the same, loads of kids not fit to face adult life. We've been heading this way for years, Covid accelerated it.
Most people find life challenging but crack on, we have an increasing number who have been raised with little resilience.who give up. It's cultural for sure but no one is going to pick up the pieces of someone's life if they give up themselves. The expectation that schools, the NHS and voluntary organisations have to provide the additional support is delusional. The resources and desire to do so just don't exist.
We're going to have a much more divided society moving forward and I don't think the government can fix it, unfortunately 14 years of Torys blaming everyone but themselves for their failures turbo charged our current societal culture of expecting someone else to pick up the pieces.
Isn't "expecting someone else to pick up the pieces" actually a very Left wing pov?
We're you in a fridge during Johnsons tenure, how about Liz and the left wing markets what done for her. Not to mention the mid to far right blaming migrants for all their personal woes.
