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News

'Bring Back National Service'.....Yay or Nay???

124 replies

tiredemma · 14/07/2008 10:55

Just seen a news item on Sky where a 'Knife Tsar' is suggesting brining back National Service.

Brooke Kinsella (sis of murdered Ben Kinsella) suggested the same the other day.

I know very little about National Service so cannot comment on whether its a good thing or a bad thing.

What do you lot think????

OP posts:

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tigana · 14/07/2008 10:57

Definitely bad thing if compulsory.

fryalot · 14/07/2008 10:58

nay

I think.

Possibly yay though

belgo · 14/07/2008 11:00

Yes, but I think it should be done in the way to give young people the choice of either army service or serving the community in some way. I have a Spanish friend who instead of military service, drove a Red Cross Ambulance and had an amazing experience.

tiredemma · 14/07/2008 11:01

That sounds like a good idea Belgo.

Im still on the fence about it- I can see both the good and bad.

OP posts:

tigana · 14/07/2008 11:01

Oh, and if non-compulsory then waste of time as the buggars this is aimed at wouldn't do it anyway. In fact, they probably wouldn't do it even if it was compulsory. So, nay.
Why should ALL teenagers need to go through this when it is actually a very small minority who are nasty little arses?

LackaDAISYcal · 14/07/2008 11:01

I say yay in principle, but not sure how it would work. Three years (as it used to be) is maybe too long.

Psychomum5 · 14/07/2008 11:02

see......this is something that I am kind of 'for'.

I think that if a teen leaves school and does nothing for a year other than claim benefits of some kind, then they should be given a timeframe to find work/go into education or they have to go into the army.

not to fight, unless it is their choice, but to learn a trade that can benfit the army who are fighting IYGWIM.

if they do not want to go into the army, they have a choice......find a job or go into further education. it should not be compulsory unless they make no effort on their part.

if nothing else, for some teens it may in fact give them some much needed discipline for the first time in their lives!!!

tigana · 14/07/2008 11:02

ooh, belgo, that sounds better...
a non-military national service...not so awful.

tiredemma · 14/07/2008 11:03

Not that I talk to a lot of old men, But the few that I have chatted to who did NS in the fifties all said what a great experience it was.

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McDreamy · 14/07/2008 11:03

That's an interesting approach Belgo. I think nay however I do think the military have a lot to offer.

I certainly learnt a great deal from being in the military, both about myself, my actions and my community.

Ledodgy · 14/07/2008 11:03

No way. Why should all the good teens out there possibly put their life at risk because some are bad.

southeastastra · 14/07/2008 11:03

yes definitely, my dad loved it and thought it gave him a great grounding for life, he was in the engineers and had a lifetime career in carpentry.

also wouldn't it be good for some no hopers to finally have sometime to base their life on? there was a good caller on the Vanessa show on bbclondon that made a good case for it.

southeastastra · 14/07/2008 11:04

def think it should be compulsory for offenders

McDreamy · 14/07/2008 11:06

I like Psychomum's way of thinking, compulsory if you have made no attempt to do anything else on leaving school.

I agree why should all school leavers/young people have to serve if some have a direction in their life already.

belgo · 14/07/2008 11:08

My dh was called up for military service in Belgium. He was able to postpone it because he was at university, and by the time he had finished, military service had been scrapped.

tiredemma · 14/07/2008 11:08

Agree with your last sentence Mcdreamy. If a child already has plans for university/career etc then NS would be unfair. But for those lacking direction/discipline- what harm can be done?

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Psychomum5 · 14/07/2008 11:08

oh yes, compulsory for young offenders instead of prison, as prison kind of gives them a bad start completely then, instead of trying to give them a second chance. all young offenders deserve a second chance as it is sometimes not their fault....they get in with a bad crowd and crowd mentality is a bad bad thing.....leads to places they would not have gone on their own.

blushblusher · 14/07/2008 11:09

No.

Nobody should be made to do something they don't want to do, unless its a punishment for something.

JumpingDizzy · 14/07/2008 11:11

good idea for those who don't want to do anything else and are fit enough.

Callisto · 14/07/2008 11:15

The armed forces will not want anything to do with this and as it will cost the Govt money it isn't going to happen anyway. I like the non-military national service option, but surely we (sort of) have this already with community service so why not expand community service so that anyone claiming unemployment benefit has to do 30 hours community service a week?

belgo · 14/07/2008 11:25

I'm not so sure of the army being used as an alternative 'prison', I don't think the army would like that idea either.

southeastastra · 14/07/2008 11:27

aren't they looking for people to send to the front line though? it's a good deterrent, caught with a knife go into the army.

the army bloke on the radio thought it was a great idea.

MumtoPhoebeboo · 14/07/2008 11:28

I'd love National Service to be reintroduced for all young people. Whilst I can understand that some people think only criminals and jobless young people should be made to do it, I can't see how the experience wouldn't benefit a larger cross-section of society. I disagree strongly with the idea that "Nobody should be made to do something they don't want to do, unless its a punishment for something" and think that a lot of what's gone wrong with this country can be directly attributed to such an attitude.

There's no longer any sense of unquestioning respect for authority (teachers, police, magistrates, doctors etc) and society has become increasingly egocentric. The idea of introducing National Service, in order for individuals to be part of society and the bigger picture, rather than solely thinking of themselves, if very important IMO.

Flashman · 14/07/2008 11:28

If we brought back National Service in the age of equal ops do we send all young females in to?

HumphreyCushioni · 14/07/2008 11:29

Is the proposal for National Service to be compulsory for both males and females?

Or are we assuming that all troubles stem from male teenagers?

As the mother of two boys, I have great reservations about them being compelled to do National Service with the underlying assumption that they would turn into aggressive louts if they didn't.

The problems of knife crime, drugs etc, etc need tackling at a local, community level, by people who are trained to deal with these issues, and who understand the community they are working in.

Those who are taken out of troubled communities would go back to those communities once their National Service was completed.

They may have a trade, but unless the community has tackled its' inherent problems, the young people are pretty much back to square one.

The world is a very different place to what it was the last time NS was compulsory.

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