The reaction to National Service on here

Saying ‘oh who gives a fuck then, just in it for myself’ won’t improve anything will it?

That's the attitude our politicians have shown for the last 14 years. And now they want young people to sort the mess out for them, for free.

Which is why it’s a good job that 4th July is coming round soon

You’re not a compassionate person at all, in fact you are the very antitheses of it !! HTH

Done in the right way I think I’d be quite happy for my DS to participate, and it could be helpful to him. But that won’t be the case for all, I do see that.

Will they compensate the ones who work every weekend already . I doubt it . I couldn’t have survived without my weekend job wages while I was at college. At the very least they will have pay the travel expenses of those doing this free work . Can’t expect students to be out of a weekends wages and then out of pocket for travel . Especially for those who live rural and places with no public transport on a Sunday . Maybe they will organise coaches to get them to these placements but it will cost a small fortune .

Well that’s what the Tories do soooo….

I had less issue with the military bit which was a choice for a smallish number, might have some pay and was long enough to learn something useful and some sort of scheme encouraging people into the TA with a starting course isnt terrible for those that want to.

My ds actually does want to join the military and his response is “so they are training them for intelligence and only making them sign up for a year so if I can’t get on that then I’m never going to get intelligence”
Then I made a hilarious joke and he did not laugh. Not impressed and thinks all the cushy one year good training stuff will go to posh boys. I would say “we shall see” but this stupid scheme will never be mentioned again after July 5th.

Be exempt on those grounds. Mine has ASD and dyspraxia and is starting a degree apprenticeship, he'll need the weekends to decompress. He definitely won't be doing it.

I'll be amazed if it ever gets off the ground though, it'll be one of those head line grabbers that gets quietly shelved if they manage to get back in. Or it'll end up being voluntary or watered down majorly in one way or another.

If you can explain to me how attacking this poster who is clearly trying to deal with a very tricky situation helps our economic problems, mate, I’m all ears.

@audweb
You can do both through uni

I worked three jobs to support myself (x2 term time 1x holidays), volunteered on several projects throughout the year (Guides and activities for the elderly predominantly) whilst working hard on my degree and still did very well in the end. I just chose not to sit on my backside watching daytime TV, partying my loans away or indulging in illicit drugs like a lot of my course mates did.

I'll add I'm not entirely sold on the NS idea but the thought that "I'm a student I can't possibly be expected to do anything but study and work ten hours a week" erks me somewhat.

Maybe we need a government that will think about need instead of their donors and who will actually provide some MH provision. There is none.

As someone who employs teenagers at weekends I want to know if they are going to compensate me for the weekends they can no longer work. Just 1 weekend a month may not be considered much to some of you but to me that would mean at least one member of staff down at my busiest time

Thank you !! The lack of understanding and empathy about ASD on here is shocking isn’t it. Solidarity from one ASD parent to another, the possibility of National Service is absolutely terrifying !

Why should they?

The Tories have taken away their rights to live and work in Europe, a functioning NHS, the chance to ever buy a home( or even rent), having a dentist, MH support, SEN provision……and they partied whilst youngsters followed the rules during Covid.

Young people don’t own this country anything.

All the 17/18 year olds I know have jobs.

Which is also why the reactions are over reactions because it isn’t gonna happen.

She knows that. But with our children it can be very hard to see what their future will be. Please try and be more compassionate. It’s not easy lying awake at 2am wondering what will happen to them when you’re gone.

It is unreasonable though, because it is a last gasp attempt at winning back a few loons from Reform UK PLC. It is not a serious policy. If you think it is, you are being really gullible. Check out very recent Parliamentary Questions on the issue.

I honestly think if you're championing this and are not volunteering yourself, you're a hypocrite. What do young people owe society, that older people don't.

Fwiw, I also think it's a stupid idea, not costed properly and is just a knee jerk reaction to losing votes to Reform UK. I reckon, if introduced it would just be another complete fiasco, like everything else the Tories seem to touch.

There are just so many better ways this money could be spent in engaging kids, especially those who are going off the rails - which happens way before 18.

24 days of 'mandatory but not really mandatory because we'll just fine your parents if you don't do it' service is not going to help anyone who is already disengaged or gone off the rails or involved in county lines.

It's just a lot of silly nonsense if you ask me and I'd be amazed if it gets of the ground - there is no way NHS staff want to be supervising 18 year olds doing jobs they don't really want to do and aren't getting paid for. I heard that the army was desperate for people in cyber security though so I suspect that's what this is actually all about.

As a Jewish person I think @ArseInTheCoOpWindow Dd made a very funny joke 🤷‍♀️