to be very heartened by the student riots!

[Heathcliffscathy]

apathy be damned...I predict more riots...looks like the youth have found their teeth.

I truly dislike the way further education is going in the uk...with many bright but not wealthy students being deterred from pursuing studies for fear of colossal debt.

Peacuful, vociferous and passionate protest can be powerful...sadly mindless criminal damage just ruins the message and antagonizes those whose support they most need.

Sophable...as a student I joined tens of thousands on the stop the war march. Where were you if you don't recall the march?

Moondog. Do you really agree with young people studying medicine potentially leaving uni with loans up to 44grand? Just for tuition fees, not to mention the cost of living. What calibre of student do you think will be attracted to further study? Not the bright but just the wealthy. Tragic really. Oh and friendship bracelet degrees? Get that one from the tabloids?

50k+ people on the streets trying to change something, actually caring? Go for it. but stop breaking windows, doesn't look good.

YANBU - not the rioting, that was Bad (and badly policed too). But am so pleased they were out on the streets. At last.

'well I hope that the people caught on camera causing damage and hurting the police are caught and punished.'

I totally agree 2shoes, and I'm sure they will be.

The media always says there'll be less sympathy for whichever demonstration they're being at, but then most people know they only get a part of the story and are actually listening to what the cause is about.

I also disagree with your dig at the OP, she can say or think what she likes, it has no bearing on how educated she is at all.

I understand people's disquiet with the violence but I have to say I'm relieved to some extent that people are getting angry. I had been worried that our collective response to our Welfare State being dismantled was going to be shrugging and going back to watching X factor.

YANBU. I'm glad people aren't taking this laying down. I hope that the libdems in particular took note, as they were voted in on masses of student support.
Although the injuries are regrettable they aren't entirely unforeseeable. The police are aware of the risks which go with their job and presumably wouldn't take the job if they didn't consent to the risk. Perhaps if there had been less cases of police brutality against peaceful protests people wouldn't see them in the same light now.
On the whole, I hope the demonstrations were successful, and if the price of a successful demonstration was 1 consenting police officer being injured then I think that's a price worth paying for a fairer education system.

I WAS there today YANBU. It was peaceful for the most part (but that doesnt make headlines does it?). It was fantastic.

I a mature student and was there protesting for a decent education for my children who are really bright (one is predicted mostly A*'s)and dont want to be bankrupt before they even start their adult life.

Maybe I'm biased because I used to work in Millbank.

I'm bloody delihted to see students on the streets. Its a shame anyone was hurt, but really, these fees are going to ruin so many peoples lives. There is no bloody way I would have got to university if I'd had to pay ANY fees, so they have my full support.

what a pile of shit - my grandparents were caught up an affected by the disruption they caused - they were incredibly concerned at how long it took them to get home in their 90s the two of them

youth - peaceful protest - ok

rioting - abysmal

what are you thinking?

Not all students have a problem with paying for their tuition, only with paying more than it's actually worth, which, having been at universities at the bottom of the tables charging just as much as those at the top, is certainly the case at all too many institutions.

And thank god there were no Ian Tomlinsons or Blair Peachs today. The police appeared to be doing a good job, and I do regret any of them got hurt, but it is in the nature of their job.

oh great so now it is the nature of the job!!
imagine if the fire extinguisher(can't spell that so hope it is right) had hit it's target.........
who will pick up the bill for the clean up, for the sick days the hurt police will now have to take.....

No it's not the nature of their job.

Nobody should be physically hurt by a protest.

Sophable, I was a 5th or 6th year high school student when Iraq was about to start, I don't know where you were if you thought young people weren't protesting because we were out on the streets in our thousands. Massive volumes of students walked out of school to go protest.

It was unfortunate (or deliberate) that every student interviewed by ITN news was very well spoken and apparently wealthy.

I have got children who are capable of Russell Group and Oxbridge, they are in years 8 and 10 so my DS will one of the first hit by the hike in fees and we really can't afford to pay the new fees. They will have to come out with big debts but hopefully the number of people with degrees will be reduced and having a degree will make you a sort after canditate for a job, rather than one of the masses.

However the previous government should never have created this university for all mentality. It has devalued degrees to the point where my friends DD got told that although she had graduated with a First with Honors her A levels (A B D passes) were not good enough they needed an ABB despite the First with Honors.

We should go back to training on the job and apprenticeships as the norm

Bunch of civic-minded people who will mostly not be affected by the fees hike take to the streets to try ensure that younger people in their community will be able to access higher education on fair terms. That's the Big Society for you. The Big Society with a hammer.

I said to my OH that there would be some kind of trouble break out.. there is always a small group of people who will make it into something that it really doesnt need to be!

unfortunatley (sp?sorry) its what happens in this day and age. nothing is peacefully protested. and that lays in the laps of the government making the wrong choices and hitting the wrong people where it hurts.. why the next generation should suffer just because of government mistakes and gready bankers is beyond me!!

'The Big Society with a hammer'

I like that as a soundbite and as a concept, I recon it could catch on

Hassled, you are operating from a position in which you have not even bothered to think about why things should stay the smae as they are.

They won't and can't. if this means far fewer people go to university, that's probably a good thing. Why does it have to be the be all and end all?

' Yes, there are crap degrees out there - but what about the people doing degrees in social

What makes you think we need social workers? What evidence is there that they do a useful job? The same could be applied to many public sector jobs. I do a public sector once and consider a great chink of what I and people in similar jobs do, to be totally pointless.

Have oy considered that having fewer 'professionals' of this sort might actually be a good thing?

Why does this discussion have to become an attack on social work? Seriously.

I was sad about the violent minority - I doubt if many of them were students - but it warms my old heart to see thousands of young people taking to the streets again.

I've lived in a University Town in a student area for years. The accents have started changing already.

That's precisely the sort of knee jerk small minded reaction that prevents intelligent discussion.

It illustrates a point.
That is why it has been used.

YABU.I'm with 2shoes with this.

There's no need,or excuse for such violence.