Miltary + Olympics will make London an unfit place for kids to live?

[bochead]

I want to remove my household from London during the olympics as I have no desire to see my child live under seige for a month.

Am I being unreasonable to think that so many troops on the streets, a warship, ground to air missiles etc + all the congestion of the event will make parts of London unfit for ordinary family life. The announceement of a warship and military patrols on the Thames was the last straw for me.

I think it'll be a threatening environment for children in those parts of London closest to the Olympic venues, and am looking for alternative accomodation for the event elsewhere in the country. This is based in part on my experience of this summer's riots. We went camping rurally at the time & as a result my own child did not experience the worry and upset that many of his peers did.

Are others thinking of escaping the Olympic mayhem for the sake of their child's wellbeing?

I live in London (not far from the Olympic site either) and I have no idea what you're talking about. Yes it's going to be a pain in terms of public transport (I'm considering working from home as much as possible) but it had never occurred to me that the entire city would become 'unfit for children' for the duration of the event or that you would be 'under siege'.

I think that's an absolutely bizarre thing to suggest, so sorry but YABU.

As for 'war ships' etc, what about every year when the international arms fair comes to Excel? Guns, tanks, ships, the lot!

fabby you're talking bollocks not making any sense again.

I've never noticed any trouble there (got friends/family on the Stratford/Bow borders, 2 minutes from the Olympic site, so we're up there regularly, nighttimes as well)

I dunno Gravy, it's not like I think Stratford is a warzone, but I have heard more dodgy stories about it than from anywhere else in London.

Mind you, round our way (Bethnal Green) it's getting dodgier by the day. A group of lads did a gun sign at my partner's head a few weeks ago, and said if he ever went down their street again, they'd kill him.

Bit of an over reaction don't you think?

OP it doesn't sound like the military being there is the real problem for you, just the disruption the Olympics will cause in general with an increase in tourists and VIP's.

I don't think the military aspect will be quite how you imagine it anyway. Just asked DH, who might be there, and he says it's not likely that he will be patrolling your street with his machine gun. He's also more likely to be in his Ones than his Greens, so not really a threatening uniform.

There are warships and armed patrols in the Thames all the time, and you will have weapons and missiles much closer to you than you realise too. DH's last ship was there several times last year. Those sort of craft are all over the British coastline all the time too.

People pay good money to see those warships and those aircraft, so if you see anything at all you could try to enjoy it as a free display. Your children will probably love it.

YANBU to feel nervy if you were caught in the 7/7 aftermath and this is bringing back bad memories but YAB(perhaps understandably) U if you let those nerves get the better of you and cause you to frighten your own children with your fears about the presence of police officers and troops during the Olympics.

I'm not saying this is a nice area, by the way, or that it'd be my ideal place for raising children (I'm hoping we can move in the next few years), it's pretty dodgy in fact. It's just that we're not going to suddenly be in mortal danger when the Olympics starts!

We flew just after 7/7 and the tanks were all over Heathrow. The kids just thought it was funny, especially when they stopped to let us cross the road. Kids will pick up their sense of fear from you. When I see a fire engine or ambulance I worry for the people who need it, the kids think "wow! cool! fire engine!".

By all means leave London if you do not fancy the upheaval and so forth. But the only reason for your children to feel the environment to be threatening would be if you gave them that idea.

It's good to get baking addicts viewpoint as it sounds like she may have some of the same concerns as me re simple daily stuff like collecting kids from childcare on a transport network that's not always reliable. London didn't feel as "friendly" for a while and people were on edge after 7/7.

The stop and search walking/driving over Tower Bridge after 7/7 got crazy too and was intimidating to many teens & their younger friends and siblings, especially for those of the "wrong" ethnicity. I spent an afternoon holed up in a city office being told to stay away from the windows cos of snipers and had to arrange an alternative person to collect my son from nursery on a day later on that summer. (We couldn't go out for lunch either so those who brought a pack up were very popular that day!)

Current issues between the police and young people are blamed by many teens and young people as being the flashpoint for this summers riots. Not what politicians and the chattering classes want to hear but backed up by academic researchers (channel 4 did a despatches programme recently).

I'm not expecting the military to open fire on kids however soldiers aren't playscheme workers and guns are intimidating in open view. Airports are no longer pleasant environments when you see armed personnel pacing up and down. It no longer feels like we'll be showcasing to the world our wonderful multi-cultural acceptance and what a friendly welcoming nation the UK generally is with so much military hardware and uniformed troops on open display. I was expecting us to show a "festival" or "carnival" atmosphere and that no longer to seems to be on the cards.

Soldiers are trained to be disciplined with arms. I would be more worried about armed police tbh.

We moved back to London on the day the Olympics were give to GB. The next day was 7/7. Can't say i've given it much thought since. If you live here you just get on with your life.

It's really, really unlikely that you will see guns in open view OP.

And the troops will be dressed more like the guards at Buckingham palace in terms of uniform and visible arms, and thousands of tourists flock to see them every single day. I don't think it's going to make people feel unwelcome, it's more likely to feel like part of the show.

I do think you are letting your anxieties from 7/7 run away with you now, and I think your attitude will be the biggest cause of frightening your children, above the presence of the troops themselves.

I grew up in the 70's. Rubbish piled in the streets, punks everywhere, black outs

The fire service went on strike and our chimney caught fire and the army turned up! With a bloody great army fire engine. And they knocked our lamp post down!

It was so bloody exciting. I was about 5 and I still remember it.

Stop being so soft. It'll be exciting for kids, they won't feel threatened unless you make them feel that way.

London has always been like this

Looking at what is planned around Greenwich Park for the three days of the equestrian
Roads Closed for 3 months
Greenwich Park closed for 3 months - irreperable damage done to whole chunks of it
Large parts of Blackheath closed for 3 months
THe Donkey rides man gone forever

and during the actual games
even more roads closed - including one lane of the A2
other roads blocked

the disruption to business and life will cripple south london
parents on the school run will have HUGE problems
businesses will suffer
they are putting in contingencies for Canary Wharf workers to telecommute - which will CRIPPLE the service companies

frankly the whole Olympics thing will be DISASTROUS for the UK economy
the ticket allocation was such that even the athletes families cannot go
and it will leave the UK in HUGE debts

is there a cancel button?

My son is always getting stopped and searched anyway.
Same as his dad did in the 80s.

So perhaps the security measures will just bring in equal ops suss laws for a few enlightening weeks?

I live in an Olympic Borough and I do not have a sodding clue what the hell you are so worked up about.

I agree about Greenwich. You will not be able to get anywhere. Although frankly it's changed so much, what I loved about it growing up has gone, and the yuppies are welcome to it.

MrsDeV
Have you actually checked what disruption will hit in your area ....
www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/18367.aspx

Norman
at one stage they talked about closing both ends of my Mums road - leaving 200 homes stranded for three weeks
no wonder Nogoe ( www.nogoe2012.com/trees.html) gets a lot of local support

How can you compare this to the 7/7? We were traumatised then so yes going to work the following monday everything made us jump. And many people were mourning, Hello?

This is different. There is no trauma and we know it is happening.

Commuting to work will be a pain. The rest is too melodramatic.

Yeah. I am going to stay away from Asda for a few weeks.

I'll survive.

" It no longer feels like we'll be showcasing to the world our wonderful multi-cultural acceptance and what a friendly welcoming nation the UK generally is with so much military hardware and uniformed troops on open display. I was expecting us to show a "festival" or "carnival" atmosphere and that no longer to seems to be on the cards."

You have had the privilege of growing up in one of the few countries (the only country?) in the world where the police are unarmed and where it is unusual to see soldiers in uniform as a part of day-to-day life.

Yet most of the countries where you are likely to find a friendly welcome and a carnival atmosphere do have armed police, and their soldiers go to the supermarket in uniform on the way home from their base.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

Though I do agree that ticket allocation has been a disgrace.

The troops stuff is an utter irrelevance
its the disruption and the fact that journeys will take ages while Olympic Committee fat cats sail past in designated lanes that will piss Londoners off

I lived in central London during the IRA campaign. This is not the same issue at all.

Yeah my family still live very close to Greenwich and they are considering just taking off for a few weeks rather than face the disruption. It's not the military presence that will be a PITA, it's the closed roads and endless traffic jams.

I totally sympathise about that ( although live in Scotland so will not get to enjoy the dubious Olympic experience.)

I think they should pay Athens to host it every year.

"Mind you, round our way (Bethnal Green) it's getting dodgier by the day. A group of lads did a gun sign at my partner's head a few weeks ago, and said if he ever went down their street again, they'd kill him."

Shit, yellowraincoat, where was that? I live in Bethnal Green too... PM me if you want.

I was seriously considering a House swap. But then I realised that we'd have to tidy up.

ds said 'Greece hosted the Olympics didnt they? Now look at them!'
hmmm