Joey Deacon - I am sorry

[Absolutelegend]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sZqbSNRa8Fk&pp=ygULSm9leSBkZWFjb24%3D&ra=m

We were silly kids - didn’t realise what we were saying or doing. You were amazing. I will watch this with my children and remember you for the person you were.

If you’re under 50 I can see how you would never have heard of Joey Deacon or any of this.

Or over 60!

I am obviously too old for this because I have never heard of him. The nearest I can think of is in the 1970s when Benny was an insult because of a character on Crossroads.

I was just talking about this with my DH a few days ago and how we as school kids reacted.

I remember that too. Being a "benny" meant you were simple or stupid.

I remember this clearly being used at primary school, not just verbally but with a movement used casually if you did something wrong or you didn’t understand, even in the classroom, but had no idea of the origins until much later, I didn’t see Joey on Blue Peter. Someone clearly started it and in a world with no social media, it still managed to spread across the country and into schools.

Actually we had a cat called Benny. This wasn't totally because of the Crossroads character ( we had another cat called Bonny so it seemed to match) but we all felt it appropriate because this cat was....well, not quite the sharpest knife in the drawer IYSWIM. Poor Bonny had her work cut out trying to teach Benny how to function as a cat.

I’m 55 too and JoeyD was a widely used derogatory term amongst kids. A statement of fact, I’m not condoning
i don’t remember schools getting involved in stuff like that

We used to push our lower lip out with our tongue and slap it. Or we’d say “that’s retarded” about anything we didn’t like.

Kids do stupid shit. It’s part of growing up and becoming socialised 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you grew up in the 1980s you will know, or ask someone who did. Joey

But it’s YOUR thread 🤔

Worry not - we shall all pay for what we did, one way or another, sooner or later, in thoughts or deeds. Worry not.

Wait, does he read Mumnet ?!

Well, quite. It was an intense fad that lasted a couple of years or so starting from the 1982 Blue Peter charity fundraiser.

@bittertwisted , yep, schools didn’t get involved in stuff like that, it wasn’t like it is now, at all. I was quite badly bullied later on in secondary school but I was just told to ‘toughen up’ by both teachers and parents.

”Thank you but it’s not about me. I actually don’t think i participated personally in the behaviour from memory”

And…

“We were silly kids - didn’t realise what we were saying or doing”

And also…

”He became a “meme” across the country and I think we now, looking back, and seeing this film I am shocked at how we behaved, or were allowed to behave.”

Did you take the piss out of him or not??

I don’t think it matters now whether OP did or didn’t join in with this. Were you a child in 1982? I assume not as if you were you’d know that this behaviour was extremely common in any group of kids and wasn’t viewed by anyone the way it would be today.

I was 13 and yes I think it does matter that the OP clears this up because both posts cannot be true.

I've no idea what the joey film is about and I haven't opened the link as it could be triggering on many levels.
Brought up in the 60/70s. Lived in south London since early 80s.
@Absolutelegend I actually don't get the point of your post.
We all know there are very cruel people in this world.

Exactly and she’s using all this ‘we’ and ‘us’ language, and yet she apparently didn’t join in?

So why the apology unless just virtue signalling?

I was a child in 80s and the behaviours described in this thread were absolutely not tolerated at primary school. My primary school did teach us about such things. However when we went up to secondary school other children had had very different expectations placed on them.

This is an odd thread and I wonder if OP’s maybe had a drink.

Society? A lot of people could see it at the time. He and his friends were all remarkable.

One wouldn't expect children to see it. Kids tend to be cruel.

He was an amazing person, and Blue Peter completely misjudged what children were like in the 80’s. It was a cruel time.

We were always taught about inclusion at school and at home.
I don't see why it's shown to children.
I still do not understand why anyone would give this oxygen @Absolutelegend
Goady thread indeed.
You carry on with your own negativity.

Im an 80s kid
So i remember "Joey "being used as an insult
For those that dont know Joey Deacon was a disabled man who appeared on Blue peter circa early 80s he had a speeclch impediment which made it very difficlt to understand him he also had veey noticiable hand movements
Joey was a very common playground insult for a time and kids would yell ya joey at each other meaning they thought you were a bit " thick".
All the more poignant for me as the mother of a disabled non verbal teen.

I think mumsnet deletes certain posts automatically if they contain certain words
I have had similar posts deleted

I'm 60 in a couple of months.

I remember this was a thing, but I don't remember it at school, but I was at a girls' school and I associate the impressions with boys.

Also it depended which channel you watched, we were not allowed to watch ITV children's programmes so would have seen this.

Kids can be cruel, and the younger they are the more they may not understand just how cruel they are.

Also in the 1980s disabled people were often living in institutions or attending special schools where, according to Laurence Clark he was taught to cut out coloured paper.

I was teaching some teenagers when it was the anniversary of 9/11, which I experienced as an adult. I asked if they remembered it as they would have peen primary age.

One of the students said all the boys were taken to the hall and told not to 'play at 9/11' as it might upset the girls. I think it was impressions of planes hitting buildings and faking jumping from windows. I'm not sure how I feel about the splitting up of boys and girls but I trust the teachers knew them better.

I would imagine any child who took part in the 9/11 games will probably be mortified that they did.

I grew up in the 80s. No idea what you're talking about.

It was a phenomenon across playgrounds in the uk whether you remember it or not. The insult “Joey” spread like wildfire overnight after the Blue Peter episode.