Can we discuss the lack of ambition in English youth

[SomeoneCalled]

How can we help English young people to feel more ambitious about their future

Because exactly ambition has different definitions for different people who are choosing a life path or career - where would you place the question?

do you mind giving me the links to these forums please?

welcoming defining hope for the coming future in the UK....

Probably need to be a society wide aim for ambition. People complain about kids doing homework. That’s where is begins a desire to well and to be better aim higher and for more than everyone else.

striving for knowledge for top of the class and equating hard work with success rather than low impulse control, short termism and having a vision for what you want.

unfortunately we have become a place where people desire to be unproductive and make money which isnt realistic for most people. Ambition requires productivity. Also better bloody wages !

oh sigh...because both parents went and it is almost an expected thing to do

you don't have to. I am having genuine question and in need of peoples' opinions - practical reply will be ok also, without the care

Hope being not written off. Or feeling written off. Opportunities to train or get qualifications post 16.
That there is more than one way to be successful.

But the world is totally different for today's 18 year olds, than it was 25-30+ years ago.
What worked for parents and the path they took, the opportunities they had (including free uni education) are not necessarily available to the current cohort.
So they will (not unreasonably) consuder alternative options....

Neither DH or I are university educated. DH left school and started work when he was 15, obviously neither of our kids are going to do that!

I don't see that. My ds is focused on his engineering degree and has a very clear idea of what he wants to earn, and how.

Doing something because a parent did it is stupid, and it shouldn’t be an expected thing to do, it should be for people who themselves want to go, not for mummy and daddy to try and live through their children.

Going just because your parents went to uni would be a terrible reason to go, you can be ambitious and successful without this.
i work with (and for, my manager is 21) a lot of younger people, very few who have gone to uni and are still very driven with a can do attitude. There are far more routes to good careers now then just uni.

What has this got to do with ethical living ?

FYI - England and Britain are no more 'the same' than you saying 'dog and animal is the same'.

Where do you get the perception there is a 'Lack of ambition in English Youth' ? As that is not my perception.

I have a 23 year old son who left school got himself an apprenticeship and after 4 years of training is now a qualified electrician. Works his arse off and earns on average £4000 per month.
My stepdaughter is 16, currently doing her Exams and seems to be very ambitious when talking about her future.
Both have had completely different upbringings. I had my son when I was 20, single and although I’ve always managed to work he has watched me struggle financially, things changed a lot for us when I married 11 years ago. Perhaps his start in life made him want more for himself?
My Stepdaughter has had a very privileged life. Her mum has done very well in her career, that plus inheritance on her mums side means she will never want for anything really.. Her mum has millions in the bank.
She is obviously only 16 but she is studying day and night for her exams.
I still work in retail (always have) and work with lots of young people. I see a mixture in personalities. Most work hard but I have noticed in the last couple of years a lot of nonsense.. Accusing managers of bullying when it’s pointed out they’ve done something wrong. Not being able to work to a time limit, just silly behaviour.. This year’s Christmas temps were the worst I’ve worked with.

I mean this as an observation but we have to remember the amplified voices on this site will rarely take into account those at the bottom of the pile.

I taught at a PRU until Christmas. Education had already failed those children, they (95% of the time) had high ACE’s (adverse childhoods) including death, substance and alcohol abuse, housing insecurity, poverty, the list goes on.

Ambition for them was survival whatever that looked like. Crime, PIP as a career plan (and I don’t say that as a benefit basher), accepted economic inactivity. They didn’t see it, didn’t think it applied to them thus thought ambition was for the grammar down the road.

We need to open up opportunity, get apprenticeships at a basic level and push good role models (not just Dubai living influencers). There is a failing at moment and a feeling people can just opt out.

And before people come at me…. I have a chronic health issue and I work. My sons went to Sen schools and they work. We all work because we have to work to survive. And to put to society so we can take back.

Thank you for your account

may be I don't get the nuance in English - transferring your work ethic to your child...how do you do it

Mumsnet

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/work/5392446-lack-of-jobs-for-new-grads

There was another long thread, but I can't find it.

WIWIKAU (What I wish I knew about university) on Facebook

My kids are 10 and 12, they are perfectly ambitious enough. We’ve explained that working hard at school / uni / building a career gives opportunities and choices. Lack of choice is exhausting and draining and living a meagre life with an insecure minimum wage job is just so tough.

They do see YouTubers and influencers seemingly making free money but we’ve tried to explain that even those doing well at it have put it (usually) a lot of hard work and for every one making money there is a 1000 that aren’t.

We talk about ambition and being interesting people quite a lot, we all have hobbies and interests and that makes life nicer.

I wonder if ambition means different things to them? People hear it and think about money / success / academia. We talk more about interest and choice and trying to go as far and as high as you choose.

I’ve got three degrees but I am now trying to pivot to being an artist. At school I was turned off being ambitious at art because no one makes any money and was told to do academic subjects.

Thank you for your post, very helpful and I do wish you to become an artist, if even part time at the beginning

I work with very motivated young adults who are working hard to get good jobs.