Are there 'gangs of kids roaming the streets' making you feel unsafe?

[UnquietDad]

As a woman on Jezza Vine has just been saying.

It's the kind of thing my mother says, but people of my age are increasingly saying it.

What's it like in your area?

skills not kills

there are jobs - there are

you might not want them

you might want more pay

you might want to work in a different industry

but i find it hard to believe that someone who is not being selective ( and who isn't isolated rurally) cannot get a job.

i have never been selective - choosing to work anywhere for money - factories, supermarkets, shops even a chippy.

i had 1 GCSE and three kids.

my brother did go and learn some more skills - went to college and did a legal secretaries course (amongst other things) - but - as anyone who's ever been in "higher" education will know - it's not like being at school, lessons/lectures don't last all day - leaving plenty of "free" time......for filling in all those application forms which then get rejected.

QOQ - i didn't say teens had to stay at home

i have three it really isn't something i would avocate

i just asked since when was it a cultural norm for parents not to give a shit?

custardo he applied for anything and everything that didn't have "qualifications" as a major requirement - he did get some work thrown at him by the job agency he was signed up at - and he took anything that came along - but he was 23 before he finally got offered a job - with the Post office - which he kept for 7yrs before leaving because of bullying and harassment...

"take away job seekers allowence for single people under the age of 21 i say "

why target the single and the young?
that would just encourage the myth that it is ok for people with kids to sit back and pop out sprogs and let them sponge off the state.
surely if you have a kid that should be more of a reason to have a job?
i'm not saying i advocate either, i'm just saying that targetting single people under 21 makes no sense.

whilst having three kids under 5 i went to college and university and worked in a supermarket and a factory. my dh worked nights at security before minimum wage on £2.80 ph in the 90's i shit you not.

i believe that your brother tried very hard - and i believe that for those who do try - they can get a job and i think that the £47 pw JSA is a disincentive.

he did try hard and it was to see how it affected him wanting to work and not being offered anything - and now because of the bl**dy RM he's still signed "off" from the Dr. because of severe depression.

Anyhow - I must get going - should have gone to town 1hr ago - after DS3 had his milk and before he went to sleep.......he's since had his milk and fallen asleep and we're still here

No. But yes in my last house.

sh*t just remembered I have to be back by 3.15 too - DS1 back at school today !

Not in my locality I don't notice it.

Noticed it more when we lived in the city centre. However a lot did have a purpose, as they were hanging round the big green next to the bike/skate park. Some were just sat in big groups being loud and drinking, but not a big problem - and not actually doing anything wrong as such, and def nothing illegal (well, bar the odd bit of underage drinking/smoking maybe).

Still PMSL at custardo's rant earlier.

In France, if you are not in full time education or in a career job then you have to do National Service - that works well for the 'disaffected' youth as by the time their 2 years is up they have learnt some form of personal discipline/ work ethic and the value of working. I do get very fed up seeing the teens between the ages of 14(permanently excluded from school) and 17 hanging around all day and totally agree with custy. No way I would allow my dds to do it, but then again, if one of them was excluded from school they wouldn't be allowed out anyway!

"In France, if you are not in full time education or in a career job then you have to do National Service - that works well for the 'disaffected' youth "

sorry but are you mental? if there is one country that has failed time and time again to deal with disaffected youth it is france.

custardo -0 saw that too and feel really cross with them!

The one thing that really shocked and distressed me at the last school I worked at was the lack of aspiriation a lot of the children had. They had no goal, no focus. They didn't want a job on release. The girls especially has no plans to work, and the lads "well, I can just go on dole miss". It was heartbreaking to see actually, and so frustrating.

Part of the GNVQ I did with some invovled 2 week's work experiecnce. Out of the 6 students - all age 16/16 - I visited, only ONE had stuck it beyond a few days. Rest had either not bothered showing up at all, or left after a day or two. I was so embarrassed visiting those employees. Their reasons for not going - too far away (a bus ride couldn't be bothered, didn't like it, he asked me to make a cup of tea and I am better than that, me mam said it was pointless, I 'ain't doing work for no moeny, etc)

And part of my current job I was the prisoners about their plans for employment/education on release - and it is so often the same story. They want the money and the rights, but don't want to do the work and have the responsibilities. they just want it handed to them on a plate. They have no concept of working their way up the ladder. Frustrating as hell at times!

And, as I point out - it's not all. There are loads of young people who do wnat to work and will accept any work to get them on the ladde. But this other group - argh!

Hello W&B

I don't agree with you, we go over regularly and I used to live there.

I notice a very different attitude towards adults and a lot more respect than you get here. Of course they still have drugs problems (I presume that is what you refer to) everywhere does, but they don't seem to suffer as badly as we do from the 'leave school, hop on the dole' mentality that we seem to subscribe to.

Re the parenting and fault.

One of the boys on that TV show didn't turn up for an interview that was arranged for him. Why? His gran thought the job - in catering - was beneath him and told him he shouldn't go!

Well I have waitressed, pulled pints, worked in nightclubs, dodgy "street" magazines, market researched (gah horrible) delivered telephone directories, worked in shops, temped in worked in offices.

All this between 16 and 23 and none of it fulltime but there are masses and masses of jobs out there - providing you want to do them to earn a crust. Funded me through all of my higher education.

I agree with Custy

sorry i'm probably side tracked by the armoured guards at certain train stations and the riots in paris etc.
i'm probably completely illinformed and you are in the right ( that sounds sarcastic but it's not,it's me admitting my ignorance and narrow experience of a country which you know better)

Speaking as one who has experienced first hand the wrath of French police I can see where you're coming from, but maybe they have the right idea.
We have one particular little toerag here who I would love to experience arrest by the French police, it's much tougher and they are extremely scary but only if you do something wrong. I got caught jumping the barriers at a tube station , never did it again and nearly wet myself in the process.
Problem is, IMHO, our police don't have enough authority to deal with the persistent petty offenders like him and obviously prison is the next step but that would be wrong too. He is the product of extremely bad parenting so National Service would be a fantastic answer for him.

well done hurly - I'm very glad that YOU managed to find work (and judging from the vareity I'd say "reasonably" easily) - but for my brother (who can't drive - so that automatically cut out some jobs) the large amount of money spent on sending off application forms didn't pay off.

He did plenty of voluntary type work - Bristol Zoo, Garden Centres, Youth Places etc but it just wasn't happening for him.

I think the fact that the few "days" of work he did get from the job agencies included factory work (nights in the "cold" sections - basically giant freezers), cleaning pub toilets (he never succeeded in getting actual bar work), and litter picking showed that he really would take anything.......and lets face it the permanent job he did eventually get offered wasn't exactly "glam" .

I had much better grades that my brother at GSCE level - but I also remember writing to just about every company I could think of tring to find weekend/holiday/christmas work and didn't even get an interview - ended up working as a "kitchen assistant" in the staff canteen at the Job Centre where my mum was working at the time as a teenager.

I couldn't even get a paper round as they were all taken round our area !

anyhow - DS3 now awake so I suppose I'd better feed him and get to town before it's too late

I take my DC's to my local park and more often than not there are unruly teenagers hanging around the park using foul language and drinking alcohol. My DH did phone the police on one occasion as they looked no older than 10 or 11.

It is frightening. I am afraid to make eye contact with them tbh just incase they get nasty.

Well who says it has to be 'fun' all the time? I mean, FFS, that's life! It's boring a lot of the time. The sooner people learn to deal, the better.

Yes, it sucked, but it wasn't forever.