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'Bring Back National Service'.....Yay or Nay???

124 replies

tiredemma · 14/07/2008 10:55

Just seen a news item on Sky where a 'Knife Tsar' is suggesting brining back National Service.

Brooke Kinsella (sis of murdered Ben Kinsella) suggested the same the other day.

I know very little about National Service so cannot comment on whether its a good thing or a bad thing.

What do you lot think????

OP posts:
belgo · 14/07/2008 11:31

I met an Isreali couple not so long ago. Both had just finished a three year military service in the Isreali army. The girl said that she had been the only female in her year to spend the time on the front line, all the other women had spent most of the time doing office work or something else rather then fighting.

The couple were very fit and proud of their country and the time they had spent in the army.

HumphreyCushioni · 14/07/2008 11:32

"I disagree strongly with the idea that "Nobody should be made to do something they don't want to do, unless its a punishment for something" and think that a lot of what's gone wrong with this country can be directly attributed to such an attitude".

MumtoPhoebeBoo, so you'd be happy to take part in military training if they upped the age limit of National Service to include your age group?

And you'd be happy for your child/children to be sent off to do it too - even if they had other plans / a place at university / had started a career?

herbietea · 14/07/2008 11:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

southeastastra · 14/07/2008 11:45

it would offer them a career opportunity and chance to change things in their own life though wouldn't it? give them some self esteem, confidence and a profession. ob if they're crap they'd be chucked out.

SummatAnNowt · 14/07/2008 12:21

Yes, but as in a kind of national service not connected to the military, and for both males and females, offenders or not.

Wolfgirl · 14/07/2008 12:27

Yes, I think so.

Flashman · 14/07/2008 12:30

SummatAnNowt what kind of service then?

falcon · 14/07/2008 12:31

No, I'm completely against it, certainly for the general population, for criminals I could see a case.

The last thing I'd want my children to do is join the military, and I'd emigrate to avoid it if it ever became compulsory.

MsSparkle · 14/07/2008 12:33

I think yes.

Didn't they say they went in as boys and came back as men?

I think it would teach people respect, most don't have any nowadays. Plus it would teach youngsters to respect authority, again which is something people don't do anymore.

MegSophandEmma · 14/07/2008 12:38

I don't think they should go to war. As an ex squaddie I belive the part that would break them down is the basic training part. This is ment for normal civilians to come into to be broken down and built up again into a person with self disapline and eventually after the constant PT, hard graft, constant tests, tabbing up near enough 90 degree hills, sleeping in a shell scrape that you have dug in the middle of a wood, be it sunshine, snow or rain, staggin on at 2am and much much more graft they would IMO think twice about doing any of these knife crimes again unless they fancied doing all above again and again. I belive sending them to war after knowing many level headed people (including my dad)who have been to war would mess there heads up even more and may infact cause more crime on their return.

wannaBe · 14/07/2008 12:40

yes.

I grew up in South Africa where all boys had to do two years national service.

Tey all benefited greatly from the experience, all came out much more mature than they were when they went in and all had a far greater respect for their fellow human beings, and an immense pride in their country, something which is severely lacking in this country IMO.

As for the comment that young people who are planning to go to university shouldn't have to put that on hold, I think in a way that going to uni a couple of years later might actually be good for some. Maybe if they gained a little maturity first we might not have all these young kids going into uni, drinking away the first three years and coming out in debt up to their eyeballs and expecting their parents to pick up the pieces. Maybe if they went into the army first they would learn a bit more about life and would spend their uni time actually working towards a meaninful career rather than pissing half of it up against the walls of the union bar.

HumphreyCushioni · 14/07/2008 12:43

"Didn't they say they went in as boys and came back as men?"

But I don't want my sons turning into men as defined by an enforced military programme.

And I'm sure there are other people who don't want their girls turning into women via the same process.

If they decide to join the military of their own volition, I would support that all the way.

I think the issue here is that it seems like a great idea to try and reform all these faceless, ill-behaved thugs, but it is just dealing with the symptoms of the problems, not the causes.

And is everyone who supports the idea really happy for their children to be part of the National Service training?

waffletrees · 14/07/2008 12:44

Completely against it. As the mother ot 2 boys I don't want them wasting 3 years of their life.

If they are going to bring it back then it would have to be for girls.

Moreover, it is very insulting to the people who have chosen the forces as a career. We need a professional force not a bunch of losers ruining it.

stoppinattwo · 14/07/2008 12:48

Yes......but constructive national service, not destructive

MsSparkle · 14/07/2008 12:55

I thought National Service was to prepare young men in miltery so that if another war broke out, they would be prepared to go to war as their National Service trained them for it?

In the old days they used to call all fit men to go to war hence why all fit men had to do National Service.

totalmisfit · 14/07/2008 12:58

agree - why does national service have to involve military activity? Why can't it be helping out at an old people's home or training guide dogs or some such socially-minded venture?

something to get kids into thinking in terms of a cohesive society rather than the 'me me me' which tends to dominate the teenage years.

MsSparkle · 14/07/2008 12:59

I do wonder though, if they hadn't stopped National Service and carried on doing it, even to this day and age, would we be living in very different times?

totalmisfit · 14/07/2008 13:02

or maybe planting trees - not for 3 years but maybe 6 months. 6 months is long enough to experience something which changes you life/attitude/aspirations etc at that age.

VanillaPumpkin · 14/07/2008 13:11

I love the idea of it, but based on more of a community service set up. Like a gap year idea but in the UK. And for 6-12 months or something. (So not really National Service in a military way at all )
I would have loved to have been made to do this. I would have achieved more than I have by now if I could have gained the confidence and inspiration to 'do' and a greater sense of community. It has taken me till 30 to be where I might have been at 20 with this. I truly believe that. I liked my comfort zone far too much. And I was a bright and capable girl. I just had no idea despite good academic results.
So Yay, sort of.

Haven't you seen Bad Lad's Army .

MsSparkle · 14/07/2008 13:13

That's all a bit mamby pamby imo. I know times have changed but when you look at young men from before they stopped National Service and then look at young men after they stopped it, there is a huge difference.

franke · 14/07/2008 13:14

Haven't read the whole thread. DH opted out of military service in Germany in favour of working in an A&E dept. He really grew up in that time changing from a rather spoilt, arrogant teenager into a responsible and thoughtful young man. Seriously. (Military service would have meant 6mo in boot camp)

franke · 14/07/2008 13:15

Meant to add, that if they reintroduce it, it should apply to boys and girls.

Heated · 14/07/2008 13:23

I think it is a good idea - maybe 1 year with the forces: training, fitness, skills and then 1 year community based, either here in the UK like with a youth theatre group, or what Prince Harry was doing recently in Lesotho.

In some countries NS is done compulsorily between ages 16-25. Some ppl join at 16 and they get an apprenticeship out of it, whilst others do it as a gap year before uni, or even after uni.

I think society has become all about me, me, me and the idea of service to others and putting other people first is anathema to many. It would also transform the way that ppl view young ppl but in an age of helicopter parenting and 'what about my rights' it's never going to happen.

totalmisfit · 14/07/2008 13:23

it might sound namby pamby but i think most people would agree that being trained to kill people in order to stop knife crime would be slightly ironic

vanillapumpkin - you sound like me! i always look back and wish someone had given me a kick up the backside when i was about 18

MsSparkle · 14/07/2008 13:28

It is namby pamby and the reason we are in the state we are with young people is because we have given them too many rights and become a soft touch. National Service isn't about killing people, it's about teaching respect, respecting authority, given people a sense of pride in their Country and growing up. I'm sorry but i don't think planting trees would have quite the same effect.