By Mark Hanson
The most frustrating thing about politics is the way every issue is framed as an immediate crisis demanding an immediate (and simplified) solution so it can be reported in a 500 word news article or a 3 minute news bulletin. It needs a villain, and some kind of anxiety-trigger involving young people is perfect for this.
Kids are a separate breed, not immediately like us newspaper readers, with our cars and mortgages. They wear different clothes, have different hairstyles and often don't talk like us. They're not someone's son and daughter, they're a threat, and youth crime requires tougher sentences. The courts and the police are there to protect us and deal with the threat. That's where the story is supposed to end.
The problem is that the threat in terms of number of petty crimes and the seriousness of the serious crimes seems to be getting greater. Most people would understand this if it was explained properly and in a wider frame than offered in news bulletins.
Let's pull back and see the whole picture. A commitment to engaging with young people and giving them a stimulating and safe space to interact, learn, play and socialise would enrich the young and replace the social glue that seems to be wearing away in places.
A commitment to a youth club in every area is very big picture, very progressive and very Labour.
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I feel like ranting, but what good will it do? The youth clubs should never have been closed in the first place, but they were closed and all the systems that were in place were dismantled at the same time, so now it would cost more than 5 times the amount to get them open again. You know why? In places like Wigan, the old youth clubs were closed, demolished and sold for building land to earn the council a nice profit. Where the devil are they going to find purpose built building like that now and who would fund the project to get back what has been lost?
I'm off to bang my head against a wall for half an hour, maybe afterwards I'll understand what has happened to the Labour Party.
I'm thinking the big picture is to stop demonising the young, and that your proposal is just a part of a proposed solution. So I feel supportive, but concerned once again that Labour appear never to think about people outside a town.
To be honest, I'm not sure what a youth club in every ward achieves outside a town. It should be applied where nothing exists already, so as not to kill off the concept of people/organisations volunteering their time for activities like this, currently free of charge to the government.
Like Ed Ball's denials about potentially criminalising adults for interacting with children (utterly pointless saying it would only apply to regular lifts to footy matches more often than once a month, when these occur weekly, and I'd like to see how children from the villages get to the away fixtures in a condition to play without a lift), it ignores that the UK does not have a monolithic culture.
Still, your idea could help if not mis-applied.
Just wanted to add ( and i know this wont be popular) but the one of the 3 polices i agreed with the tories was the "hug a hoodie" , Isint it time we showed them a hug because when a young person is scared that is when they are likley to lash out , so maybe just maybe its not abad idea.
ricki
About 6 years ago the government set out plans to ensure that kids lived with a mile or so (in urban areas) of a youth club with a certain standard of facilities, so some of this has been done. However, because it is discretionary funding from councils youth services are subject to cuts and re-commissioning.
Challenging councils (of all political persuasions) on proper funding is where the argument is. If voters chose council tax cuts over providing other services, then they can't be surpirsed when there isn;t money for youth clubs - that's democracy, sadly.
Good article , However it isnt just the media Mps ( of all parties) demonize the young people and to be honest its not a new thing , It happened when i was young , The difference is now a lot of young people have acsess to the net .
To be honest if Mps stopped using soundbites that are poorly thought out ( British jobs for British workers ) just to sound popular it would help .
If we had Mps that had gone though the care system and not private school ( all parties) and if we allowed people that had been convicted of crimes , Served there sentence and given a real 2 nd chance then maybe we might just get real people in the house , But at the moment its a closed shop to those who have not been through the crimanl justice and care systems .
However it seems that the goverment ( whoever in power) dictates that people who have done wrong when young should not be allowed as a Mp is wrong .
If we want eqaulity then why are they not any former drug addicts in the house advising on drug policy ? A former Prostiute to advise on prostetution , I know this wont change but unless we let real people into this cosy little club we will keep making the same mistakes .
ricki