London riots

[NoYou]

This is the thing col, they do assess you to "ability stream" as you put it, but only the first year you start secondary school. They then decide what "set" your in and that's that's until your GCSE year when they have a bit of a reshuffle. This is also assuming that these disruptive kids are all idiots, which unfortunatly isn't the case! Some of them are very smart but due to a lack of discipline and an emmense boredom throughout their school lives don't have any respect or self control! There were 1 maybe 2 teachers in the whole of my school that could control a class, both of them from an older generation of teachers where discipline wasn't frowned upon and somthing to avoid at all costs. There were also the only teachers who engaged with the class and made the class content interesting and even somtimes enjoyable. When working with these teachers some of the kids who were disruptive and belligerent at other times came through as some of the smartest kids in the class!
Now I'm not saying its all the teachers fault, although you do have to wonder if one teacher can do it, why can the rest?!

[pilninggas]

[/quote]
Merv, with respect I disagree – we (Society) must stop writing these youngsters off and engage with them. We have still not learnt the lessons of the national riots of 1981 (on Thatcher’s watch). You keep referring to the past Labour administration as socialist and left-wing. Labour positioned itself right of centre and abandoned its socialist principles long before the party came to office in 97. Tony Blair has always been an admirer of Mrs T. Who was responsible for introducing the Public Private Partnership (PPP), to fund the building of our schools and hospitals? Who held the reins of power with a massive majority when the gap between the rich and poor widened year after year? I could go on and on, but the fact is that give or take a few minor differences in policies, the Labour and Tory party can both be likened to two peas in a pod.

Perhaps it would be fitting the next time Mr Blair and Mr Cameron attend one of Mr Murdoch’s BQs for all 3 men to end the evening with a rendition of “Land of hopelessness and gory.” :P
[/quote]

I have never wrote kids off, and i don't think it is a case of that happening. Being a practical teacher, in my career i have taught many disengaged kids (boys in particular, many who are already heavily involved in crime/drugs), and have always tried to give them something to take on as a platform for further education or a skilled trade. One lad i taught a few years back was from a single-parent background and was involved in TWOC, he usually arrived late and would either sit and abuse myself and other students or try to procure chisels etc to vandalise stuff or steal for his TWOC'ing. We managed to get him a qualification (he seemed to hate coursework ;D, so it was tough going). Anyway 6 months later i'm in town and he came up to me, shoke my hand and burst into tears. He then apologised and said he realised that it was tough trying to get a job etc. As he had no guidance at home (his mother was on benefits, dad long gone) it needed him to go and see real-life to know this. The great thing for him was he realised it was down to him to show initiative and take repsonsibly for his own success. A year or two ago he won a young apprentice of the year award. He turned it around, no one else, he did demand respect, he learned to command it through his hardwork. Sadly he is a rarity.

The tutor group i had last academic year, were all hardworking and totally adorable 8-), however they often said to me how galling it was that the kids who misbehaved were allowed to go and do special activities or were bribed with sweets by my woolly, lefty colleagues. Really pissed me off, i usually made any extra effort to praise them or do a little buffet as a treat for them at the end of every term.

Even after i graduated, i did some really crappy jobs, i remember having to hand-dig a sewage pipe that had leaked on a building site and getting covered in ****. I did not expect a brilliant job on day 1, i also took responsibility for myself.

As for PPP, or any of these things, a total joke (one thing i dislike about thatcher's socialism), let's build a country on the never-never, d'oh >, still less paid in benefits and we might have some money in the public purse to do it debt free (fat chance now).

[pilninggas]

random double post

[redken1]

Merv, I really enjoy engaging with you in a sensible debate and I apologise if I have offended you with my comments relating to writing off our youngsters. I was referring to society in general and my comments were most certainly not directed at you.

[pilninggas]

Merv, I really enjoy engaging with you in a sensible debate and I apologise if I have offended you with my comments relating to writing off our youngsters. I was referring to society in general and my comments were most certainly not directed at you.

Ken, no bother, it takes a lot more than that to offend me- and in fairness i didn't think you meant i personally write them off. If i did write off any kids at work, i would not be fit to do my job [in fairness i gave-up on one kid in my first year of teaching, when he physically assaulted me, but i think that was a pretty fair reaction] :

I also enjoy the banter...... :P

[wiltshire builders]

Forget all that, did you hear David Starkey on Newsnight?
I get what he meant and kind of agree but bloody hell, don't say it on national tv if you're planning on getting any more work.
As soon as he mentioned Enoch Powell it was game over.

[redken1]

Watched Starkey a few times on the Question Time panel. A touch egotistic like Simon Cowell perhaps? I don't take him too seriously because I think he enjoys being controversial for the sake of it.

[Col]

Forget all that, did you hear David Starkey on Newsnight?
I get what he meant and kind of agree but bloody hell, don't say it on national tv if you're planning on getting any more work.
As soon as he mentioned Enoch Powell it was game over.

Yeah WB I was pmsl !!!! nearly died when he started reading out what the girl had said - innit ;D

p.s. I think , in history, you'll find that Enoch Powell was originally in favour of encouraging immigration to bolster the work force----clearly later on his views changed ;D

p.p.s. Got to admit at least he had the nuts to say it on national tv---plenty just waffle to placate the sensibilities of vocal and ,sadly, influential minorities.

[Maz]

My uncle is a police officer in London and he is normally on the desk! He is quite a big fella...

And he had to go out in riot gear on the streets!

My couzin works in the call centre and before these riots she was due her four day rest needless to say, she wasnt allowed them and had to work over a week of 12 hour shifts....

Its terrible and gives people my age a bad name I an disgusted by it and when I saw the 12 year old boy swearing when he went to court then his mum swearing too, its no wonder why this happens...

This country is too soft!

[billinom8]

no point in sending in the armed forces, it's not like they can use their toys on the scum.

no point in seding in the police as they aren't allowed to use their toys on the scum.

send in the boys with the tranq darts, go round with a container lorry and scoop them all up. dump them on anthrax island and forget about them.

no riots will ever happen again in this country - nuff said.

human rights ? gotta act like one before you earn the rights of one. >