2011-08-17

Bad Parenting Damages For Life

There has been a lot of debate in the past week over the state of the nation’s younger generation. Following some of the worst riots in recent memory up and down the country, I have to say that blaming the kids is the silliest thing I’ve heard so far. With David Cameron and the coalition hell bent on making ‘all looters pay’ by placing them in orange jumpsuits, it seems that the real causes of the issue have yet to be addressed.

I have listened to many different opinions and reports from both political and public commentators on what the causes of the riots were. I have also listened to the statements of many parents whose children were involved. One thing is chiming through loud and clear: no one knows what caused the riots. Social Media has been blamed, but that was merely a tool groups and gangs used to incite trouble – just like gangs did twenty years ago on the streets of Brixton. The tools have changed and have enabled much quicker organisation, but the methods are still the same. It is ridiculous to blame Facebook and Instant Messenger.

The children involved were pulled into this because of several possible factors.

1. They were not sufficiently monitored by their parents

2. Their parents did not care enough to know where their children were during the trouble

3. Like all children, some simply went with the flow and got caught up in something they shouldn’t have – let’s face it, it has happened to all of us at one time or another

Labelling the children involved as coming from poorer families is also not true. Many children involved came from middle class families. I have spoken with many children over the years during my time as a mother and grandmother. In the past ten years there has been a tendency from many parents to give their children a wad of cash everyday and instruct them not to return home until 9pm at the earliest. Indeed a friend of mine who is a teacher at an outer London school can easily quote 55-60% of pupils as having parents who regularly give their child cash and order them not to return home until late. With this kind of attitude prevalent amongst sections of our society, is it any wonder that we see kids running amok in the streets?

We need to be inspiring our children. We need to care about them. Parents need to take an active interest in what their child is doing. With the NHS and other emergency services struggling to encourage school students to work for them, it is a bad sign of the times. Registered mental nurse jobs, doctors, police officers, fire officers and more are all in danger of becoming extinct within two generations if we do not sort our children out.

Bad parenting causes more problems then any government or teacher. Learning begins at home and if we are to have any hope of connecting with the youth of today, then we need to take a long hard look at the parents of today.

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