Experts continually ponder over questions including “Has the knife carrying culture only developed over the last few years?” and “Why do so many young people demonstrate such poor communication skills?”
There is evidence that the fast paced development of technology has significantly changed the way in which we all communicate with each other. Young people have been a major driving force behind the many different ways we all use language on a day to day basis.
Many schools report that their pupils struggle to communicate using good english and the written language is going through a formidable transformation.
Anyway before I get on my soap box, let’s get back to the point of this article.
It is 1983, Kajagoogoo were at the top of the UK charts with “Too Shy” and Microsoft Word is launched to the World amongst a frenzy of excited confusion.
As a young person in the late 70’s / early 80’s you did not have the mountain of technology based gadgets kids have today. Facebook did not exist and TV only broadcast very basic programmes for a few hours a day. What’s more i seem to remember there was only three or four channels and not the hundreds available today.
If you were growing up then, you had a valid reason for blurting out the overused outburst of verbal discontent “I’m BORED”
As a result young people would find ingenious ways of keeping themselves amused. Many of these ideas were perfectly legal and had no negative affect on society, however similar to today there were a body of young people that stood on the pathway of trouble.
Having experienced a very difficult childhood i entered my teenage years angry, violent and looking for destructive ways to empty my fuel tank of negative energy.
I remember desperately trying to ascertain relationships with other young people that had a similar outlook on life as me. Whilst we never claimed to be a GANG, the activities we committed our time to and the way in which we conducted ourselves would today get us branded with such a title.
Having the physical build and skills to install fear into other human beings enabled me to quickly establish a reputation for being a THUG. Robbery, Bullying, Mugging and earning money for fighting was a major part of my weekly routine.
At the time, i remember having an unbelievable sense of contentment as the group of people i was hanging around with were expanding rapidly.
Similar to the Punk, Mods and Bikers movement, both my friends at the time and I felt that we were apart of something special.
knives, hammers, sticks and even snooker balls were used when fighting as these tools gave us the required advantage.
So, let’s address a question that continually crops up. “Has youth crime always existed?”
Of course it has...
We all live in a fast moving technological world where events are brought to our ears and eyes in a flash. With this explosion of information being thrown in every direction through hundreds of different mediums it is easy to appreciate that we all get to hear about many more incidents of youth related crime now than we have ever done before.
I was one of the lucky few in my own circle of disturbed and violent group, as by the age of 18 years of age i had met a young lady who transformed my opinion of life and how to live it. Over several years i was taught some valuable life skills including some simple coping strategies for dealing with my anger and the importance of knowing the difference between right and wrong.
Over the last 20 years i have dedicated my life to developing personal safety and life skills development courses for individuals that have either experienced a negative situation or to prepare people to avoid such a situation.
All of this work has accumulated in the development of the “Life Skills for Children” course.
A unique approach to providing simple, practical and realistic essential life skills to young people to increase their:
Personal Safety
Ability to reduce the chance of becoming a victim to BULLYING
Communication Skills
Understanding of the difference between RIGHT & WRONG
I now work regularly with young people that are either on the verge of being permanently excluded from schools or who have been placed within a PRU - Pupil Referral Unit
I use my childhood and teenage experiences to engage with young people and demonstrate that the path to a successful and content life cannot be found with their current mental approach and physical activities.
Education is the key to turning these kids around.
I am conducting an online poll to ascertain a mountain of support to approach government.
I want to make providing our kids with the right life skills a major issue so that we can remove some of the red tape that is so clearly stopping this important education being passed onto the kids that need it.
Please assist me by visiting:
http://www.lifeskillsforchildren.co.uk/Testimonials/OpinionPoll.aspx
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