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September 16, 2005
Rights and responsibility
This morning I had the dubious pleasure, on the way to work, of listening to our Illustrious Leader proclaiming that his Home Secretary's new laws on terrorism will not erode our "civil liberties" to any significant degree. He further claims that the average British Citizen (actually I beieved that we were "Subjects") recognised that our "Rights" came with "Responsibilities". Well, that would certainly be news to some of my current crop of neighbours and their uncontrolled and rupgnant offspring.
He went further and suggested that anyone coming to Britain in future, would have to "live by our rules". Really? And which "rules" would those be Mr Blair? The one's that criminalise parents for controlling children firmly? The one's that criminalise debate on religion if it criticises Islam? The one's that allow out of control youths to terrorise elderly folk and destroy and damage everyone else's property? Or did he mean that he and his cohorts have at last realised that their 1960's "free love" ideology has been a dismal failure and created a broken, disenchanted and seriously (possibly terminally!) damaged society?
As an example of what I mean, this last week has been a bit of a nightmare for the residents around my home. A gang of youths, male and female - aged at a guess between 14 and 17 - have taken up residence in the local park. The congregate in large numbers and then migrate to sit on street corners near my home and hold shrieking and shouting competitions with other groups. They consume alcoholic drinks without attempting to conceal it and the stench of marijuana is all pervasive. The language is unbelievable and seems to consist of not more than five words, most of them referred to as "Anglo-Saxon" and regularly involve fights and scuffles. Fences have been torn down, hedges attacked and damaged and the police are all but powerless to stop it.
Last Friday night, there was what can only be described as a riot in the street outside and despite three police cars attending, all that happened was that the parents arrived and joined the fight!
This morning a prime example of the mental attitude of these kids was visible for all to see. An expensive child's bicycle, thrown down in the gutter and abandoned apparently because the chain had jumped the gears and it could not now be ridden. I have seen the boy who owns this bike and know that he is from a "deprived" family - so what exactly is his mindset when he simply throws away something as expensive as this? (My own children had to make do with second hand bicycles I had painstakingly rebuilt for them from scrap, so this one makes my blood boil.) Is this a part of the modern British Socialist mindset which seems to promote the "everyone owes me" culture? I rather think it is. These children have grown up without any guidance in acceptable behaviour, their "heroes" are not men of discipline, they are people like the Man U footballer whose outbursts on the field should have had him barred for life! Yet these are the "role models" the kids are being taught to look up to - people who cannot control their tempers, recognise no codes of behaviour other than their "I want it, I'll have it" ethos.
Mr Blair and his sycophants frequently blame the parents of these children, and there is certainly an element of blame that belongs there. But it is encouraged by the fact that we now have armies of social workers all eager to interfere in family life, all eager to promote childrens "rights" and to deny that those rights bring responsibilities. No one has the "right" to disrupt or destroy anyone else's "right" to enjoyment of their home, property or lifestyle, yet that is precisely what Blair and his friends have done, created a society in which the out of control and frankly criminal have all the rights and everyone else is a hostage to their right to be indifferent to anything but their own wants.
Really, the problem is a very difficult one. It will not be solved by ASBO's or even more legislation restricting parental control. The root of the problem is that we now have two generations of "citizens" who do not have the slightest understanding of "self discipline" or who accept the consequences for their actions. They simply do not accept that destroying someone else's property has a consequence for the owner. You constantly hear "the insurance will pay for it!" or, "I don't care - it's only a .....!" This is the same mindset that tortures other children by merciless teasing and bullying while the social workers, teachers and parents all look the other way. It's frankly "too hard" to deal with, so they shirk the responsibility.
Yet another symptom of this is the "happy slapping" craze. Again there is no acceptance of the consequences, the perpetrators frankly, do not care. Yet, you can be very sure that they do fully understand exactly the hurt, the damage and the harm they are causing, precisely because they set out to do it - because it gives them a thrill! Worse, they often excuse their actions by saying the victim "deserved it!" The only way they will ever learn the consequences of their actions is if someone did the same to them - unlikely, and certainly not desirable, yet, what alternative is there? Even sending them to a young offenders institution seems to have become a "badge of honour" in that it shows you are "hard".
Even more laughable is the latest fad among the legal profession, social workers and youth workers of making the perpetrators "apologise" to their victims. Having been a witness to a couple of these I can tell you that I had the overwhelming desire to drag the little *£%*@$* out of the room and string him up as a public warning - and then go back and do the same with the social worker and the lawyer! The sheer insincerity for the "apology" and the unctious attitudes of the Magistrate, Social Worker and Lawyer with this yob who patently did not mean a word said on his behalf made me so angry I had to bite my tongue and grip the armrests on the chair so hard I broke one. I also drew blood from my tongue. The little creep knew exactly what he had done and how much pain he had caused - yet the "officers of the law" aided and abetted in letting him flaunt his arrogance and get a way with it.
The root of the problem in our society is that no one is willing to admit that there is a large section of our society - mainly under 40's - who do not recognise that "rights" bring "responsibilities". This is where Blair and politicians of all parties have it completely wrong! The new laws will help to restrict the freedom of terrorists to act, to recruit and to escape the consequences of attacking the British public, what they will not do, is reduce the fertile ground for recruiting from among this dissaffected, over protected and over privileged youth culture who see it as a challenge and as fun to be disruptive, destructive and frankly murderous.
If we want to change this pattern we need to address both the issues of integration and to address the consequences issue. For far too long we have allowed those who carry out "happy slapping" attacks - or stand back and "enjoy" them - to escape the consequences and penalties of their actions. These kids DO know what they are doing and they DO know the consequences. It is time they were made to accept those consequences. It is time they learned that you simply cannot throw away something and expect to get another - even if it is by theft.
It is time that those who promote separation of cultures (Multiculturalism) and "rights" were made to face the results of their creation. Blair's response with draconian laws is interesting - especially in the light of his opposition to much milder laws in the time when the IRA were running around bombing us. Perhaps he too, has learned that our society needs discipline and needs to know who it is, what it is and where it is going.
Perhaps this new legislation will focus some minds on the rest of the problem. And perhaps I am the Cardinal Archbishop of the Church of Latter Day Cynics.
Somehow I doubt that this government or any other in this country will address the real issues at the root of the rising problem with anti-social and anti-cultural behaviour - it is simply never punished. None of those involved are ever made to pay the price for their actions, even where it has led the victims to commit suicide. Come on Mr Blair, let's bring in a manslaughter charge associated with "happy slapping" and let's make those who film such attacks on their mobile phones, "accessories to the assault".
That will make a start on dealing with anti-social behaviour and in teaching responsibility.
Posted by The Gray Monk at September 16, 2005 11:19 AM
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Comments
What a rant! As an ex-teacher with 15 years' experience of teaching in secondary schools, I simply don't recognise your portrayal of teachers "looking the other way." In my experience, teachers go out of their way to mitigate the effects of poor or non-existent parenting, but are often unable to make much of an impact because the children you write about are very often serial truants, and are simply not at school.
The "happy slapping" craze is deeply disturbing, and perpetrators deserve the full rigour of the law - but I don't see how you can charge someone with manslaughter unless someone is killed. If someone *is* killed, then the present laws are sufficient. Prosecuting the bystanders would already be possible under several exisiting laws.
You seem to be advocating an old testament style "eye for an eye" approach. As someone wiser than me said, if we did that, we'd all end up blind and toothless.
Posted by: Rob at September 17, 2005 12:09 PM
This is all so true and so sad for our society! I think that much of the problem may stem from the permissive society of the sixties when it was okay to have several children out of wedlock with as many fathers! Also, the number of failed marriages these days means that there is an increasing number of one-parent familes in addition to many 'normal' families with two working career parents who dump offspring with numerous 'carers'. The modern trend of deferring motherhood until the late thirties also means fewer fit grandparents around to help out. The inevitable result is that many children are left to their own devices with no parental control or no effective role model to learn how to interact in society. Gone are the days when marriage was for life and mother stayed home to look after the children!
I also believe that another cause in the breakdown in normal family life is due to the influence of television. Many children no longer learn how to sit at a table and use a knife and fork. The family meal as a social occasion to exchange conversation is fast becoming a thing of the past in favour of the one-way digital baby-sitter!
Sadly, it seems that children whose sole real interaction is with other infantile minds will turn to violence. The rules imposed on us from Brussels have made the rare (and mild) chastisment which used to be meted out by Headmasters illegal. Children and some of their parents now mock society and discipline in general. With each successive generation, this problem escalates. We need to give police and educational establishments more power to discipline youngsters and we need to educate our society that it is the duty and responsibility of parents to impart normal behaviour and values to their own children.
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Posted by: Tessa at September 17, 2005 06:13 PM
Rob, I regret to say that my own children's experience of being bullied, sometimes right in front of a teacher, doesn't bear out the efforts many teachers put in either. On one occassion my daughter's bicycle was vandalised in front of her and when a teacher was finally made aware of what was happening, she simply told the vandals "not to be so vindictive" - in my view a clear reneging of authority. Also, a week of being woken at ungodly hours of the morning by raucous and frankly appalling behaviour certainly has not improved my mood as wrote this piece, or since. Check the Gloucester Echo for an example of the sort of behaviour going on around here which the police seem entirely powerless to deal with.
Some teachers, I know, do what they can, but find themselves restricted by stupid laws which are supposed to "protect" children and are in fact now abused by these out of control elements. In my school days it was common practice, when a teacher discovered bullying, to march the bully into the gym, the victim was then invited to pick a champion or defend himself in a boxing ring. Three rounds usually solved the problem - the bully learned very quickly that it wasn't worth it and the victim knew that bullying was not tolerated. Simplistic it may have been, but it worked. We very rarely had bullies going around our school.
The real root of the problem, as identified by Tessa and Rob, is that the parents have disengaged from controlling their kids. Again, this is in part due to the stupidity of the legal system which sets an army of barmy social workers after parents who try to teach their kids the penalties for unacceptable conduct, but it is also, I believe, the product of the parents own lack of understanding of their responsibilities to society. As Tessa says, the original problem is now compounded and getting worse with each successive generation. It is easy to blame Brussells for this situation, but in fact it is our own Civil Service and the legions of "child protection" agencies now thronging the corridors of Whitehall, who are primarily responsible for the legislation we suffer from.
The sixties "free love" brigade have a hell of a lot to answer for in my view!
Posted by: The Gray Monk at September 18, 2005 09:24 PM