Interesting article here
This is, indeed, very thought-provoking. I do believe in teenagers taking responsibility and also being aware of consequences. Unlike many other parents, I also believe in them doing a LOT of chores (heh heh). I know that not everyone agrees with me though.
What are your views on this article Bubblegum?
I don't think we should treat chidren like children if you get what I mean, or wrap them up and protect them from the world.
and I think school is crap and just produces nice little conforming sheeple.
: )
It feels to me as if the teachers hands are tied on this one, with all the National Curriculum requirements. It also seems to me that if they want to make things compulsory then a few Life Skills wouldn't go amiss, like how a bank account works and how to change a plug.
From birth, we are expected to conform and even when teenagers reach "that" age and rebel, somehow it feels like another sort of conformity in that they often just want to do what their friends are doing.
Catch 22?
When I was about Seventeen I had gotten drunk and I was sat at the kitchen table in a friends house, large catholic family, very nice and I was explaining to the dad that I was a non conformist, all sort of teenage and full of my self and he pointed out to me that I was mearly conforming to a non conformist group.
!
Made me think : )
Teenage rebellion has been packaged, processed and marketed into an exceptable, sellable, safe product.
Today a colleague and I were discussing how depressing newspapers can be. Everyday there are negative stories about teenagers shooting, stabbing, dying from drugs etc etc etc.
How would it change the public perception of teens if there were double the amount of stories of young people to counteract the negative about them doing good stuff, whether it being volunteering work, heroic acts, ingenious websites, clever tricks...anything. We would be proud of them, they might even become proud of themselves and aspire to more than the boring life of drink, drugs and sitting around playing computer games.
Ok ok, it might be fun every once in a while, I am not trying to take that away from them!
I've only managed to get a couple of articles in the local paper about our Scouts. They're a good bunch too - and I often tell them they're brilliant.
I really dislike the attitude some older people have about young people, they almost seem to square up for a confrontation, and make negative assumptions about them. This runs counter to the "sweet little old lady" stereotype.
I am proud of my two boys, they are no angels. but they and their friends have a lot of good in them and sadly it is the negative things in the news that seem to sell papers, on whatever topic.
People forget that they were once young themselves and fear comes from ignorance and older people don't know nor understand young people, they are just doing more of the same things that we and our peers did when we were young. Young people have been partying and rebelling and getting on the nerves of their elders since the dawn of time.
In my village there is a bridge and all the kids, teenagers and there about hang out there and yes there is some alcohol, but never trouble, I've walked past and through them many at time on the way to the shops and they have always been nothing but polite and said hello, a'right mate or asked for a light or a fag (I don't smoke)
But they have been recently moved along because of complaints and I was reading on a local site someone suggesting that there should be a youth club or something and I thought how out of touch is that? these kids don't want to go and sit in a room where they can't do what they want and have to abide by yet more rules set out for them by adults.
Now they are just going to congregate some place else out of sight, that's all. And in fact, I don't know if it is related but just the other day 22 squadron were called out to get some drunk teenage girls off the mountains behind us.
Thanks bubblegum, thats an interesting take on things. I agree that we shelter our children far too much from an early age right up to when they leave home and after.
I 100% agree with what they are saying about schools too, from 12 onwards our children should be learning stuff that they are interested in and if they are not interested in learning they should be in the workforce learning a skill.
For me I think secondary school was a complete waste of mine and everyone else's time! I would have been much better off doing what I wanted to do and earning some cash! Then maybe I would have reapproached education when I hit 18 and realised I wanted to get more out of life!
How about you?