stella41b
Posts: 4258
Joined: 10/16/2007
From: SW London (UK)
Status: offline
|
I stand by my opinions previously..
Politesub53, I wasn't generalizing but seeing what I see going on around me. Yes, I agree that the British are charitable, and not only, this is a very open, tolerant, accommodating society we live in.
Do we need to go into the debate over Thatcher again? Okay, let's call it 'yuppie culture' the profit at all costs, even if it means stabbing people in the back and all this preoccupation with image and consumer goods. Unfortunately this way of thinking is still prevalent among people, especially in the media and government, but you will probably find that people have moved on.
I still say one of the major reasons for this 'yob culture' is the lack of definite English culture. We have always had yobs, right from the 1950's and 1960's and anti-social behaviour among young people, doesn't matter whether it was the mods and rockers, soccer hooligans, but there was a stronger sense of community before, there were cultures and subcultures and it was always a sort of right of passage especially for young people to rebel and test authority - but not like it is today. Today there's no sense of community and this is the point I was trying to make. Without that sense of community all the peer pressure and social pressure not to overstep the boundaries has gone.
Now like before you can blame parents or you can blame teachers, but I strongly feel that the media itself needs to take some of the responsibility for this yob culture - we've got this dominant 'celebrity culture' and wherever you look you've got gossip columnists reporting on the excesses of these so-called celebrities, half of whom I for one can't figure out how or why they became famous and what is it that they're reporting? It's not who's doing what but it's rather who's been sleeping with who, who's been at which party, taking what drugs, who's wearing what clothes, and you know, there's a lot of young people out there who take notice of this, and it in my opinion sends out the wrong message. These are the role models that our society has for young people, this is the message our media is giving out, and therefore it's not really surprising to me that we have yob culture the way it is at the moment.
This isn't anything new by the way.. wasn't it The Who who were smashing up instruments on stage in the 1960's, and you can go through a whole load of deaths in the 1960's which were drug related - Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Bruce, Jim Morrison, and so on. But the reasons behind this drug culture was different, it was part of the music scene, and some decent music came out of it. Music that people still listen to and remember.
I wouldn't want to see judicial corporal punishment introduced into this country, it's only traditional in my opinion for countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and there's a great move away from these barbaric forms of punishment, which is a good thing. Even the United States is moving away from the death penalty and so far this year there have only been a handful of executions scheduled, most of which have been stayed. Prison isn't a solution because our prisons are already full to overflowing and we send more people to prison than any other European Union member state. We've even got remand prisoners being held in police cells. I also don't agree with National Service, as we have 'career' armed forces of which only the very best young people in this country can get into, and you think people are going to accept yobs going into our armed forces? They don't have the resources or the manpower to deal with such people. Let us not forget that apart from their peacekeeping role our armed forces are very active within the European Union training the new German armed forces and the Polish armed forces together with the Dutch and US armed forces and this also costs money.
So okay, you're the Home Secretary - what do you do? If you introduce corporal punishment you're going to have all the human rights organisations come down on you, and also face condemnation from the European Union which I do believe outlaws the introduction of such barbaric punishments, they won't even allow the death penalty which Bulgaria had to abolish and which has caused a moratorium in the Ukraine, which is hoping to join the European Union along with Turkey in the not too distant future. Tougher prison sentences? Where? Try and find a prison with spare beds first.
I am actually in agreement here with most people, we do need to tackle the problem and we need to get tough. I would propose chain gangs, labour camps and much stiffer fines and I think the Polish idea of removing all public rights is a good idea - a period where you are not allowed to vote and have no recourse to public funds, no benefits, no NHS unless for emergency treatment, nothing, you're on your own. I would even go so far as to suggest involuntary insolvency, too bad if they've got a mortgage or are paying for things on credit. Might make some of them think and learn respect for others pretty damn quick.
Oh and by the way seeks I'm not demanding public funding for my artistic work. I develop a project and then get funding for it, it's a bit like business, and at the moment I'm developing a project on Broadwater Farm, which is also the other solution I am suggesting. Yob culture is just one of the social issues I'm working against in my work. So far my theatre doesn't receive any funding, it's purely bums on seats, why not come down and see for yourself?
This project I'm developing is to work with young adults in a deprived area of London, and it's a bit like National Service. There isn't anything like 'celebrity culture' anywhere near my projects, just workshops, training and quite a lot of hard work. I don't drink and I don't use drugs, and I don't tolerate it on any of my projects, nor do I tolerate any sort of anti-social behaviour. Young people have a need to be valued, recognized, they want their 15 minutes of fame like everyone else, and this is what I offer but it comes at a price - they get the training and workshops, they have to do the work, and they have to work hard, they also have to face up to their issues, learn to interact with other people on the workshops, find better ways of expressing themselves and learn self-discipline. One whiff of weed or alcohol and they're out the door and they don't come back. I've been doing these workshops for the past year or so with the homeless, hardened crack addicts, ex-offenders, prostitutes, alcoholics, and they've been very successful. From the group of 14 people I was working with including four on crack and five with drink problems only one still has a drink problem, and twelve have been resettled and eleven are either in full time employment or full time education. This was achieved in a six month period, this is what I do, and this is why I get funding. The funding I get, I can assure you, isn't a lot, but it enables me to deliver results.
It's what's becoming known as TIC - theatre in the community - and this is also why I advocate the setting up of such projects for these "yobs" - to give them meaningful occupation and get them to work towards something which they can be a part of and be proud of being involved in. Setting up such projects may require a little funding, but it costs the taxpayer far less than building new prisons, far less than National Service, and I guess you'll agree it's rather more civilized and effective than birching these yobs. Violence only begets violence, and you won't change the behaviour of these people unless you change their attitudes and mindset. Discipline is extremely important in theatre, just as important as it is in the military, these people receive the same training as drama students but its much more intense, peer pressure is intense, and they have to meet the challenge of finding positive, creative ways of expressing themselves and working with others.
And you never know, if more of these projects were set up in both culture and sport we might end up with decent music to listen to, a decent football team, rugby team, cricket team, and there might be something actually worth watching on television.
_____________________________
CM's Resident Lyricist
also Facebook
http://stella.baker.tripod.com/
50NZpoints
Q2
Simply Q
|
RE: Yob culture. - 
Profile
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread