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In the aftermath of the devastation that occurred in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and many other cities across England, much of the focus has been about modifying the police force so that we are better prepared to tackle such problems in the future. However, something that the Archbishop of York said on last week’s special edition of Question Time particularly resonated with me; “if you have a leak in your house, it’s no good getting a mop and mopping up the water, you have to find the leak and sort that out to cut out future problems.” Once the dust has settled and the criminals involved in the riots have been appropriately brought to justice, then parliament needs to take a long look at the bigger social problems in Britain and how we can start to sort them out.
I believe that one of the biggest problems that Britain faces is our education system. In this country we have an education system that only rewards those who are academically capable, which is a big issue. We are so focused on grades and statistics that sometimes we forget about the bigger picture.
Does it really matter if everyone in the country doesn’t get five A*-C grades at GCSE? Of course not, because it isn’t a realistic expectation of society.
In Sheffield, the city where I am from, schools are constantly fighting a losing battle to try and get young people to stay in education. There are several schools in the city where less than 20% of people leave with less than five A*-C grades at GCSE. However, many of these students will have become disenfranchised with the system much earlier in their education, perhaps when they fail their Y2 or Y6 SATS exams. Unfortunately we live in an age where letters on pieces of paper are the only keys to unlocking opportunities in the future, and I believe that the social underclass of people who Britain saw looting, rioting and community wrecking feel that they have no hope, no chance, no future, and that is why they felt that they had nothing to lose by committing crimes.
I would bet good money that many of the young people involved in last week’s riots have already been pushed out of the education system, even those who were as young as ten or eleven years old. Now, I’m not saying that gives them a valid excuse to go out and smash shops and communities to pieces because it doesn’t. Criminals are criminals, simple as that. However, nobody is born as a criminal, and therefore part of the social rebuilding that has to take place must look at how we can provide opportunities to those people who don’t achieve good grades at school.
We need to allow the next generation to feel that they have something to aspire to in the future. Rather than making cuts to schools’ budgets, we need to change our approach to how schools work. The possibility of allowing young people to enter work based training programmes at 14 or 15 years old is one that I am personally in favour of, anything to teach new skills to people who feel they have nothing to offer academically.
The problems caused by the recent riots cannot be solved with the click of a politician’s finger. It will take years of work both inside communities and from parliament in order to ensure that the next generation don’t fall victims to the same social problems that have caused the recent trouble.
Perhaps a new approach to education could help pave the way to a better future for young people, families and communities in Britain.
good article 
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