Results tagged “youth” from Birmingham Mail - Veron Graham

I don't know about you, I've had enough of all the talk about what's gone wrong with society.

The latest thing is knife crime, sparked by disaffected youth and the breakdown of family and community.

If the ranting stopped for a while and we take a look at what the government, law enforcement agencies and media have permitted and even rated over the last 20 or so years, the answer is plain to see.

The school day began and ended with prayer, assemblies included hymns and we said grace before our school dinners. There were morals shaped by Christianity that guided what went on in and around the schools. We studied the religions of the world - along with our equally young Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist classmates without anyone having a problem with political correctness.

Then they threw out the morals guided by Christian faith that kept people in check outside of the schools too - i.e. it gradually became acceptable and then downright cool to sleep around and get wasted on alcohol, weird 'smarties' or cigarettes with no writing on the side.

You see what's happened when these morals are put to one side?

How many of our youngsters were born to parents that were not prepared for them? How many parents are raising up - or should that be 'dragging up? - children who haven't got a clue or even real interest in doing it properly?

For anything to work well, it needs rules. If you let your cute little kitten or puppy grow up without structure, that animal will grow up to make your life a misery. Now we have generations of young people, who through no fault of their own, are growing up without proper guidance, neither from parents who are largely allowed to what they like and a society that celebrates or turns a blind eye to behaviour that may give a temporary high but has serious consequences.

If Gordon Brown and the rest of the 'rent-a-quote' politicians want to really turn society around, why don't they use their supposed intellect and make real change? Oh, I know why - because there may not be enough votes in it.

Don't ask dumb questions if you don't really want to find the answers.

Give the respect back to Christian faith - don't ignore common sense because it comes from Christians. Think about it, we've tried it the secular way and look what has happened.

Do you agree?

How many times have you heard or seen a youngster that isn't doing well in education? One who doesn't want to work too hard or too long to succeed? Or, in line with current trends, is banking on starring in a reality show which will fast-track them to fame and fortune.

Well, these attitudes do not apply to all young people and I'm a great believer in giving credit where it is due.

A few months ago I was asked to give some help and advice to an aspiring media professional by her older relative - a request that has been made of me on many occassions. However this time, I was not approached half-heartedly by someone looking for the quickest way into the business with the least amount of effort or who froze at the thought of hard work, as has happened in say 70% of cases. Sephrah Anderson (pictured) has helped restore my floundering faith in our young people.

Sephrah spent several days working with me and showed an ambition and thirst for knowledge that I haven't seen for a long time! She brought with her a timely reminder that, despite the many of the negative stories we come across, there is hope for the future.

Now - enough of the warm sentimentality!

I, like many of you, didn't have anyone around who was capable of giving me much professional guidance. Nowadays, most of us either know someone in the legal profession, education, social work, IT, law enforcement, health care, media, etc or at least knows someone who knows someone who does. That means all of us can either do something to help steer the youth on their way or link them up with someone who can.

I for one am tired of the excuses made for the lack of progression and ambition amongst some of our youth. None of us can help all the youngsters coming through but we can each do something. Not being able to totally remove a problem is not an excuse for not doing anything about it.

To borrow from a line from Janet Jackson, what have you done for youth lately?