A new phenomena in England and the rest of Europe at least; started in the early sixties and has continued unabated. This is the unleashed power and freedom of the youth. It probably was catalysed by the appearance of rock and roll which gave the youth an opportunity to have their own distinct identity and shake of the shackles of their parents, schools and society in general. It didn't happen all at once of course but happen it certainly did and at a fast pace.
Today we see the results more prominently in our cities but also towns and to a lesser extent villages (the villages have managed to sustain their heritage and control often by virtue of their isolation, lack of work which always sees the youth depart for the city lights)
This new found liberation of youth expressed itself not only in their music but how they socialised and used their environments for their own ends. If that was not a significant shift in social structure along came the waves of immigrants with their own youth. This mix of national youth and immigrant youth often spurned city wars between them from time to time.
So how did this all happen (exluding the immigrant phenomena for a moment). Well the simple answer is that we all let it happen. The judiciary, the politicians, the police, the schools and the parents. We all loosened the controls and slowly bit by bit gave the youth more unfetted freedom.
many older brits yearn for a return to the 'good old days', but that of course is not possible. We are only left with how to fix the current problems and their are no easy solutions. Cities were there is high unemployment, low city funds and ghetto areas are often paralysed not knowing which way out.
Change and improvement in these situations need a concerted effort and drawing on examples of how cities in other countries have overcome similiar problems. Politicians alone cannot bring about this change, we all need to be involved at different levels and start working on it. Neighbourhood committees is one way to start, volunteer organisations that focus on cleaning up the city is an other example that come to mind. However there is still the issue of 'law and order' and there are many in this country that now consider and not without cause that this has become emasculated. This whole area of social control needs to be seriously re-considered on a national level.
The immigrant youth are now a permanent feature of our social landscape and cannot be ignored. They won't go away and we need to consider ways to prevent their social isolation in the cities and towns and how they can encouraged to be better integrated. Ignoring this phenomena will only result in more and more ghettos and more and more bombs
Today we see the results more prominently in our cities but also towns and to a lesser extent villages (the villages have managed to sustain their heritage and control often by virtue of their isolation, lack of work which always sees the youth depart for the city lights)
This new found liberation of youth expressed itself not only in their music but how they socialised and used their environments for their own ends. If that was not a significant shift in social structure along came the waves of immigrants with their own youth. This mix of national youth and immigrant youth often spurned city wars between them from time to time.
So how did this all happen (exluding the immigrant phenomena for a moment). Well the simple answer is that we all let it happen. The judiciary, the politicians, the police, the schools and the parents. We all loosened the controls and slowly bit by bit gave the youth more unfetted freedom.
many older brits yearn for a return to the 'good old days', but that of course is not possible. We are only left with how to fix the current problems and their are no easy solutions. Cities were there is high unemployment, low city funds and ghetto areas are often paralysed not knowing which way out.
Change and improvement in these situations need a concerted effort and drawing on examples of how cities in other countries have overcome similiar problems. Politicians alone cannot bring about this change, we all need to be involved at different levels and start working on it. Neighbourhood committees is one way to start, volunteer organisations that focus on cleaning up the city is an other example that come to mind. However there is still the issue of 'law and order' and there are many in this country that now consider and not without cause that this has become emasculated. This whole area of social control needs to be seriously re-considered on a national level.
The immigrant youth are now a permanent feature of our social landscape and cannot be ignored. They won't go away and we need to consider ways to prevent their social isolation in the cities and towns and how they can encouraged to be better integrated. Ignoring this phenomena will only result in more and more ghettos and more and more bombs
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