Children will be left to roam the streets of Rose Hill if the estate’s youth service is hit by council cuts, a resident who grew up with the service has warned.
So..? Is that a reason to avoid any cuts? Are ‘the chiiiillllreeeeen!’ now a bulletproof human shield?
Ryan Weller, 20, fears changes to The Oval by Oxfordshire County Council will hit the services on offer to youngsters.
The authority is planning to turn the facility into a “satellite” centre as part of changes that will see a further 22 centres lose all authority funding.
The centre will offer more services, the council said, with extra help for children experiencing issues such as school absence and teenage pregnancy.
So, they are actually
improving the service? What’s the problem, then?
But Mr Weller, who visited the club daily through his teenage years, is worried this will shift focus away from other types of youth work.
He said: “If the club is not open every day we are going to have kids on the street, bored, entertaining themselves.
“There will be problems.”
I’m sick and tired of boredom being advanced as an excuse for, and inevitable cause of, anti-social behaviour.
Oxford city councillor for Rose Hill Ed Turner said: “The bottom line is if cuts to staffing and hours go ahead, local young people in this area of Oxford will really suffer.
“They will not be able to build up the same sort of relationships with youth workers as is the case now, and I am certain that incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour will rise.”
If children are forming ‘relationships’ with youth workers, rather than with their parents, then it’s a sign that something’s gone badly wrong. Papering over the cracks with more facilities and activities is not the answer.
“If the club is not open every day we are going to have kids on the street, bored, entertaining themselves."
ReplyDeleteThat sounds exactly like my childhood. I usually found something to do didn't tend to involve graffiti or violence either.
So what's the big deal here? As usual, this has nothing to do with the cheeldren, and everything to do with job protection.
Because of the lack of a local youth center, i was forced onto the streets.
ReplyDeleteI rode my bike alot because of this, and one accident caused a scar on my knee.
If lack of goverment provided social activity is to blame for youth trouble, can I sue them for my injury?
Deprivation in Oxfordshire? Is that when there isn't a Waitrose in your postcode?
ReplyDelete"Are ‘the chiiiillllreeeeen!’ now a bulletproof human shield?"
ReplyDeleteThey weren't when Saddam tried it. Or Gaddaffi, come to think of it...
Timdog is right, of course. I rode my bike and played football too. Now, was that entertaining ourselves?
ReplyDeleteThe issue is in the upbringing of today's kids and of the PCism of those who try to then regulate the result.
'...extra help for children experiencing issues such as [...] teenage pregnancy.'
ReplyDeleteIt's not so long since this council was advertising the post of 'Teenage Pregnancy Coordinator' - a job description that caused much baffled head-scratching in the Tavern.
Maybe end Child creation rewards and this problem will solve itself (or at least diminish).
ReplyDelete"That sounds exactly like my childhood. I usually found something to do didn't tend to involve graffiti or violence either."
ReplyDeleteDitto!
"If lack of goverment provided social activity is to blame for youth trouble, can I sue them for my injury?"
I wouldn't be at all surprised to find you could! :)
"It's not so long since this council was advertising the post of 'Teenage Pregnancy Coordinator' - a job description that caused much baffled head-scratching in the Tavern."
Accurate job-title FAIL!
"Maybe end Child creation rewards and this problem will solve itself (or at least diminish)."
Indeed. But there's no sign of that happening yet.