Rent-Seeking On A Grand Scale…

Steph Taylor (Engage in Education National Programme Manager for Catch22) touts for business in CiF:

Although you acknowledge that "those arrested mainly came from deprived areas and had the poorest educational backgrounds", in my view the one statistic we should all be concerned about is that "one-third had been excluded from school in the past year".

Which means that two-thirds hadn’t, doesn’t it?

Ah, but you don’t get paid to worry about those, do you?

Other statistics have shown that 40% of UK prisoners have been temporarily or permanently excluded from school.

So, 60% haven’t?

These facts are no surprise to those of us who work to help struggling teenagers on a daily basis.

They are no surprise to me either, albeit for vastly different reasons…

It is clear that education is key. But putting the focus on education does not mean stretching our overcrowded schools and overworked teachers even further. What is needed to keep our children in school is the right level of support from those with expertise in dealing with challenging young people and getting them on the right track.

And those who aren’t ‘challenging’? Those who might benefit from some extra help?

They will just have to struggle on regardless, hoping not to be too disturbed by little Wayne’s behaviour, because god forbid he be asked to leave the class...

Exclusion is not the answer: struggling teenagers need one-to-one face-time with people who are genuinely able to help.

Fine. But do it elsewhere, and don’t disrupt everyone else’s education for the sake of your ‘difficult’ charge, eh?

And, as Bucko points out, isn't it time the charities who are actually making a living out of a situation weren't allowed to 'raise awareness' of it with impunity and without question?