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Society - those denying there’s a problem are condemning young people to poverty
Posted by Simon Cooke (@simonmagus)
Friday, 22nd January 2010
In the last two days the Conservative Party has launched two key planks of its proposed platform for government – a set of policies on education and a response to the challenge presented by the “broken society”. Now I don’t propose to enter into the endlessly circular debate about either of these proposals – for my part I am a big supporter of the education proposals (although the proposed entry qualification restrictions seem rather daft) as they will begin to challenge the biggest barrier to social mobility, achievement and equality: our monolithic, producer-controlled, ineffective and expensive education system. And those denying that parts of our society are "broken" are, to me, wandering around with their eyes shut and their fingers in their ears.
The connection between the two policies is, to me plain and stark. Our deprived communities and especially young people in these communities have become either feared terrors of the streets, objects of ridicule or exhibits in an endless round of voyeuristic media exposure. When I hear Labour apologists saying that our society is fine and hunky dory, nothing wrong, nothing broken, I want to take them to see the dysfunctional, drug or drink-addled, often mentally ill young people who are the products of our failed system of education, welfare and social care. These young people are victims of official neglect and systemic failure – there can be no excuse or explanation for this that does not acknowledge how we as a society have failed them.
Instead, what do we do? We watch TV programmes that turn folk’s chaotic and dysfunction lives into a voyeuristic TV show. We create disparaging stereotypes about “chavs” and “pikeys”. And we find new targets to blame every day – violent video games, binge drinking, relaxed licensing laws, not going to church enough – an endless stream of distractions and blind alleys leading us away from the truth.
And what is that truth?
* We have a welfare system that rewards and incentivises dysfunctional behaviour – remember the ad with the woman being warned about not telling the authorities about her new live-in boyfriend? She stays a single mum because it pays better than being a couple. This is but one example of a system that rewards idleness, discourages work and encourages family breakdown. Our benefits system exists as it does because we’ve chosen to fund it – to pay, directly or indirectly, around 1 in 5 of the working age population to sit around doing not very much. I don’t think we can afford to do this any more and it’s this that the Conservative’s ‘broken society’ ideas are aimed at.
* We have an education system that fails too many young people – it’s not just the dumbed down exams or the complacency of the education elite that annoys me. It is that they seem not to care one jot for the quarter of young people who get almost no qualification at 16. Young people who are slung out of schools onto the “Connexions” system (you have to worry about a Government programme that can’t even spell) most of whom are fated to a dreary, depressing existence on make-work programmes. It’s perhaps not so much of a surprise that many turn to drink, drugs or crime to provide a little excitement. In these young people's world drinking, smoking and sex provide cheap entertainment – a break from the dispiriting reality of poverty. We surely can’t justify this any more – and allowing schools to be free from bureaucratic direction and for parents, teachers and charities to set up new schools is a great opportunity to transform the chances for young people in poor communities.
All this may not work. But we can’t carry on with the same, centralised, complacent, bureaucratic and – despite all the cash – failing systems we have today. Labour used to get this - to understand the aspirations of working class kids. Today, as the official party of the public sector bureaucrat is merely understands how to protect its own interests.
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- The Theory of Competitive Government
- How Labour failed working people (the short version)
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