It should come as no surprise whatsoever to learn that Nanny's much vaunted Anti Social Behaviour Scheme (ASBO) has become something of a "must have badge of honour" amongst many of the teenagers of Britain.
Although Nanny is totally enamored of her "brilliant" idea, youth workers, some judges and magistrates have serious reservations about ASBOs. They believe that they are being overused, because they require a lower level of evidence than bringing a full prosecution in court.
ASBOs were introduced in 1999, by the end of September 2005 7,356 had been imposed. Breaching an order can lead to a jail term.
Seemingly 49% of ASBOs given to under 18s had been breached, with the majority flouting them on more than one occasion.
One magistrate is quoted as saying in a recent report on ASBOs:
"It's being used as a badge of honour."
Parents and carers of teenagers handed the orders said that they were viewed as a "diploma" and boosted the miscreant's "street cred".
Research conducted by the Policy Research Bureau and the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders quoted one mother with 3 sons:
"Some of the friends are left out now because they are not on an ASBO.
I think they all want one.
It's like a new street cred."
I would have thought that it was bleedin' obvious that this would happen!
The solution to teenage "issues", for want of a better word (I have no intention of following Nanny's reasoning that all teenagers are yobs), is as follows:
- Parents need to take a proactive, hands on role in the lives of their children. Letting children hang out on street corners all day and all night, or stuffing their rooms full of gadgets so as to avoid interacting with them is lazy parenting.
Despite what Nanny's education system is trying to do to the brains of children, children are not stupid; they pick up very quickly that they are not wanted (be it because they are left to hang around on street corners, or because they packed off to numerous after school activities). Children need interaction with their parents and the guidance that only a parent can offer. Those parents who say that this is too hard should ask themselves why they had children in the first place. - Local pubs and clubs should start to offer what was once common place, boxing lessons for youths. These were an effective means of channeling the aggression of a hormone bloated male, and an excellent means of instilling a sense of self discipline and pride.
- Where the above fails, and the teenagers "run amok", put the offenders in the stocks and humiliate them. Nothing curtails a teenager's ego, and dampens his "rumbustuousness", like a bit of humiliation.
Why not just ban kids?
ReplyDeleteThe immediate benefit would be a reduction in the cost of child related allowances and in the medium terms a none existent feeder pipe for juvenile malcontents.
Nanny's plans for getting more women to work would be easier to implement and less expensive if there was no childcare overhead.
Additionally hitting the Kyoto may become a little easier although it would not be certain that the reduction of energy use related to children would be maintained since adults might make use of more energy, via gadgets and travel, with their new found free time and disposable income. However that could all be mopped up by taxes without running the risk of being accused of being anti-family.
There may be some problems around 20 to 30 years down the line when a lack of new workers beomes evident but the savings up to that point should buy plenty of time to offset the problem - and there is always immigration to fall back on.
There could be so many other benefits as well - less need to build unsuitable housing, reduction in water demand, closure of the education debate and the elimination of student, and therefore quite a lot of adult, debt.
If the timing was well planned in the political cycle the 20 year legacy of taxation shortfall, when it eventually bites, could mean enormous difficulties for whoever was in power at the time. If we were to assume an oscillation of approximately 10 year periodicity for which party is nominally in charge of the country one could predict whether the ensuing problems would come home to roost or stitch up the other lot. So a perfect political strategy!
Even the overcrowded jail system problem could be solved by reducing the input feed, thus leaving plenty of space to incarcerate people who leave the windows in their re-cycled envelopes and OAP's (if such a classifaction still exists by then) who are unable to pay their council taxes.