Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Politics & Current Affairs => Topic started by: Steve H on August 31, 2023, 04:24:54 PM
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Not quite as appalling as it sounds: it's voluntary service in the community, not military service, for 16-year-olds - they would be signed up automatically, but would be able to opt out, so it is just about voluntary. Much as I hate crediting the Tories with a good idea, this sounds rather like one. Questions are, will they have time to implement it before the next election, do community groups want hordes of teenagers who may not want to be there (despite the possibility of an opt-out) descending on them, and shouldn't they be studying for their GCSEs in their spare time?
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Not quite as appalling as it sounds: it's voluntary service in the community, not military service, for 16-year-olds - they would be signed up automatically, but would be able to opt out, so it is just about voluntary. Much as I hate crediting the Tories with a good idea, this sounds rather like one. Questions are, will they have time to implement it before the next election
No
, do community groups want hordes of teenagers who may not want to be there (despite the possibility of an opt-out) descending on them
I'm guessing but probably not
, and shouldn't they be studying for their GCSEs in their spare time?
Yes and no. Yes they should be studying for GCSE's but not for all of their spare time and they should be allowed some leisure time.
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Not just the Tories ..... https://tinyurl.com/3s2bb5ke
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Not quite as appalling as it sounds: it's voluntary service in the community, not military service, for 16-year-olds - they would be signed up automatically, but would be able to opt out, so it is just about voluntary. Much as I hate crediting the Tories with a good idea, this sounds rather like one. Questions are, will they have time to implement it before the next election, do community groups want hordes of teenagers who may not want to be there (despite the possibility of an opt-out) descending on them, and shouldn't they be studying for their GCSEs in their spare time?
This sounds a bit like a rehash of the National Citizenship Scheme that Cameron launched and heavily promoted.
Fundamentally if this is about community work and allowing 16 year olds to gain skills and experience then I have no issues in principle. But there are a few issue in practice.
First - resourcing. This is cost a load and as others have pointed out for this to work properly the young people will need to be carefully supervised and that will cost the organisations involved time and money. So it will be a cost for most organisations that choose to be involved and they will expect recompense.
There is another issue - it will be challenging to actually make this compulsory. There are many reasons why some 16 years olds simply won't be able to do this, for example caring responsibilities or those who are required by family to work to make household budgets work. Certainly the NCS was voluntary. And here is the nub - those least likely to be able to participate are perhaps those most in need of it - to gain valuable experience, skills and networks. With the NCS realistically it became a jolly for middle class kids (who probably already had these experiences, e.g. through scouts or DofE) to participate in a few weeks of activities paid for from general taxation. As an example my two eldest kids did the NCS, which involved two separate residential week activities, at a cost of just £50.
Of course, if this has any semblance of a militaristic element to it, then I would be implacably opposed on principle.
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It isn't compulsory - well, not quite. Young people will be signed up automatically, but will be able to opt out.
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As someone who's done national service, I can say it's very rewarding. Granted, the reasons why we do it in Finland are different, being for national defence. It's also compulsory.
How this scheme is implemented in the UK, I don't know, but there could be much to gain from it. My experience was positive, at least.
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That's from The Thick of It. when the public think the gvmnt is feeling stale ,you need to announce a new policy that won't cost anything.
Satire isn't dead, it's got better and has briefed a solicitor to send a strong letter to No10 to protect it's copyright ideas.