General Chat

Det,

I absolutely agree with you re the school attendance BUT I've have watched many TV documentaries highlighting the problems in deprived areas where kids are to be seen just hanging around all day instead of being in school.

When the parents are interviewed many state that they can't make their children go to school or what's the point of them going to school when they aren't any jobs for them when they leave. Beggars belief!! I thought that no matter what you had achieved you want more for your children.

Do truancy officers have any powers? If they do why aren't they using them? They seem to be letting the children down by not enforcing attendance somehow. What the 'somehow' is I have no idea. Perhaps other GR members who have children aged between 11 and 17 can answer.

Nooooo...Det, you mean I might have to give up one of my Aston Martin' :-0

I have become accustomed to driving a different colour, each day of the week.

Whatever will the neighbours think


This is gonna be hard :-S

Truancy officers are possible called Welfare Officers now, and work with the families to get the child back into school. Newspaper reports in the past have stated that the parents in the worst cases have been taken to Court and fined.

A number of Schools/Academies now run non-academic courses for year 10 (14-15 year olds) upwards, sometimes on the premises, sometimes as day-release to the ex Technical colleges.

Unfortunately, many of those male orientated courses are connected to the Building trade, but if there are no houses being built? And as a nation, do we really need 1000’s more ‘ealth and beauty trainees, which is a frequent choice for girls? At least those who successfully complete the course have something relevant to put on their CV.

The World’s economy as we know it is going down the pan. Come the revolution!

Gins, you’ll have to get a sticker ‘My other car is a beaten up fiat’ :-D

I'm self employed and have recently taken on a young man to help me. J is 27 and has a degree from Cambridge in Maths. He's also Autistic and has struggled to find employment ...so this is his first job. I'll be quite honest, I had my reservations about taking him on..... but am so glad that I gave him a chance. He's absolutely fantastic..... an absolute whizz at what he does and a very loyal and reliable employee. So if you are an employer, please be open minded about 'who' you take on :-)

I am angry at our goverment .my Eldest worked from leaving school .& enjoyed his work .unfortunately he was made redundant at 40yrs of age .he has done courses many i may say .no work as yet 4yrs down the line .he has had a nervous breakdown .contamplated suicide ..you couldnt wish to meet a more lovely bloke .kind, caring .why wont anyone give him a chance to rebuild his life .his neighbours dont speak to him .he wont get his meds sometimes .he says he shouldnt get free meds .he paid into the system long enough.a lot are not scroungers .they want honest work for a decent wage .wish my son could get a job & his self worth back he deserves it .Barbra

I have been involved in adult training for almost thirty years. I was a director of a training company and have seen many Government training schemes come and go. Whilst I obviously believe there are massive benefits to training (e.g. the old Apprentice scheme many of us grew up with) but much of the training, (and I am not saying all of the training) is designed just get people into work situations to fudge unemployment statistics; and unfortunately not all training placements can offer jobs at the end of the training, I have seen unemployed people of all ages go from one scheme to another; eventually they are so fed up, they become filled with disillusionment and disinterest. What the Government really need to do is to start to invest in REAL JOBS paying decent wages then perhaps those who are not working will feel more empowered and part of our society.

Eldrick. I totally agree with your statement " The UK needs to invest and promote science and technology and not until school leavers aspire to excel in these areas will we see a turn around. Training kids to sell stuff is no good. If the stuff they are selling is imported how mad is that."
However, I would also like to include Engineering. We were once a great manufacturing nation now major industry is almost extinct. I was interested to read that in Germany Engineers are held in the highest regard and are called Doctors, here they are called mechanics.

My heart goes out to your son Barbra and I hope things improve for him in the near future.

Bless you for that Piers . my son has had mental problems only because of all the rejection .he needs somebody to accept him & give him a chance .when we left school could have got so many differant jobs I got a job as a baker in a sm shop 6am start .collage day release .but i loved it .dont get me wrong today a lot of younsters see their parent unemployed .so were do they get incentive to leave school & get a job .its a vicious circle .as paula said there are no works to go into .my other half worked in engineering Factory floor & the office .they are closed have been for yrs .to many imports .& workers from abroad who work for low wages .because our own wont do the job .they get more on benifit its all wrong .any goverment needs to wake up & get people back to work .dont think its going to happen .cant you tell feel very passionate about this subject .better shut up now Barbra

Barbara. I can understand your anger and frustrations. My step grand daughter has mild learning difficulties, she is a beautiful loving and gentle girl, and would be an asset to any organisation. She is 18. and is due to finish college next year. Life can be so cruel and some people get more than their fair share of hard knocks, God Bless you son, I hope things start to get better for him soon.

Engineers – Yep, OH would agree with that. When there was high employment, companies stopped offering apprentice courses……let someone else carry the cost. Now there are few ‘excellent’ engineers under the age of 40, and the 60+ year olds are retiring.

But it boils down to the fact that there are few employers in the UK actually making anything, be it heavy engineering, aviation, electronic or electrical. We’ve priced ourselves out of the international market.

Yes, there are a few adverts for professional engineers…. requesting a Degree, but the ‘youngsters’ have no experience. A 40 year old with experience, 21 year old graduate or even an expensive 60 year old?? Hmm.

Well done Piers for employing an Autistic young man. Out of interest, was he the best person for the job, or was there a financial incentive for you to take him on?

Unemployment is affecting all age groups in society, be it Barbra’s 40 year old, the school/education leaver, or the person coming up to retirement.
In all likelihood, there are probably more of the later than the statistics suggest – they’ve given up and are eking out the time they can draw on their pension by living on savings.

It’s truly awful that some of the unemployed are experiencing mental health issues, or even have their pre-existing conditions worsened. Despite legislation, those with health issues (physical or mental) are going to be the last to be employed, unless they are the ‘best person for the job’. I do hope that Barbra’s son can find some sort of employment, even if it’s delivering ‘free papers’ or leaflets. Anything to give him or other people in the same situation a reason to get up in the morning.

Det.... On paper he was certainly the best candidate. At interview he was socially very awkward.... but when I set him a task to complete.... I realised he would be a real asset to my business. No, there wasn't any financial incentive involved :-)

That's fantastic Piers, and I am sure this would be reflective of so many people in similar positions as Barbras son if they were given the opportunity. :-)

Barbra, your son's story is very sad and his mental agony is entirely understandable. I mentioned the over 40s in my earlier post, it isn't just the under 25s we should be concerned about. I really do hope he can find something which engages him again.

x

The government should make old people retire at 65. They have had their time to work & should make way for the young people like other people did for them in the pest !! Also do not let anymore foreigners into this already over crowded country.
This country is going crazy, god help the young.

The female retirement age is gradually increasing to 66, as is the male age.

GB has no control over the number of EU citizens who come to work in this country. British nationals have every right to work in continental EU countries as well. It works both ways!

Many small service industry places seem to be staffed by 'foreigners'. It does make you wonder if they are willing to accept the minimum wage, were as the indiginous popluation want more?

These debates always descend into blame the foreigners, I wish I had a pound for every time I've heard all the ills blamed on immigration and asylum seekers.


Presumably foreign doctors, nurses and ghurkas are exempt from this general its the fault of the immigrants school of thought?

Flowers many 'old' people want to retire at 65, the government has taken that choice away from them. Many 'old' people (could you not say senior citizens or even over 65s?) would love to give up their place in work to younger people. The government can't have it both ways.

I think one of the reasons that minimum wage jobs are so 'difficult' to take, ( edit...even when there ARE any!) especially for older workers with family, is the high cost of housing.

If you took out a mortgage when house prices were buoyant and were then made redundant, the shortfall between what you may earn on a minimum wage and what your mortgage costs is just not workable ( and before anyone says downsize...you can't do that if you are in negative equity).

For some the only option is to stay unemployed for the period ( now reduced) for which the DSS pay mortgage interest, in the hope that house prices will pick up or a job that pays enough to cover the mortgage AND eat comes along. When 100 people go for a job that will do that then the competition , to state the obvious, is fierce...and if you are long term unemployed it is even harder as you are competing with others who may have the edge in terms of recent experience.

I feel very strongly about this due to having two very hard working teenagers. My son is going to university in september in the hope of getting a good well paid job.
He expects to have a debt of £45,000. I just hope it all pays off for him & all the other young people.
No offence calling the seniors old, but they are no longer young ;-)

I will just say this on imigrants .they will work for lower wages .& do mundane jobs .to earn money .one ukraine man was a kitchen hand & 6yrs later is an assistant manager in a fast food chain ,care homes employ a lot foreign people & they cant speak english so its a very complex & difficult situation which needs addressing my late father was in three homes & i speak from experiance dealing with members of staff .this debate could go on for ever ..Thank you for your kind comments for my son .we live in hope Barbra x ps we have the knowledge of life & its ups & downs oldies but goodies :-D