Lectures…

Recently i’ve started going to lectures. Not that I’ve gone back into full time education at all. I’ve just started going to lectures. You know the sort that are normally organised and promoted by interest groups simply because they have an interest in a topic and a desire to make knowledge available to others.

They are a pretty good way to spend an evening, I’m not going to go into a lengthy rant about the social capital benefits of them, just about how enjoyable and stimulating they are.

I’ve probably been to about half a dozen, promoted by a range of organisations. One of the things I have noticed about them is that the allow people to simply express opinions, without the need to back everything they say with evidence. This is a good thing. Everyone I have heard speaking has been well respected in their field and their reflections and opinions are valid and worth hearing and discussing. In a lot of cases it would be difficult to write these things down and present them in a paper, because they often simply would not stand up the rigorous criticism that paper based media would attract.

The other great thing about them is that they require me to pay attention to information I would not normally even encounter. In work we only ever look at the information we need for the task at hand. We don’t get the luxury of spending time on things that may not be directly related to our duties but nevertheless expand our views on the things that matter.

Last nights was lecture was given by Tony Cameron, the outgoing Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service and was sponsored by the Scottish Association for the Study of Offending. Very good it was too, I won’t give an exhaustive review of it her, but it was far more candid and good-humoured that I expected.

I’ll be keeping this lecture business up. Meanwhile here are the stories I thought interesting from this morning’s papers.

Young People Most Frightened to Use Public Transport

Congestion charges won’t tempt young people to leave their cars at home – they’re too frightened to use public transport. Young drivers are so fearful of being attacked or robbed that they are likely to ignore schemes to save the environment in a bid to stay safe.

On The Straight and Narrow

A Met police initiative is having a positive influence on inner-city youngsters by encouraging them to join the volunteer cadets

Mike is 16. The first time he assaulted a policeman he got off with a warning. The second time, after he punched, knocked down and stamped on an officer who was trying to search him, he was referred to a youth offending team (YOT). As part of a package of "interventions", it suggested he join the Volunteer Police Cadets (VPC). Mike had never heard of the VPC but reluctantly agreed: "I thought it might keep me out of trouble. More...