Colin's Comments

2007-07-05T14:08:00.000+06:00

I haven't posted in ages - been way too busy - but I was inspired to get back on top of it today by the BBC morning news. For some reason they gave a good lengthy feature on Hazel Blears announcement that 10 councils in England are to pilot exercises where communities will be provided with the opportunity to make decisions on budgets. What I thought was interesting, apart from the fact that itgot this kind of attention, was that it was NOT new money. This means that communities are being given control over mainstream budget spend. At least I think that's what it means, there was a lot of talk about communities using the money for cleaning up litter or dealing with anti-social behaviour, so it may be a little more restricted than that.

Still the sums involved are quite impressive, one council is apparently allocated £7 million!

2007-03-12T16:36:00.000+06:00

Now, this IS a fascinating perspectve. An article from the New York Times, dissecting the condition of young people in the UK (albeit from looking at a single neighbourhood) and the policies/politics that affect them. I think I’m going to try to keep a closer eye on what other countries media are saying about us

Check it out HERE

2007-03-12T15:27:00.000+06:00

From Peter Levine’s Civic Renewal blog, an excellent critical history of community in a schooling system. It is very specifically focused and that is it’s strength. I don’t know if we have anything as strong as this for the history of regeneration in the UK but that would be a very interesting study.

Have a look at - A Brief History of Community Engagement In Education

2007-03-12T15:11:00.000+06:00

Hello Again...

Oh dear, I just signed in and found out that I haven't posted since 30th January. We've been moving and it's been hellish trying to get all of the communications devices that are so essential to the modern office to get in sync with each other. Anyway, a couple of interesting things that turned up in my e-mail this morning...

This article that says Young people are buying ‘collectables’ as investments . It would be fairly acceptable were it not for the fact that they mean people under 40... Perhaps trading cards are the new buy-to-let boom?

The Economic and Social Research Council sponsored Festival of Social Science organised a dabate at Hampden Park over the weekend. The strapline that I read said:

“Young people often get bad press with newspapers focussing on stories of ASBOs, gun crime and binge drinking. But is this portrayal of Britain's youth today fair?”

It looked well organised with good speakers, I wish I had been there. Don’t know if there will be report from this event, given that it’s just part of a much bigger programme. There’s more information HERE

2007-01-30T15:46:00.000+06:00

We're Moving!

The building that currently houses the Clear Plan empire is being turned into luxury flats and so I have to move elsewhere. The move is a bit rushed - we could have negotiated a short extension but the legal fees to do so were pretty drastic considering the perioid of time they covered. Hence we are moving to

111 West George Street
Suite 385
Glasgow
G2 1QX

The new telphone number will be 0141 552 6661, but it won't be goiong live until the afternoon of 06th Feb, therefore in the meantime the mobile, 07803 048 584, is the only calling option.

Please bear with us, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

2007-01-10T17:15:00.000+06:00

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...

2006-12-19T22:50:00.000+06:00

Under 10’s say being a celebrity is the world’s ‘best thing’

But god remains the world's most famous person. The comments on this story are a wee bit 'doom and gloom'. I think it's quite amusing - although it does tell us something about the times we live in.

Other good news this morning was that that Children and Young People in Scotland will spend £50.00 or more on gifts for others this Christmas. The miserly Children in the South of England will spend less than £20.00! I just heard this on BBC news 24 while I was getting ready so I don't have a weblink for it. However while trying to find one I came across these two stories published right beside each other. It's worthy of Private Eye, it really is...

News - Christmas retail spending to drop

Christmas spending will fall this year for the first time in a decade, a survey by accountants Deloitte predicts..
23 Nov 2005

News - Christmas spending 'set to rise'

Roger Bootle, Deloitte's economic adviser, says a good Christmas for retailers is unlikely to alter an overall slowdown in consumer spending.
29 Nov 2004

2006-12-14T16:48:00.000+06:00

Young People ‘Raid’ savings to pay winter bills

Here's an interesting bit of research from the Halifax/Bank of Scotland company Birmingham Midshires. They’ve found that 31 % of young people (in this case, people under 30) have to use money they’ve saved to pay winter heating bills. They also find that people over 50 are better able to cope with rising bills. The problems of fuel poverty for older people have (quite rightly) received quite a bit of policy attention in recent years. This is only one small piece of research but does this mean that there is need to look more closely at similar issues for other age groups?

2006-12-06T16:58:00.000+06:00

Community Planning Advice Note Published

The new advice note on engaging Children and Young People in Community Planning is out, and I must say it is a whole lot more comprehensive that the old one – welcome though that was. It’s available online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/11/09140609/0

It’s a big document, for this kind of thing, but that’s to the good, because as well as the usual stuff about methods of engagement it contains a lot of less well discussed pointers about effective management of engagement with Children & Young People. There's a useful interpretation of the national standards for community engagement in this context too.

Community Engagement - Timberland Boots Style

On the subject of community engagement, the community development profession (which does have some claim to ownership of the notion of community engagement) has a long history of grief over the perceived co-option and subversion of their language by more prosaic and functional interests. The whole private sector swallowing of the work ‘empowerment’ (a word I never liked any way) in the 90’s come to mind.

This use of the term ‘Community Engagement’ by a Timberland boots advertising campaign is a great example of how ‘our’ terms are used differently elsewhere. Check this snippet out...

“‘The leather billboard campaign Arnold created really harnesses the power of self-expression and community engagement,’ said Gene McCarthy, president of Timberland's Authentic Youth division, in a statement.”

Go HERE for the full article.

Now, I wonder what the ‘Authentic Youth division’ do?

2006-11-15T20:04:00.000+06:00

YOUTH WORK & YOUNG PEOPLE: RAISING THE POTENTIAL

The Scottish Centre for Research in Community Learning & Development has published a small collection of essays on Youth Work. While it just arrived on my desk this morning and I haven't had the time to read it properly it is a very welcome addition to the the, admittedly limited, Scottish Youth Work bibliography. It's the first actual indepent publication discussing Youth Work, as far as I can remember, since the Conceptualizing Youth Work reader which SCEC put out - and that must be back in 1999 or thereabouts.

Anyway, it's a collection of 5 relatively brief articles, including one by my good friend and professional collaborator Mr Alan Small. The first four articles explore the contemporary context for Youth Work practice and policy and trace the history of how we got here in the first place.

The final article, by Fraser Patrick, draws together the themes explored in the other four papers and offers some analysis of the opportunities for a positive future for a distinctive Youth Work practice in Scotland.

Get it from

Youthlink Scotland: 0131 313 2488, it'll cost you a fiver if you are not a Youthlink member, or £.50 if you are.

2006-11-03T19:45:00.000+06:00

‘Fanning the flames of Fear’

Click on the headline to link to the Scotsman article.

I heard the author of this story, Helen Eadie MSP last night on Radio Scotland whilst driving, and I was, I have to say, a little taken aback at the extreme nature of the experiences described and the responses offered by the MSP for Dunfermline East.

While I can’t comment on the truth or otherwise of the events described it does surprise me to find a politician who, since 1976, has held posts specialising in Equal Opportunities claim

“If that fails I would be in favour of eliminating children under 15 completely from the streets at night.”

Does her support of curfews mean that she believes taking blanket measures against whole sections of society to address the behaviour of some members of that group is in keeping with the spirit of Equal Opportunities? It’s certainly not in the spirit of natural justice as I understand it.

What these sorts of stories do is legitimise the fear that many adults appear to have of young people.
What these sorts of proposals do is ameliorate that fear and support aggressive reactions to that fear. A cynic might say they also court support and votes from the adult electorate who believe this sort of thing is the norm after dark in Scotland.

Take a look at the comments from readers below the actual story, a great many of them refer to simply feeling intimidated by groups of young people. Try to ignore comments like number 9 & 11 – there are some other very sensible views expressed too.

My companion in the car last night tried to disagree with me by saying

“Colin, some young people do cause a lot of trouble and are a nuisance.”

As if I was trying to excuse any sort of behaviour by anyone under 18.

For the avoidance of doubt, I have no problem with the police and procurator fiscal taking appropriate action against people who commit crimes. The events described in MSP Eadie’s article are crimes and should be treated as such. Some young people commit crimes. Some adults commit crimes. There are mechanisms in place to address this without curtailing the liberty of an entire section of society.

It may be worth noting that the whole anti-social behaviour consultation, the Bill and all that followed was initiated just prior to the last election when candidates toured constituencies and heard from their constituents, (or at least the ones who attended these events) about how frightened they were of young people.

With elections looming in six months, could this be the start of a second wave of politicians using the media to fan the flames of fear.

2006-10-31T17:28:00.000+06:00

Fake Condoms Discovery Sparks Safety Concerns

Well this is news! I’ve heard of counterfeit cigarettes, perfumes, DVDs, and the like, but this is the first time I’ve heard of counterfeit condoms. Apparently one of the ways to recognise them is that they are smaller than usual. One presumes you actually have to try it on to know? I think our young people should be warned.

2006-10-31T17:17:00.000+06:00

Tory leader Cameron abused at youth centre

Rather amusing incident which will ring plenty of bells with anyone who has ever welcomed a politician into a young people’s space. No sign of actual policy on young people from Dave tho'.

2006-09-19T14:48:00.000+06:00

Young People risking Health Problems Due to Vitamin Deficiency

Young people risking health problems due to vitamin defiency

Young people in Britain risk suffering health problems due to a chronic lack of vitamins in their diet, experts have warned.

New research from Boots Health Club on young people & health that has an uncommon ring of actual nutritional science to it.

Link courtesy of The Daily Mail.

2006-09-15T17:07:00.000+06:00

Tons of interesting young people stories in the press over the last few days. Here are a selection, as ever, click on the headline for link to the source of the story.

The Trouble With Childhood

From: The Scotsman

MORE than 100 academics, teachers, psychologists, children's authors and other experts yesterday called for a major public debate on child-rearing in the 21st century. The escalating incidence of childhood depression is caused, they suggested, by a lack of understanding, by both politicians and public, of the realities and subtleties of child development

Calls to Teach First Aid in Buchan Schools

From: The Buchan Observer

Young people in Buchan should learn first aid at school according to a campaign launched on World First Aid Day by the British Red Cross.

New research by Ipsos MORI found 96% of Scots believe that young people should learn basic first aid skills at school.

Youth Matters: Children & Young Peoples Plans ignore youth.

From: Young People Now

Local authorities are not paying enough attention to youth work when drawing up their children and young people's plans, a report suggests.

The interim report, by the National Foundation for Educational Research, investigates how children and young people's plans contribute to the outcomes in Every Child Matters.

Heads Back Calls for School Drug Tests

From: the Scotsman

SCHOOLCHILDREN should be subject to random drug tests under government-approved pilot schemes, Scotland's leading expert on substance misuse said yesterday.

Young Men Prefer Steroids to Workouts

From: The Telegraph

Young men are increasingly turning to anabolic steroids as a short cut to the perfect body, a charity claimed yesterday.

A nationwide survey by Drugscope found that the performance-enhancing substances had crossed over from athletes and body builders to the mainstream as men wanted to look good on the beach or the dancefloor without putting in too much effort.

Schools welcome 'parents as partners'

From: the Scottish Executive e-mail Daily Digest

The new Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act, passed in May 2006, is now in force, aiming to give parents a stronger voice and get more parents more involved in their child's education and school life

Do young get hooked on mobiles?

From: The Herald

THE WAY young people use mobile phones has direct similarities with the behaviour of addicted gamblers, according to research.

2006-09-11T14:28:00.000+06:00

Young People: Guilty Till Proven Innocent

I just discovered this weekly internet only magazine The Friday Thing . Beware it trumpets itself as follows:

“The Friday Thing is a fiercely independent weekly email comment sheet. Casting a cynical eye over the week's events, it is rarely fair and never balanced”

You could waste a lot of time on there looking at some slightly flippant and challenging views. The article I’ve linked to from last Friday’s edition (click on the headline) is not quite what you’d expect from the title. Very entertainingly argued…

Up in smoke

Interesting, though lengthy and tortuously argued article from the Scotsman, suggesting that more young people will start smoking as a form of rebellion against the strength of the health promotion message against it. Also refers to ‘Death Cigarettes’ apparently an actual brand, marketed with a skull and crossbones package which actually attracted more young people to start smoking.

2006-09-06T14:40:00.000+06:00

Youngsters 'suspicious' of database

A controversial national database of every child in the country may deter youngsters from asking for help with pregnancy and mental health problems, according to new research conducted by the NSPCC for the CHILDREN’S COMMISSIONER.

See the story in the Guardian HERE

2006-08-14T20:52:00.000+06:00

Busy children 'are not stressed'

Concerns that a busy schedule of activities is leaving a generation of children pressurised and stressed have been challenged by a research review.

See the BBC News report here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4783809.stm

2006-08-07T14:01:00.000+06:00

TURNING POINT BOTTLES IT

The national charity Turning Point launched a report and capmpaign last week aimed at highlighting the support needs of children with parents who excessively use alcohol. The report and campaign is called Bottling It Up. It’s focused on England & Wales only but makes for some pretty interesting reading of an underreported subject. A Scottish version of this might be a very useful addition to the debate on the relative priority placed on public investment in measures to address alcohol/illegal drug misuse. The site is pretty comprehensive and well worth a look.

2006-07-25T15:52:00.000+06:00

Youth of Today Risk Going Deaf

This has been pretty heavily reported over the last week but I though the fact that it presented a good argument against those horrible ipod things and a fine health promotion message for young people warranted an inclusion here.

“Today's youth are at risk of going deaf up to 30 years earlier than their parents because they are listening to MP3 players too loudly and too often - according to a new survey carried out to mark the launch of a partnership between Specsavers Hearcare and Deafness Research UK .”

2006-07-25T15:33:00.000+06:00

UK'S FIRST NATIONAL INQUIRY INTO CHILDHOOD

The Children’s Society announced yesterday that Lord Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics would chair the UK’s first national inquiry into childhood.

“The Good Childhood Inquiry, managed by The Children's Society, aims to renew society's understanding of childhood for the twenty-first century, with the charity believing that too many children in the UK are experiencing poor childhoods.

The society highlights that Recent research has revealed that while we are wealthier than fifty years ago, the well-being of children in the UK is amongst the lowest in Europe, and our young people are experiencing increasing levels of mental health problems.

Refugee children, children in trouble with the law, disabled children, and children at risk on the streets, with whom The Children's Society works on a daily basis, are among those most affected by these issues.

The Children's Society is also concerned that the current climate of fear and confusion surrounding children is clouding the way childhood is understood today. The charity argues that left unchallenged, society's contradictory attitudes towards children - on the one hand idealising them as angels and on the other demonising them as yobs -will lead to a breakdown in intergenerational relationships.”

2006-07-24T13:58:00.000+06:00

Jings, crivvens! Is Oor Wullie turning into Our William?

Jings!

The Scotsman reports that even Oor Wullie is becoming a little gentrified in these more sophisticated times. Disenculturation? Aye, right.

2006-07-19T14:10:00.000+06:00

Scouts Struggling for Volunteers

I caught an article on the BBC TV news this morning suggesting that the Scotus and Guides had long waiting lists for young people that wanted to beccome members. That in itself is no bad thing, however the reason given for the waiting lists is because of difficulties in attracting adult volunteers. Now the uniformed organisation have always had a reputation in Youth Work for having a greater sense of loyalty in their alumni, and consequently better at attracting volunteers from their old boys and girls.

Now I know that the uniformed organisations are not always seen as the cutting edge of work with young people but it would be very interesting to know the reason for this phenomenon. Is it just part of the apparent decline in voluntarism in the UK? Is it a result of something to do with the people who were in uniformed organisations as young people and are now of age to return to volunteering? Has the introduction of the CRBS had an impact?

Anyway other than small mention at the tail of the article linked above I coundn't find any report on it on the BBC website.

2006-07-17T16:01:00.000+06:00

From Hoody to Goody

A study from Young People Now magazine and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (England) makes the case that concerning behaviour is not confined to the, erm, lower classes.

That’s hardly a revelation and the Observer article I found it in STILL uses the word ‘Chav’ but it’s worth reading because it makes an interesting point that young people from more middle class backgrounds may be less able to deal with the consequences of their behaviour. Can a case be made for resources targeted at the young and affluent on this basis…?article I found it in STILL uses the word ‘Chav’ but it’s worth reading because it makes an interesting point that young people from more middle class backgrounds may be less able to deal with the consequences of their behaviour. Can a case be made for resources targeted at the young and affluent on this basis…?

2006-07-14T14:42:00.000+06:00

Rush up and Hug A Hoody

I know I did comment on this yesterday but I just found this poem submitted by a listener to BBC news . I hope they don't mind me reproducing it...

Cameron craves "Con" converts
So he's gone all goody-goody
He cries to all in shopping mall
"Rush up and hug a Hoody!"

The Tory Party needs more votes
To make things as they should be
Run short of nobs - espousing yobs
Rush up and hug a Hoody

Our Dave's inclusiveness shines out
So curb our hate please - could we?
They do not mean to look so mean
Rush up and hug a Hoody.

Each friendless faceless garmentee
A quiet conformist would be.
The hood they wear just de rigueur
Rush up and hug a Hoody.

Though you might fear a butted nose
What would a little blood be?
That scowling cowling wants your love
Rush up - and hug a Hoody.

Also, I just heard Karen Dunbar on Radio Scotland saying that she intends to do a Hug a Hoddy discussion this morning. I can see that this one will run and run....

2006-07-12T14:28:00.000+06:00

Cameron Calls for Understanding

What a strange politcal world we live in. The leader of the conservative party calls for a softer approach on that scourge of our communities, the hoody. Truly there has been an amazing flip-flop of the ground the main parties traditionally hold.

I know this one has received extensive comment in the press - some of it really quite funny - but I really couldn't let this pass without saying something.

It's a shame that Mr Camerons comments are really no more than an attempt to win voters appalled by the programme of demonisation of young people imppmented by the current government.

It's sadly apparent that Mr Camerons views on 'threatening' young people are grounded in no greater an understanding of the perspectives of young people than Mr Blairs. Calls to "understand what's gone wrong in these children's lives" fail to accept that for the majority of young people the behaviours he regards as problematic are in fact absolutely normal.

"We - the people in suits - often see hoodies as aggressive, the uniform of a rebel army of young gangsters. But hoodies are more defensive than offensive. They're a way to stay invisible in the street. In a dangerous environment the best thing to do is keep your head down, blend in."

His call to show more love to aberrant young people is still rooted in a view that the correct response to issues of intergenerational conflict is some form of treatment of young people, not some form of mediation or dialogue between the generations.

The fact remains however that young people have no political power - and by that I mean that they are not organised to represent their interests, not just that they are largely voteless or non-voters - and as long as that is the case any sensible electioneer is going to play to the people who can provide them with political power. It would take a brave politician to suggest that adults look at their behaviour in relation to young people.

2006-06-01T18:38:00.000+06:00

Wellington Fashion

Every day I walk to the office a journey of some 5 minutes, along Ingram Street or George Square, whichever takes my fancy. At the end of Ingram Street in front of the Gallery of Modern Art is a statue of the Duke of Wellington which wears an almost permanent traffic cone on top of it’s head. Anyone who has visited Glasgow has almost definitely had a small chortle at this.

Imagine my surprise (as Count Olaf would say) when I visited the Glasgow City Council website to discover that the main front page picture, i.e. the picture which someone has chosen to represent Glasgow is that of the Duke of Wellington resplendent WITH cone. I’m glad someone has a sense of humour. The cone he is porting in this picture is a rather fetching plain orange number. Occasionally of course he dandies it up with a cone decorated with a reflective stripe as in Gallery of Modern Art, entry on Wikipedia. His most amusing however has to be the Hearts scarf he proudly showed off shortly after the recent Hearts Scottish Cup win. I wish I had a photo of that.

2006-06-01T18:32:00.000+06:00

Back at the Grindstone

So I’ve got my laptop back and I actually miss working off the main office computer. It’s got a nice big screen that encourages you to was time browsing the internet and laughing at those chain e-mail jokes that colleagues with apparently little else to do keep sending. Still, the wee laptop has a certain dogged durability that encourages me to keep my head down and get the work done so I should be grateful for that I suppose.

2006-05-16T13:00:00.000+06:00

Normal service will be resumed...

So my laptop died on me at the end of last week. Not a huge issue as all the important data is backed up on the main office computer. I've only really lost access to my old e-mails and my electronic diary. I think I have managed to figure out all of the meetings i'm meant to be at but I may not have responded to your e-mail if it came in during the window of time between my laptop packing up and getting my e-mail set up on a different computer.

In any case ,dealing with that and a few other things (like a massive over payment of council tax to Glasgow City Council) mean that I haven't had time to update this blog for a week. As they say on the BBC, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible...

The Police deal with violent and uncooperative criminals...

Interesting news today that the Police facing are facing a major knife threat. Apparently6% of police officers have been challenged with a gun - which I find surprising - and one in three with a knife - which I don't find surprising. I am pleased to hear however that this has not led to a huge demand that ordinary police officers carry guns during everyday duties. I am guessing that the gun statistic is new, i.e. if we looked at figures from 5 or 10 or 20 years ago then the number of police officers having been challenged with a gun would be lower. It would be interesting however to see whether this was the case for knife challenges, I rather suspect it is not. Does anyone have the evidence to do a comparison?

2006-05-08T18:20:00.000+06:00

The Benefit of Clarity

“You don't need to outdo the competition. It's expensive and defensive. Underdo your competition. We need more simplicity and clarity.”

Jason Fried, Keynote Speech, SXSW 2006

Just discovered this quote from Jason Fried, the founder of the Basecamp project management/collaboration tool. I like it a lot. I think I might make it the company motto. It refelect so much about working in the public sector in post devolution Scotland. So much so that I also note that the word 'initiativitis' which previously I had thought was only used in casual conversation by tired public & voluntary sector workers actually registers 236 hits on Google UK.

That's evidence not only of the etymology of a new word, and the epidemiology of it's spread, but of the legitimacy of the phenomenon itself. I'm going to give this clarity and simplicity thing some more thought. If I think about it harde enough i'm sure I can make it much more complex than it needs to be...

2006-05-05T13:34:00.000+06:00

Call me Lightning

Glasgow had trhe worst/wildest thunder and lightning i've ever seen outside the tropics last night. It must have lasted a good three hours before I went to slee and there were still flashes acrosses the sky as i was drifting off. There was forked lightning, something i've only seen on two other occasions in Scotland, and then only for a brief period. This lasted all night. The BBC has a really good set of Pictures of the storm taken by amateurs. No doubt there will be a deluge of speculation today about whether this is due to climate change and whether climate change is a man made (or influenced) phenomenon. Can anyone really make sense of all that stuff? I know I can't.

2006-05-02T14:26:00.000+06:00

Adult education cuts are not a healthy option

Interesting article in this morning's Guardian.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,,1765213,00.html

It seems that the value of learning for older people is not a high priority for government.

While i’m normally known for speaking out on behalf of the opposite end of the age spectrum, I do think that the numbers of older people signing up for learning opportunities is a good indicator of how well available learning opportunities relate to peoples lives – not just their career prospects.

There some evidence in the article that participation in learning activities can have positive health impacts for older people – there’s no cost benefit analysis – but a clear inference can be made that public investment in learning for older people can reduce public spending on health care for older people.

Also, I notice Tom Schuller is now at the OECD. I never knew.

2006-04-26T16:47:00.000+06:00

Did anyone see the Dispatches programme on Monday evening called 'Britain's Yob Culture'. I just turned the the telvision on and caught it, shortly after it started. Bsically it was almost an hour long promotion of the kind of fear of young people that I might expect to see in the Daily Mail but not on a reasonably respectable telvision documentary. It contained such amazing gems as "We commissioned Mori... they found that 71 per cent of people had seen large groups of kids hanging around and 41% (or figures like that, i wasn't taking notes) were intimidated by them." Like that proved anything other than the perceptions of adults were that young people in groups were innately dangerous. Actually with TV programmes like this in prime time slots it's little surprise that they do. There were a horde of anecdotes, some a little dubious, of violent behaviour by young people. Of course these were always of the most extreme kind, as if to suggest that this sort of behaviour was common.

There was little balance, particulalry when, they reported that places with higher populations of older people had higher perceptions of the prevalence and seriousness of youth crime, and when the reporter spoke to some young black males, but these were throwaway concessions to the overall fear message presented by the programme. It also contained an interview with Richard Sennet, where he made some critical comment on the UK government Respect agenda, but even he seemed a little out of place.

Comparing this to the documentary I caught last month presented by Shami Chakrabati, the director of Liberty, it really did appear like astonishingly irresponsible journalism. Her programme, wher she spoke of the 'war on young people' was, in my view a little sensationalist in approach, but it's message was much more considered, and of course I agreed with it a lot more. There's some information on the Dispatches programme here.

http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/D/dispatches2006/yobs/

2006-04-13T03:41:00.000+06:00

This is my first post to this blogspot. I thought that this might be a better way to keep clients and potential clients informed about Clear Plan and what we are doing.

I don't promise to update it every day but I intend to use this to generally discuss stuff, any kind of stuff to do with Goverment and community. I also hope to keep it a little entertaining. Our line of work can really do with a bit of humour sometimes.

Anyway it's late at night, otherwise I wouldn't have the time to even do this. i'll maybe put something a bit more intersting up tomorrow morning.

Colin Duff