Having watched in horror as the riots unfolded last night on the streets of London
In the wake of the aforementioned it must be a nightmare task for their PR team to set about winning back the trust and respect of so many of the population of the UK and yet weirdly, in my opinion, I think these latest events will see public opinion sway back in favour of the ‘boys in blue’.
I’ve heard so many commentators on TV suggesting that heavy handed policing, social problems, racism and lack of employment, to name a few, are contributing to the current round of rioting. I think it’s time we got real and lay the blame at the feet of the perpetrators; the rioters themselves (mainly youths) and the families that raise them. I cannot believe that the parents of these yobs were watching it all on TV and didn’t think to ask themselves ‘where is our little Johnny bless him?‘ And if they did then surely they would have tried to give him a call on the mobile they probably bought him for Christmas to ask where he is and if he’s ok.
Assuming that they actually did this, could they not hear what was going on in the background when he answered and if he didn’t answer, ask him why? Similarly, if the next day ‘Johnny’ had a new TV in his room or a nice new pair of trainers, did they not think to ask him how he came to have these items and then march him off to the local police station? It’s this parental behaviour that is in many ways as odious as the actions of their children and I think all right minded people will feel the same way.
Let’s be honest, the vast majority of these brave policemen and women are parents with families of their own, yet they are putting their bodies and lives on the line to protect us. I just hope that they don’t think it is in vain, because I truly believe that these events on our streets will see a groundswell of support for the police without the need for any clever PR campaigns, and rightly so.
Rob Nicholls, Managing Director, Publicity Engineers
I have just stumbled across your blog and felt compelled to make a comment as I feel some of your points are unfair. I of course am totally against what has been happening and feel it is a disgrace to the country, however as a mother I think it is unfair to place the blame entirely on the parents.
ReplyDeleteI am a single mother who works every hour that god sends to put food on the table, I would love to be able to spend more time with my children but this doesn't happen.
With your comment about marching kids to the police station, I think this is easier said than done and most parents would find it too difficult to hand their child over to a potential prison sentence. I think there's a wider picture here that needs to be addressed, and you can't blame the parents entirely for the behaviour of a few kids.
Thanks for your comments Gillian, please let me reassure you that I don’t believe these current riots are totally the parents fault, this would be really naive of me; if my blog didn’t convey this then I apologise. Maybe the headline was a little misleading because my main point, as I run a PR company, was intended to be about the increased level of support for the police that these events may generate.
ReplyDeleteYou must also understand that my comments were made from a feeling of total frustration and despair watching hundreds, not a few, delinquents gleefully trashing and destroying people’s homes and livelihoods so I still believe that my point about parents was worth making.
As I said in my original blog, most of the TV commentators and youth workers seem to trot out the same old excuses of boredom and not having a voice etc but let me tell you, teens have never had a voice and have always been bored, I should know I was one once! But it seems to some that this excuses their abhorrent behaviour.
You say that you’re a single mother so I’m guessing that you’re quite a bit younger than me Gillian so you won’t have experienced being raised in the 50’s like I was. In those days families remained a unit and children were taught respect and discipline but times have changed so dramatically; in my years I have seen the advent of hippies, skinheads, punks, football hooligans, national front and of course immigration which have all changed the dynamics of family life and local communities. Those individuals who aligned themselves to one of the groups that I mentioned have since had their own families and so they often have different beliefs and values of our elders who were coming out of the war years.
If I’m brutally honest Gillian if you are a single Mum as you say then you and I are a testament to this change as I am divorced myself. Where the likes you and I differ to many of the parents that I wrote about in my blog is that however tough it may get for us I’m sure that you will always have a handle on where your children are and have a modicum of understanding as to what they may be up to. I’m pretty certain that in the same circumstances you would have called a child of yours if riots were kicking off in your neighbourhood and would demand that your young teen (or younger unbelievably) returned home immediately; my point was aimed at those who don’t care.
And for the record, depending on the gravity of involvement, I actually would have marched one of my kids to the police station; a precedent has already been set in my family. However, I do understand how hard a decision that is.