Nothing Behind The Eyes

Blaming single mums???

Stop twisting everything to suit your narrative. Single mums weren’t mentioned and it’s a fact that boys brought up without a responsible father figure are more likely to go off the rails. It doesn’t mean all of them.

As for feckless parents they do exist. Parents who don’t give a hoot where their kids are when they aren’t home at night or who they’re with and what they’re doing.

Burying your heads in the sand and pretending these factors don’t come into the equation is naive and blinkered.

If you can’t or don’t want to acknowledge that you’re part of the problem.

It's not as simple as that, though.

It's a fact that households without a father figure are likely to be financially disadvantaged, which in itself is more likely to lead to crime.

There are all sorts of factors to take into account.

tickingbird

Blaming single mums???

Stop twisting everything to suit your narrative. Single mums weren’t mentioned and it’s a fact that boys brought up without a responsible father figure are more likely to go off the rails. It doesn’t mean all of them.

As for feckless parents they do exist. Parents who don’t give a hoot where their kids are when they aren’t home at night or who they’re with and what they’re doing.

Burying your heads in the sand and pretending these factors don’t come into the equation is naive and blinkered.

If you can’t or don’t want to acknowledge that you’re part of the problem.

Sorry what did you mean by the term “fatherless” children then? It sounded just like a dig at single mothers!

I simply asked you what you meant by “feckless” parents? I didn’t absolve parents of responsibility for their children, I was merely stating that SOME parents face tremendous difficulties providing safe and stable homes for their children and that they could really do with outside help and support, services which have been cut year on year by this govt.

Then, as you quite rightly point out, there’s the kids whose parents appear to let their them run riot.

Statistically though it’s more likely than children in care or just leaving care or brought up with domestic violence who are most likely to be drawn into gangs and get into serious trouble.

I can assure you I’m not “part of the problem”

Incidentally it’s not just boys who carry and use knives. Girls are just as likely to these days.

Cossy

When I attribute some of the blame to the govt I’m talking about cuts in services for vulnerable families and care leavers, such as sure start, family workers, youth clubs and youth services. Some parents need this support to help them to become better, more stable people able to be better role models. I worked with families like these, before our project t lost its funding, and it was a massive eye opener working with vulnerable families in their own homes.

Hi Cossy, I worked in family support too and now work in education. Family support is so important and sometimes it’s so subtle to implement change within a family. It’s such a shame it isn’t more valued

Good post, tickingbird.

That would go against all other statistics on violent crimes if that is true about girls using knives as much as boys.

Cossy

Incidentally it’s not just boys who carry and use knives. Girls are just as likely to these days

I must have missed all the reports of knife attacks by girls!! As I said, part of the problem. Refusing to see and acknowledge because of your own bias doesn’t help. We need solutions and grass roots change.

I have checked and as usual information on stats relating to sex of assailant is utterly useless, but what it looks like is there has been a considerable increase in girls but they remain a small number.

Cossy

When I attribute some of the blame to the govt I’m talking about cuts in services for vulnerable families and care leavers, such as sure start, family workers, youth clubs and youth services. Some parents need this support to help them to become better, more stable people able to be better role models. I worked with families like these, before our project t lost its funding, and it was a massive eye opener working with vulnerable families in their own homes.

One of my family was part of a proactive police initiative working mainly with young people in a notorious and very deprived local estate. It took a lot of time and hard work for them to be accepted and trusted in the community, but it was paying off as locals would come to them with problems, trouble was anticipated before it happened and crime rates started to drop. The team was disbanded as soon as the swingeing cuts to police numbers were made and they were diverted to reactive work in the city centre. An opportunity missed to make a real difference.