Social problems are damaging for individuals and society; and are some of the most intractable problems. One that shames us all is the tragic waste of potential for an increasing number of young people. The statistics are truly disturbing.
There are currently around one million young people between 16 and 24 not in education, employment or training (NEETS) in England. This represents 15% of all young people and is has increased by 50% in the last 10 years. Even more alarming is the fact that of those that stay in this category, around 1 in 7 of these will die within 10 years – usually from drugs or suicide.
The financial cost to society is huge, estimated to be in excess of £20Bn per year –crime, benefits, health.
They are the generation of tomorrow and they have no confidence, no prospects and no future – some of them have never even seen a cow! This is a by-product of the society we are building today.
Government initiatives and programmes have achieved little, the numbers just keep going up. Creating supermarket ‘jobs’ is not a solution, these kids want to be valued, they want to make a contribution, they want to be useful.
Thankfully, there are people who are doing something to remedy this wrong. Cat Zero is a charity in Hull that is doing some remarkable work with these kids. Read this report about a BBC radio item on how Cat Zero is transforming their lives. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cvk8b)
Cat Zero restores their spirit - the confidence, prospects and future just follow on naturally. What a great organisation to work for.
http://www.catzero.org/
Tuesday 6 March 2012
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2 comments:
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