Did anyone see the programme on C4 (I think) last night?
It interviewed about 5 or 6 teenagers who were involved in the riots last year.
They were interviewed in the presence of their parents, and in two cases, it was just the mother interviewed as the kid was in jail.
I was absolutely amazed as to the attitude of these people, as apart from one woman whose son was doing time and who showed a lot of shame and disgust (as well as a fair deal of self-loathing that she failed to raise her son better), the rest of the parents and kids treated the whole thing as a bit of a joke.
There was one kid in particular who had a smirk on his face the entire time, and his mother was no better, basically no condemnation, just pity and empathy towards their teenage criminal offspring.
Another kid from Manchester had obviously no remorse and his parents equated rioting with protesting. His father admitted to robbing, smashing windows etc when younger also.
Another guy had a single father and his mother lived in Brazil. In fairness to him, he seemed outwardly very bragadoccio but did seem to realise the error of his ways and although joked a bit, sounded like he never wanted to see the inside of jail again. Early intervention might have worked in his case. His father was not very condemning but obviously wasn't happy with his sons actions.
The last case was of a girl who had gone shopping and got caught up in the mess. Went into a looted shop, came out with 2 trainers, dropped them, and went on home. She got 10 months. Again, when her mother was interviewed, she seemed angry, but quite scared for her daughter. Hard to say if she was 100% innocent, but 10 months inside seemed harsh.
It was a very interesting look into the justification and condemnation of those well-off middle class families and working class families on both sides.
It interviewed about 5 or 6 teenagers who were involved in the riots last year.
They were interviewed in the presence of their parents, and in two cases, it was just the mother interviewed as the kid was in jail.
I was absolutely amazed as to the attitude of these people, as apart from one woman whose son was doing time and who showed a lot of shame and disgust (as well as a fair deal of self-loathing that she failed to raise her son better), the rest of the parents and kids treated the whole thing as a bit of a joke.
There was one kid in particular who had a smirk on his face the entire time, and his mother was no better, basically no condemnation, just pity and empathy towards their teenage criminal offspring.
Another kid from Manchester had obviously no remorse and his parents equated rioting with protesting. His father admitted to robbing, smashing windows etc when younger also.
Another guy had a single father and his mother lived in Brazil. In fairness to him, he seemed outwardly very bragadoccio but did seem to realise the error of his ways and although joked a bit, sounded like he never wanted to see the inside of jail again. Early intervention might have worked in his case. His father was not very condemning but obviously wasn't happy with his sons actions.
The last case was of a girl who had gone shopping and got caught up in the mess. Went into a looted shop, came out with 2 trainers, dropped them, and went on home. She got 10 months. Again, when her mother was interviewed, she seemed angry, but quite scared for her daughter. Hard to say if she was 100% innocent, but 10 months inside seemed harsh.
It was a very interesting look into the justification and condemnation of those well-off middle class families and working class families on both sides.
