Riots: What Do You Think?

Posted by CYeditor from Carmarthenshire - Published on 10/08/2011 at 16:02
6 comments » - Tagged as People, Topical

With disturbances in areas across the United Kingdom including Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham, there is unrest amongst many local communities.

Many young people have been shocked by the violence and lootings over the last few days and are worried about the image portrayed of their generation as a result of these events.

Young people from Carmarthenshire are keen to show that not all young people are like this and have responded by speaking out against these “mindless” events.

Charlene aged 25 from Carway
“We as people need to look at a larger scale of things and not stereotype young people. The 2011 riots are no longer to do with getting a point across but are simply an excuse to steal from shops. Having spoken about this to loads of my friends and family I can personally see that no one agrees with what is happening in any shape or form. I think it’s time that the government opened their eyes and not only noticed the ‘young rioters’ that are making trouble but also the young people that are not taking part and in fact helping to sort the mess out.”

Adam aged 15 from Newcastle-Emlyn
“It’s just an excuse and it is mindless. If anything happened near me I’d be the first to organise a group to go to town and help clear all the mess up. A lot of my friends have been discussing the violence over Facebook and other social networking sites over the past few nights. I’m worried that the minorities are going to spoil it for the majority, who are just as disgusted to see the destruction as anyone else!”

Gareth aged 23 from Llandeilo
“In the space of three days the country has witnessed mindless violence, resulting in homes lost and communities fearing for their lives. I personally feel that current politics are partly to blame for this. The fact that it takes 48 hours and a C.O.B.R.A. meeting to even being to start solving the problem is crazy! It’s not all bad news however and we need only look at the streets during the aftermath of these riots to see countless volunteers gathering together to clear the mess made the night before. Communities have come together to form neighbourhood watches to safe guard themselves and the community spirit between these individuals is at an all time high.”

Sarah Powell, Young People’s Participation Officer at Carmarthenshire County Council
“I get to see firsthand the amazing work that young people in Carmarthenshire do on a daily basis. Our young people really help themselves and make the most of the services on offer to them. It’s really sad to see the actions of the few young people involved in the riots have such a bad reflection on young people in general.”

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Youth Service brings together young people from all over Carmarthenshire and provides them with opportunities to learn new skills, interact with local community groups and make a difference in their areas.

Got an opinion on the riots? Comment below...

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6 Comments – Post a comment

steampunk13

Commented 9 months ago - 10th August 2011 - 17:29pm

RIP all the innocent lives ruined because of these riots. I hope justice is dealt to anyone found guilty.

I reckon it shouldn't be the tax payers of innocents that have to pay for all the 'clean up' of Britain after all this rioting - it should come out of the pockets of those caught and found guilty rioting. On top of any money they have to give for compensation/theft/vandalism etc. That will teach them a lesson. If they are job seekers or workers - take away half thier money until enough has been taken to cover the cost.

And I also wish the news will stop focusing on the youngsters involved in this - there are adults rioting as well. I wish they would stop using the younger generation as a blame for the mess that is Britian.

PiliPala90

Commented 9 months ago - 10th August 2011 - 20:44pm

I think that it is absolutely awful what is going on with the riots. I can't believe how out of control it has become. It really is giving a bad name to us young people and it is only a minority of us. It is such a shame and I hope that the people that live and work nearby the riots keep as safe as possible!

CLICtania

Commented 9 months ago - 12th August 2011 - 11:20am

There's a Question Time Special on BBC3 at 8:30 tonight with young people under 30 debating the riots. Hopefully this will give young people a chance to have their say about the events rather than being the subject of other people's debates about it!

Ihavethecyrusvirusx

Commented 9 months ago - 13th August 2011 - 12:11pm

I just wish that there wasn't so much violence in the world. I have a lot of family in London who had to live through out it. One of my cousins had to go to work throughout it all. She's only 22. And then I have one friend who was in the worst part of the riots and she was talking to me online saying how much she wishes she was away from it all. It's awful. I really dislike violence and sometimes there really is no need for it at all. x

GeoffCLIC

Commented 9 months ago - 14th August 2011 - 21:18pm

It's interesting to note that the cities in the UK that have been subjected to rioting are the ones that have also cut their youth services dramatically, even if this is a coincidence, who will pick up the pieces in communities and neighborhoods with no or very limited youth support services?

miss_ninjastar

Commented 9 months ago - 18th August 2011 - 14:49pm

I agree that there are a hell of a lot of problems in the country, and from being fans of certain news pages on Facebook it seems people are only further riled by pages asking for support to help other countries when ours in such a mess already.

But I don't really think rioting, and more importantly looting, is the best solution and looting definitely isn't, yes I am fed up of unemployment that affects those around me and talks of my pension taking a fair whack of cuts but stealing a pair of Nike trainers and a plasma TV is not going to help! Neither is shouting at those taking part to get a job, as it's not quite so simple unfortunately.

I agree with above comments, youth services need effort to make younger people feel they have some worth. More effort from those higher up the chain would make a big impact down here at the bottom. Stereotyping doesn't help either as was also pointed out above, yes there are the minority who may be young trouble makers but maybe we need to look further into things, let's just hope the government can sort themselves out, and in turn, sort Britain out! :)