So, are the kids still not interested in their future?

“The winter of discontent”, yes, that was it’s name in 1978-1979, a good 10 years before I was born. With widespread strikes by local authority trade unions who were trying to secure larger pay rises for their members brought the country to a standstill.

“Are we entering another ‘Winter of Discontent’?” is a question many have asked after the recent spate of trade union strikes.

Another winter of discontent? Not likely, the kind of power the trade unions had back in the 70s when the country was reliant on coal and mining caused more shock-waves, than we could see now. What we ARE seeing now though, is an all-out revolt from young people, under the guise of student protests.

Do not be fooled, the country is swiftly losing the confidence of its future generation.

Two weeks ago, we saw student protests turn ugly and the Tories’ HQ bore the brunt of the damage.

Yesterday, the students returned again with mass walk-outs from university and secondary school students around the UK, oh deary me!

This raises a question from me, in fact, from thousands of young people around the UK to adults - “Do you still think we are not interested in our future?”

Many adults on the Why Do website have asked, “why do so many young people not seem interested in their education?” and I answered that question in a previous blog which you can read here.

These protests have shown in destructive and passionate detail, exactly how young people feel about their education. The lengths they will go to secure their future, despite the boring lectures and unruliness they occasionally show, they love their education and know the benefits it holds.

Their apparent hate and disdain for education is down to the METHOD used by the educational system, not for the system itself. Young people love to learn, they love the empowerment that comes with learning something new but its delivery does not excite them.

But this lack of excitement should not be used as a reason to allow the university fees to rise. I know how much harder it will be for young people, who lack enough guidance from adults as it is, if they do not have a degree. I have worked for 7 years on nothing but a BTEC 1st Diploma in Electronics and know everything could have been so much easier for me if I had a degree.

The WhyDo campaign was created to help bridge the gap between adults and young people, if the politicians vote to accept this fee rise, the gap between adults and young people will extend even further. With millions of people unemployed in the UK already, what exactly does the government expect young people who cannot afford university to do? 

What measures are in place for young people to prosper alternatively?

Pioneering thought and entrepeneurism are not taught ideologies in the UK or around the world, but the need for such subjects to be raised has never been more obvious.

Young people need more voice in politics, yes, many will argue that young people show no interest in politics, but when the policies directly affect them, as the university fee dispute shows, young people WILL respond.

The need for alternatives has never been more obvious, parents, teachers, youth workers and adults in general need to take a long hard look at themselves and consider the ramifications this will have on the future and the contents OF the future, will there even be a stable society waiting for the next generation?

These are the hard questions that need to be answered, and sorry, Big Society is NOT the answer.