Tipping the scales of social injustice (From Swindon Advertiser)

Tipping the scales of social injustice

12:50pm Tuesday 4th August 2009

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By Mum's The Word »

There have been two reports in the news over the past few weeks, both of which are really concerning.

The first is a BBC report on social mobility and calls for universities to take into account the social background of applicants. Unsurprisingly, those with the top professional careers in our country come from the more affluent families. It seems that in Education money rather than brains is the key. Those who once would have “worked their way up” through a workplace now face a limit from the expectation of degrees and postgraduate qualifications. Opportunities have decreased for those from within the poorest sector of our Society. The University fees introduced in 2003 have made things even more difficult for those from poorer social backgrounds.

The second article is about the rise in teen abortions in our country. The report states that last year 41,593 abortions were performed on girls aged 15-19. And showed that 38 per cent of those who had abortions had not used any contraception. More and more teens are relying on the use of the morning after pill as a regular form of contraception and even more worryingly buying an abortion pill illegally over the Internet.

So our teens are having more unprotected sex and putting themselves at risk of sexually transmitted diseases, which have increased dramatically in the last ten years, as well as pregnancy.

All of this is extremely worrying as a parent, especially when you come from the poorer sector of society. The recession is making it more difficult to get a job and claw a way up the social ladder and university tuition fees are becoming even more of a challenge for the poorest parents to find.

What concerns me is how all of this is affecting the aspirations of children from the poorer end of the scale. It seems to me that we are not going to reduce the levels of teen pregnancy when getting a job or an education may seem so out of reach to our young people. No wonder so many young girls see pregnancy as their only option in life.

Take a look at the picture for example that I have posted. This is Sussex Square in Walcot. The area was supposed to have been regenerated in the eighties, but the council ran out of money. Again two years ago this area was up for redevelopment. Whilst other areas such as Cavendish Square, Marlowe Ave and Penhill have been or are in the process of redevelopment, the council has yet again cancelled the plans for Sussex Square, due to running out of money. The whole area is so run down, it’s quite honestly abysmal.

So look at the picture, this is my local shops and what my kids see on a regular basis. I take them to the chemist for their medicine when they are poorly and they see the heroin addicts come in and out for their methadone. They see bare chested lads wondering around with a cigarette in one hand and a can of white lightening in the other. Some of these lads are pushing buggies or prams with their children in. They see teenage girls trailed by their offspring, weighted down with bags of shopping, looking old and worn down by the fact that all they think that society has to offer them is one pregnancy after another.

I don’t want my children to believe that this is all life has to offer them. I don’t want them to think that this is the right way to live. I am fortunate that they go to a school which recognises the problem and does a tremendous amount of work on raising the aspirations and hopes of its young pupils. My daughter even went on a school visit to Bath University to see what a uni is like.

It makes me so mad to hear people condemn young people such as those that I have mentioned. Those from the poorest end of society who have no dreams, aspirations, career goals or indeed see no life in the future except that of having children and being unemployed, at best working a minimum wage job. Those who watch reality TV and dream, believing that this is the only way out. Whose fault is it? Well it’s been ingrained through the generations, it’s the fault of social injustice and it needs to be reduced, not on the increase. All young people should have dreams, hopes and aspirations. They should be able to believe that with sheer hard work anything is possible.