“When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies, Drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies, Be on TV, Be in magazines” – Pussycat Dolls NEET anthem - ‘When I Grow Up’.
Q: What sells newspapers? A: Fear and loathing
We enjoy nothing better than to hate over our morning newspapers, getting off on the latest shock horror nightmare. Anything to stave off the boredom, right? Youth are pretty unpopular right now – it’s an angle that sells after all:
NEETs leave school early with no qualifications, do not enter employment or training, log on for benefits, become parents when they are no more than children themselves and form a generational cult, a multi-ethnic, non-denominational, cross-class Culture of Idiocy which plumbs depths previously undiscovered in history. The language is ‘Chavlish’, brought to prominence by Ali G and glorified on Little Britain and Catherine Tate. The aim is to sound thick, impaired even. In schools, to work is viewed as the actions of a loser and a good kicking will generally follow any form of academic achievement. It is de rigueur to carry a knife, guns are revered and you better watch out if you’re an old person on a housing estate. In fact you better watch out if you’re ginger according to the latest reports. NEETs are so useless that we won’t be able to rely on them for work in the future – who will look after us when we’re old? We’ll have to make up with the Eastern European immigrants who were our previous pet hate headlines just before NEETs became more current.
NEETs – The Next Generation – will boldly claim benefits, go to the chippy, mug you and leave you to die. All they care about is celebrity and the vague idea that they too could be famous and get lots of money and sex, if only we gave them the chance….
Now where would they get an idea like that?
Whether or not you subscribe to this jaundiced view of the current lost generation of British youth, the government is certainly following a policy of prevention rather than cure. It is actually cheaper to keep NEETs occupied with things they are interested in – like music, media, arts and sports-based activities for young people – rather than leaving them to pick up their dole cheques every other Monday and then locking them up following the inevitable crime spree. Right now there are huge funding streams being made available to the tune of literally hundreds of millions of pounds which have been earmarked to combat NEET Syndrome via the Learning and Skills Council, LDA, Department for Children Schools and Families, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Communities, Department of Communities and Local Government.
Training organisations such as www.pointblanklearning.com tender for the right to deliver accredited activities for young people to the NEETs to encourage them back into education and/or employment - or to keep them off the streets if you prefer. This process saves the taxpayer billions in legal and prison costs per annum. It’s true – Point Blank can report that within six months of delivering precisely this type of project in partnership with the Metropolitan Police in Southwark, the police reported a 27% decrease in crime in the area. The NEETs were given something to do and therefore stopped turning to crime to entertain themselves during that period, preferring instead to contribute to a CD of tracks entitled ‘Found’.
How Has This Happened?
But why has this situation arisen? How did NEETs come to pass? NEETs are the sharp end of a far less dangerous but no less catastrophic culture of idiocy brought about by an irresponsible media and an unprincipled marketing ethos governed only by money.
It’s the Media’s Fault…
What can we expect of our youth when they are bombarded by crassness and vulgarity from the moment they are born? TV, film, magazines, newspapers, radio – it all contributes to the cult of the idiot which is robbing our youth of their identity and reason. Lad Culture, which sold so many magazines and was held in such high regard throughout the 90’s has turned into this gaudy celebration of the cretin – look at Jade Goody, Jordan, Calum Best and the rest of them – these are the role models for NEETS.
Radio
Listen to Chris Moyles in the morning and tell me that show isn’t a celebration of moronic behaviour. Being an ignorant fool is now aspirational. It could get you to be a Radio One DJ.
TV
Two words: Big Brother. No action or talent is required to succeed. No valuable human characteristic is necessary. Also worthy of a mention are the non-‘talent shows’ which purport to discover the next big thing but actually discover the next advertising campaign for Sony BMG and cheapen and dilute the ambition of our youth in the process.
Film
If you can’t understand why our youth are so violent, why not ask the film and gaming industries to justify the gratuitous bloodshed, sexual violence and ignorance dished out at will: Saw, Hostel, Grand Theft Auto etc.
Press
Walk into any local newsagent and glance at the mags – not just the top shelf – and you have the answer as to why sex is more related to porn and violence than making love with someone you actually like. Every single magazine in view features bimbos with their tops off including women’s mags. Just next to these you’ll find the kids’ comics.
The point here is not to bring back the birch, national service or Mary Whitehouse – censorship achieves nothing positive - but to look around us and understand what we have created through our own actions. A sense of responsibility towards our youth wouldn’t go amiss amongst the people that make these films, TV and radio shows, magazines etc. At present there’s no need to account for our actions. You can go out and make the most sickening pulp and no-one will publicly question it. Therefore the only thing that governs our actions is money – sell papers, TV, radio films – by any means necessary. Then blame the results on the ‘bloody politicians’. But nobody in discussion here gives a monkey’s about the politicians. That’s not what they watch, read, listen to and play with. They watch telly and films and that’s where they get their input. NEETs are the inevitable result of a meaningless and negative environment which drains creativity and encourages stupidity and violence. Who are we to be outraged when young people behave like morons when we don’t provide them with any other option?
Until individuals in the media hold themselves responsible for their own actions we will all suffer the indignities of the NEET generation. And we will pay good money for it too…