By guest author, David Gustave
‘It’s not the hand that holds the weapon, but it’s the mind that is behind the weapon.’
This is a quote given to me by my boss here at Kids Company Camila Batmangeledjh. It is a quote that over the last few weeks has played heavily on my own mind. In my capacity as a keyworker I spend much of my time relating to the minds of the young people that I deal with on a daily basis.
These are minds that for as much as 84% of those that access our service have been homeless prior to engaging with us. These are minds that have been subjected to unbelievable amounts of trauma and neglect- 83% of these young minds having been subject to multiple traumas prior to their attendance at Kidsco.
These are young minds that are placed on ‘at risk registers’ when there are not enough social workers to deal with the caseload. These are young minds that are officially the unhappiest in the Western World according to a survey produced by the UN. These are young minds that are excluded at alarmingly high rates from School and are subject to some of the most draconian levels of incarceration in western Europe.
But these are young minds that I have seen afford respect and love to me on a daily basis. These are young minds that create beautiful and moving works of art. These are young minds that are flourishing at University and continue to believe that life is worth living. These are young minds that should be cherished and nurtured. These are young minds that deserve our care, time and attention.
Is it not about time that we used our minds? The way we are treating our young is not working we have to accept that a mind without love is also a dangerous weapon.
David Gustave works with the charity Kids Company
Even reading this with my Resistance Button set to Maximum (it goes to 11), I find it hard to disagree with the idea of “ a mind without love” being “a dangerous weapon”. Again, resisting the massive temptation to mix it with the social services crew, could I add the observation that a mind without language will always find it difficult to engage in discourse with itself, let alone others; I mean, to examine its own ideas and actions, along with their effect on others (“empathy” being the best word for that). Helping these youngsters to express themselves, with sound grammar and a decent vocabulary, would be a far higher priority for me than the arty route in. Then again, having seen for myself the rehabilitating effect of well-managed participation in drama (Shakespeare, no less) on certain expulsion candidates back in my teaching days (just over two decades ago), maybe we should use whatever inducements work.
Posted by: Rob dePlume | Thursday, 03 July 2008 at 03:34 PM
"Is it not about time that we used our minds? The way we are treating our young is not working we have to accept that a mind without love is also a dangerous weapon."
I don't think that it is that simple, many children in the past have suffered terrible abuse and have never gone on to commit violence against other. Most were a danger to themselves, not to anyone else.
In the past many of those who were terribly abused in nazareth house and other orphanages never went on to commit violent, mindless crimes like today's generation. Criminals certainly as a few spent much of their lives in prison, but not many for violence. Most were likely to self harm rather than harm others. So no this is to easy, too pat.
There is something else at play here, lack of education, poor prospects, disconnect from society, exclusion from everyday life?
No one just wakes up in the morning and decides, today I'm going to be evil and those who've suffered abuse do not, contrary to what the social services tell you go on to be abusers. Most just want to get out and as far away as possible from their past and childhood, build a new life for themselves and are most likely to be over protective with their own offspring.
To my way of thinking something is going wrong deep inside our society, too much is being demanded of our young. Too much pressure to succeed and conform at too young an age, so few of them are getting the chance to really be children, to grow up and to find out and learn who they are and what they are capable of achieving.
Posted by: flipped | Thursday, 03 July 2008 at 06:58 PM
"No one just wakes up in the morning and decides, today I'm going to be evil" On what planet have you been living? Do the names Stalin, Pol Pot or Ian Brady mean anything to you?>
Posted by: JS Glick | Friday, 04 July 2008 at 09:51 AM
JS Glick
No one is born evil. No one does just wake up one morning and decide that they will be evil and commit evil. There is a long and complicated road to that end and many others have a hand in it, some conciously, others completely unknowing the part they'll play.
I've seen evil in a dog collar and a nuns habit, I've also seen good in convicted criminals, some who've spent many years in prison. All of them were products of their upbringing and the society they lived in.
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Ian Brady et al. All of them were formed and moulded by their upbringings, families and the social that surrounded them.
Posted by: flipped | Friday, 04 July 2008 at 11:33 AM
Stop the import of all gratuitously violent films from foremostly the US.--together with the production of kill everything playstations. Some people are making millions of dollars through production of this mental/social pollution. We should change our own attitudes as adults and grow up. Kids are becoming totally screwed-up by watching adults copy the kind of logic and reasoning of "South Park". Many--far too many, have no respect for themselves, their parents, or their society. Sadly there is some justification for all three circumstances--in the end everyone* pays towards a downward spiral to perpetual chaos.
*Except those who have made enough money, from whatever means to buy their way out of the gladiatorial arena.
Posted by: Diogenes | Friday, 04 July 2008 at 01:11 PM