Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to ensure every young person has done 50 hours of voluntary work by the time they are 19-years-old.

 

Mr Brown said a promise to bring in compulsory community service would be a part of his next election manifesto.

 

Under the scheme, the work may include helping charities and is likely to become part of the school curriculum.

 

The scheme would be woven into plans to make everyone stay in education or training until the age of 18 by 2011.

 

Mr Brown told the News of the World newspaper: "It is my ambition to create a Britain in which there is a clear expectation that all young people will undertake some service to their community, and where community service will become a normal part of growing up in Britain.

 

'Clear accreditation'

 

"And, by doing so, the contributions of each of us will build a better society for all of us."

 

The prime minister added: "That would mean young people being expected to contribute at least 50 hours of community service by the time they have reached the age of 19.

 

"This will build on the platform provided by citizenship classes as they develop in our schools. But because the greater part of what I envisage as community service takes place outside the school day, it will require the close involvement of local community organisations and charities."

 

Mr Brown said the work would also be linked to a "clear system of accreditation" so that young people would be able mark their achievements gained through volunteering.

 

Gordon Brown first proposed the idea of a National Youth Service to channel teenagers into voluntary work last year.

 

It is due to be formally launched in September, and would become compulsory if Labour was re-elected.

 

Source: BBC News

 

Is this a good idea or just another crazy idea by a party running out of steam?

I like this. Teaches a bit of social responsibility etc.

Although I wish they wouldn't call it "voluntary" work if it's going to be anything but.

50 hours isn't long over years....

Personally, I think it's a good idea IF it is done correctly... I've been a supporter of a sort of "new" version of National Service which didn't involve forcing people into the military and square bashing mindlessly.. That doesn't actually teach anyone responsibility or respect for others or oneself, National Service may have taught discipline, but in reality it was just mindless, slavish obedience, whereas this sort of thing will teach youngsters social responsibility, and that they actually do have a place in society, so I hope this will be done in such a way as to be more about respect rather than just slavish obedience and that communities will benefit...

 

 

50 hours isn't long over years....

 

It's not really tbh... I'd prefer it if it were perhaps a six-month programme... I dont really know what kids will learn about others or about themselves in a matter of a couple of weeks....

 

Good luck to Labour trying to get the Chav scum in England/Wales to do this tho.

 

Looks like another advantage to having been through the Scottish Education System coming up.

I would prefer a non combat military option though (i.e not sent to Iraq and Afghanistan) as that improves things like mental strength, physical fitness and so on and given the obesity problems in this country among the young and lack of exercise thanks to XBox I would prefer to see a military element as opposed to just doing shopping and gardening for old ladies which sounds pretty much what this would be, with the lack of apprentiships in this country these days a young person spending 2 years in the military can learn things like engineering and skilled driving and so on and basically learn a trade and get skills in certain areas

Call me an ass but he can fukk off. There's no point to it, and plus (trust me), it would NEVER work.

with the lack of apprentiships in this country these days a young person spending 2 years in the military can learn things like engineering and skilled driving and so on and basically learn a trade and get skills in certain areas

 

Always the fukkin' military with you Craig innit.....? :rolleyes:

 

The reason for the lack of apprenticeships or vocational training in this country is mainly due to the last sodding TORY govt mate..... They pretty much destroyed the apprenticeship system and allowed all the Polytechnics, which actually taught trades such as plumbing, electrician, construction and so on, to become fake-ass "universities"..... :rolleyes:

 

What's needed is a return to a system of Polytechnics and technical colleges, or better yet, doing what they do in the likes of Germany, and even Poland and teaching trades in STATE schools, NOT forcing kids into the sodding military, where the Govt would just use it as an excuse to send teenage cannon fodder off to be blown up in Afghanistan..... <_<

 

I think that it's very telling that in Germany they have a literacy rate of over 99%, whereas in UK almost a third of the population is functionally illiterate..... :rolleyes: A surely damning indictment of our education system.....

Always the fukkin' military with you Craig innit.....? :rolleyes:

 

The reason for the lack of apprenticeships or vocational training in this country is mainly due to the last sodding TORY govt mate..... They pretty much destroyed the apprenticeship system and allowed all the Polytechnics, which actually taught trades such as plumbing, electrician, construction and so on, to become fake-ass "universities"..... :rolleyes:

 

What's needed is a return to a system of Polytechnics and technical colleges, or better yet, doing what they do in the likes of Germany, and even Poland and teaching trades in STATE schools, NOT forcing kids into the sodding military, where the Govt would just use it as an excuse to send teenage cannon fodder off to be blown up in Afghanistan..... <_<

 

I think that it's very telling that in Germany they have a literacy rate of over 99%, whereas in UK almost a third of the population is functionally illiterate..... :rolleyes: A surely damning indictment of our education system.....

 

The military service would be non combat, there would be no question under my set up of people being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan or any other combat or peacekeeping situation

 

But the system that has been proposed which is essentially doing old ladies' shopping for 50 hrs over a few years is pointless and teaches the kids nothing it is purely a gimmick hence why I felt that the military in a non combat and home based role would be useful and like said they could learn a lot more through training in a trade for 2 years in the military than they will learn in 50 hrs or shopping for pensioners

 

Yes I agree with you about the apprentiships, wasn't our finest hour but the new regime has had 12 years to bring them back and hasn't

The military service would be non combat, there would be no question under my set up of people being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan or any other combat or peacekeeping situation

 

But the system that has been proposed which is essentially doing old ladies' shopping for 50 hrs over a few years is pointless and teaches the kids nothing it is purely a gimmick hence why I felt that the military in a non combat and home based role would be useful and like said they could learn a lot more through training in a trade for 2 years in the military than they will learn in 50 hrs or shopping for pensioners

 

Yes I agree with you about the apprentiships, wasn't our finest hour but the new regime has had 12 years to bring them back and hasn't

 

You wont exactly see me defending the Nu Labor regime in any way though mate, which is the difference between you and me... You generally hold that Thatcher was a good thing for Britian, whereas I admit that voting for B-Liar in '97 was a huge error on my part, and one which I certainly never repeated.... I very quickly realised that Nu Labor was just a load of spin and BS and nothing of actual substance..... I just wanted the Tories out, and voted accordingly.... And while it's true that I now want Nu Labor out, I sure as hell dont believe that the Boy Cameron can do anything to improve our country in the fundamental manner that it needs improving..... Which is why I believe that a Hung Parliament may be the best recourse to deliver the very real change that is necessary in this country, both political and cultural..... Politicians would be actually forced to work together and seek consent from the country at large, which will not happen if it's just one bloody 'empty suit' taking over from another one..... Who knows, a Hung Parliament might even see us getting someone who actually KNOWS what they're talking about in charge of the country's finances - ie, Vince Cable.. And getting that utter dick Mervyn King out of the Bank of England and getting Danny Blanchflower in there instead might improve things too.....

 

ANYWAY, I'm sorry, but I'm just so NOT convinced that military training will actually do anything tbh.... All it would do is breed a more lethal species of gangster on the streets who would actually be able to shoot more straight after having all that nice army weapons training..... :rolleyes: Yes, I certainly agree that doing shopping for old ladies is a bit of a weedy, wimpy cop-out, I'm pretty sure we can come up with a middle ground which would be more worthwhile than going down Tesco for old Mrs Miggings at No 23, but not as extreme as square bashing and "marching up and down the square" as in that famous Monty Python sketch...... :lol: I'm also not exactly convinced that some Govt wouldn't use military National Service as an excuse to send kids off to fight in whatever war's going on.... I dont trust politicians or the military, bottom line.... Look at what the American Govt did in Vietnam, drafted teenage kids to fight the Viet Cong and mentally scarred an entire generation of young Americans.... And The Israelis similarly use "national service" as an excuse to use Israeli kids in that manner and brainwash them into believing that all Palestinians are "evil"....

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm, sending us teens into military training whereas we're just thinking that we'd be doing some community work... :lol: I can see that going down well :heehee:

 

Tbh it's not that hard to get an apprenticeship, i.e. in mechanics for example, it's more of a case of just trying to get people to look into them. But I think that's a whole different subject, I'm more concerned with what this 'community work' involves.

What if the Tories get in, would they still implement the idea, they probably brush it under the carpet, Gordon Browm is all mouth and no action.

 

In the end long I think its a good idea for youngsters to learn a trade, to get their footing, but they won't get any rewards from it.

You could do it through the schools. I had to complete 100 hours of community volunteering in order to graduate high school at 18. However I admit the system really shouldn't be implemented universally, as many students have jobs and no doubt many others will drop out of school simply because they didn't complete the service volunteering. Individual schools or local authorities could try it out on a school-by-school basis. How decentralized is the UK school system? Are there city- or district-level authorities or do they all report to a federal ministry of education?

I know the exam boards are all split up, and Scotland does what ever the f*** it pleases.

 

The reason i never bothered to apply for dual nationality for Germany was the threat of national service :lol: