1/ Inspired by @RisuToInu & @NessaTahmin tweets I’m going to tell you a little story...

When I was working as a NEETs coordinator in East London, almost all of my students had severe Social Emotional & Mental Health needs & the borough I was working in was 1 of the most

2/ deprived in the country. Around 7 years ago, this was when London street violence really started in increase with stabbing, shooting & the new trend, acid attacks becoming terrifying more common.

Out of my students, there was 1 young man ‘Mark’ (not his real name) who I will

3/ never forget. Mark was an 17 year old who was a suspected drug dealer & had a big reputation in the area. Mark was as thin as a rake, with a mind like a steel-trap. Observant, decisive & logical he was a guy that everyone would listen to. Luckily

4/ Mark & I got on & he helped me control the group.

Mark was on the radar of the Youth Offending Team & there were various agencies trying to get involved to help.

One time I was teaching about different career options in my class & Mark was unusually irritated. He was more

5/ disruptive & disrespectful than normal. I confronted him in class & he said to me “working a normal job is a mug’s game. Only idiots do that.”

This started a debate that I’ll never forget.

I made my point that working is something that is noble, you have peace of mind &

6/ you can provide nice things for your family. I encouraged him to go to University & get a new life. He replied the following:

* Peace of mind? Every adult that he knew was always stressed about money & if they will keep their job
* All the drug dealers that he knew made more

7/ money in a day than some people would make in a month.
* He explained that his elder cousin went to university to study a law degree but couldn’t get a placement & could only find a job in Waitrose & is 27k in debt
* He said that they chase the drug dealers but it’s the banks

8/ that are the real criminals as they gambled their money away during the Credit Crunch & got us the tax payers to pay for it. He called it the ‘greatest robbery in history’
* He explained that we were less than 10 miles from Canary Wharf, London’s financial heart

9/ but none of that wealth ever touched their area & they don’t care about the kids in their area. Plus those were the people that bought & sold the drugs that ended up on the street.
* He cussed the schools saying that the subjects that he learnt had no bearing to his reality

10/ I.e Henry 8th wives don’t mean s#*$ to me.
* He believed that music, sports & drugs were the only way out for kids like him.

I was stunned.

When I told him that drug dealing would lead him to death or jail he shrugged & said “everyone has to go sometime.” & walked out.

11/ At the end of the day, that conversation shook me to my core. How could he be so nihilistic & he has barely started Life?

But he was right. How can we preach to kids the right way when there are so many injustices in our system?

12/ When Austerity hit, our centre was forced to close because we lost budget.

As the violence increased in London over the years, I often think about what that young man said & think about the lost souls on the streets because the system is rigged against

13/ certain groups of people. I know a lot of young people who did all the right things like go to uni & behave themselves only to be locked out of the higher arenas of life because they don’t have the cultural capital or connections to get them to their dreams.

14/ it breaks my heart & that’s why we need out the box thinking to engage these young people before they become a lost generation.

Fin