Charities and opposition politicians have attacked the Government after the UK was ranked [u]bottom[/u] in a Unicef report on child well-being across 21 industrialised countries.Shadow chancellor George Osborne accused Chancellor Gordon Brown of "failing" a generation of children while the director of Save the Children branded the report "shameful".
But a government spokeswoman hit back, claiming much of the data was out of date and did not reflect recent improvements in the UK.
The spokeswoman said successes included teenage pregnancy being at a 20-year low and a fall in the number of children living in homes where neither parent worked.
The report, which the children's charity released on Wednesday, says the UK lags behind in terms of relative poverty and deprivation, the quality of children's relationships with their parents and peers, child health and safety, behaviour and risk-taking and young people's own sense of well-being.
The country rated higher for educational well-being but languished in the bottom third for each of the other measures, giving it an overall placing at the bottom of all 21 countries, along with the US.
[b]Shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "This report tells the truth about Brown's Britain. After 10 years of his welfare and education policies, our children today have the lowest well-being in the developed world.[/b]
"The Chancellor has failed this generation of children and will fail the next if he's given a chance. We need a new approach."
Unicef looked at 40 separate indicators of child well-being to gauge the lives of children in the majority of economically advanced nations. [b]North European countries dominated the top half of the table, with child well-being at its highest in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.[/b]
A Government spokeswoman said: "Nobody can dispute that improving children's well-being is a real priority for this Government. We recognise that Unicef does vital work in this area. But in many cases the data used is several years old and does not reflect more recent improvements in the UK such as the continuing fall in the teenage pregnancy rate or in the proportion of children living in workless households."
[url=http://lifestyle.aol.co.uk/parenting/uk-bottom-of-child-well-being/artic...
I can't say I find any of the above claims about England surprising.
When I compare my education to my friends in European countries I can see that thier standard of education is miles better then what me and my friends ever got. Me and my friends have often joked about how humiliating it can be that some people in other countries can speak better English then people in England :oops:
Britain's illiteracy rates are disappointing, and 7 million adults in the UK can only read and write to a level of a competent 11 year old, but a 11 year old in Britain does know a sufficient amount IMO.
As for poverty, I am gob smacked about the number of homeless people there are around here and in London.
I know me and my family are better off now then when we were about 10 years ago. But as a country I am not entirely convinced that we are better off, or do you disagree?
Somebody think of the children!
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
children of england are ungrateful brats
God knows why they consider themselves the most unhappiest children in the west - what more do they want :roll:
and whats wrong with the standard of education? i went to a failing public skool and walked away with 12 GCSE's A/Bs :?:
Maybe that is the problem?
The qualifications have been watered down so much that they mean very little.
granted getting 12 a/b's is brilliant, but still that is more down to you than the school.
Schools have no discipline.
I decided I did not want to be a teacher before we as a class decided to get a teacher to quit by christmas (we were in year 8 at the time). We beat our target by a month as he was gone in November. and I am relatively quiet. you never hear me talk in a group. I was more or less a goody two shoes (who schemes, but that is a different point).
There is no respect in the classroom.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
its not all about the lack of respect in classrooms
primary schools dnt face even a quater of crap that high schools face
plus its very easy to exclude or refuse to teach a kid these days
but how come they're faling too?
according to some report on BBC news website
DUTCH children are the happiest only cos they're allowed to do what they want and parents/authorities have a carefree attitude about sex, drugs, education and drinking etc
so being the 21 on that UNICEF list aint neccessarily a bad thing
a liberal attitude is not a bad thing, the Dutch have low rates of STI's, teenage pregnancies, alcoholics, people that are addicted* to drugs (I mean addiction so bad to a point where it disrupts their life). We in England have a bigger problem then them! Dubai has one of the highest rates of STI's in the world even though pre-marital sex is strictly forbidden and is harshly punished.
The paradox is the more you put a lid on things, the worse they get :twisted:
Anyway in Muslim countries all those stuff happen (including demand for prostitution) but they happen behind closed doors so people are seemingly unaware of them. But what makes things worse in Muslim countries is stuff like honor killing and forced marriages & sexism is the norm and not the exception.
I do believe a lack of education is the problem. I wish more Arabs were like [url=http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.as... guy[/url].
I guess I see what you are saying zxz. To a certain extent we have to consider it is impossible to eliminate the potential to sin, and cannot remove all temptation. But some we can - such as alcohol, drugs, premarital sex (to a degree), I think though that if they are eliminated completely or even partially it presents a big problem to children when they might stumble across them and not know what to do, for lack of knowing anything about them - this is why Europe has so fewer teen alcoholism problems than the States. So to a certain extent it is beneficial to not outlaw every last possible vice.
I genuinely didnt know that the state of British children was so bad...I've only seen the other side of it...I know that Britian takes education very seriously, its always being discussed on the news.....also, on a regular basis we have new legislations coming out to improve the system.....I didnt realise that none of this was working.
Maybe the fact that we spoon feed children and teachers so much is why the system is failing....
Education isnt about regurgitation. Children here simply follow the same recipe-based information year after year after year.. memorise sometimes useless information, and do not have the chance to develop mentally; to challenge and think independently; to create inquisitive minds.. cue George Orwell's 1984 :-pp
England may have offered the best education in the world at one point, but not today
May Allah shine sweet faith upon you this day and times beyond. May your heart be enriched with peace, and may your home be blessed always. Ameen.
I'm not even surprised at this.
GCSE's only show your capacity to remember boring, useless information, most of what you don't even need in life. In fact it’s been proven that GCSE's can't provide an accurate picture to whether you will be successful in life or not.
If they just taught us what we needed to know and not any old hog wash to pass time kids will feel less pressured and absorb the information instead of moaning about memorizing an excess amount of garbage.
I have read in Psychology books that in no way can these exams reflect your intelligence for many reasons...
yes.
That’s one of the reasons (along with a bajillion others) that I love living in a liberal western democracy, in Sharia implemented countries where every sinful thing is prohibited - people indulge in it more - most Muslims in the West seem to be blissfully unaware of that happens in sharia implemented countries.
There was a controversial debate a while ago as to whether prostitution should be legalized in Britain or not. As we know banning it has not made the problem go away, and has even put the lives of prostitutes in danger and we can't stop the demand for it no matter how hard we try. Besides all sane people would rather a man with an excessively high sex drive to take his sexual frustration out on a prostitute then some poor lady who does not want his attention. For those reasons I think it should be legalized under controlled conditions. I dunno why Muslims regard prostitution as immoral coz it aint harming anyone, only a few superstitious Muslims have made bizarre claims to how it can corrupt society. I am astonished how some Muslims consider it just as bad as honour killing and forced marriages. :shock: it's a ridiculous comparison!
i don't think legalising prostitution would be such a good idea. i understand what you're saying about rapist's and what not. but legalising it will have little effect. hanging the rapists will stop them from re-offending. hanging class A drug dealers and pimps would also be a move in the right direction imo.
i read a piece recently, can't remember where (may have been the telegraph). the basic jist of it was that wars are won by destroying the enemy's will to fight and a nation is never really beaten until it sells its women.
it was a propaganda piece written by an american journalist's on the conflict with Iran and their massive prostitution problemt. doesn't apply in the current scope of the discussion of prostitutes in a western democracy, but I beleive the guy had a valid point.
[b][i]Round and round the Ka'bah,
Like a good Sahabah,
One step, Two step,
All the way to jannah[/i][/b]
Well,
I think there is a lot to be said for what passes for "Shariah" in many countries. Developed world multi-ethnic democracies as compared to developing world oligarchies is a tricky business since there are more factors than what form of government they claim to impliment.
Furthermore which countries really impliment "Shariah?" The Taliban was for all intents and purposes just another group of warlords, Sudan is tribalism and in the middle east and asia it's actually monarchalism. "Shariah" is really just a nice way of keeping muslim citizens in line with government.
I think the only place I can look to as an example of Shariah (as muslims present it to me) is in Somolia, under certain of the courts in the IUC. Frankly I don't see anything wrong with that, they've managed to reestablish order after decades of warlords, keep the people in a general state of allegience to the precepts of Islam, and provided all the luxuries required of a government - there is even an ounce of accountability. Nor do you see any "shadow government" which is really in charge - not warlords like the Taliban, Monarchs like Asians or Tribes like Sudan, the Courts themselves seem to have full power.
I would think from any muslims' point of view that such a thing, assuming it is working to the degree the news has presented it, would be more desireable than a Western democracy because it does mitigate the temptation to sin.
But that is all depending of course upon your point of view.
erm are u sure the report says British education is poor? If so there's mixed messages on the one hand year after year more and more kids are passing examinations with flying A's. I honestly believe exams have become too easy, and now they're trying to make them more difficult to reduce the number of children passing and getting into high flying jobs.
However now we have stats telling us our education is poor? I thght it referred more so to social, sexual education rather than academic? I mean things like discipline, sexual health, drugs etc etc
I don't buy the rant about a poor academic system. What is poor is a lack of discipline at home and in classrooms. Parents have had their rights taken away from them, they're not even allowed to discipline their kids without having the coppers at their door to give them a warning. Teachers aren't allowed to reprimand kids because of verbally and physically abusive kids and even parents. This nanny state has given children so many liberties that they no longer respect any sort of authority, be it parents, teachers or the police.
Now a days kids can tell their parents to take a hike if they try and discipline them. The council will give them a free house, with low rent and hey some welfare money too, and a free full time education.what more could u ask for? oh yeah free health service too. These kids need boot camp like America it's time they learned what it is to live in the real world.
Also i think it's interesting that in other european countries they hold on to family values and encourage family orientated gatherings. in the uk most ppl don't even have 1 meal a week together. i think family meals are an important way of catching up with each other. learning about any problems ur children may or may not have. showing that u have time and actually give a damn.
On radio five i heard a caller say in many european countries u will see signs on restaurant walls and public houses saying "children and dogs welcome". In the UK it will read "No children or Dogs allowed". To me that sums up the importance we place on family life and children in the UK, we take it oh so seriously!
i agree with u yash
i live in britian and i've had a very public school upbringing
i have doctors/pharmacists in my family who've had the same public school upbringing as me
i've always felt very fortunate to live here - and have always felt very proud of the education system
esp when i compared it to backhome
i cant see the flaws
well ive had first hand experience of how bad the schooling system of britain is , having gone to the worse school in my city , i guess because it was across the rd from me
in my time we had 2 diffrent headmasters and teachers would come and go frequently plus every school inspection would threaten to close the school down
violence was common place ,the school had security gaurds , every friday they would have police outside , lots of gang fights
teachers were atrocious , i remember one teacher who would share cigarettes with children , one teacher i saw had physical fight with a student in the classroom the student swore at him so he slapped him , once a teacher was beat up real bad outside school
also i remember a couple of teenage pregnacies , one girl in my class was pregnant at 15
two local schools closed down in bham and all the students came to our school and thats why it got so bad but then we got a new headmaster and new teachers who fixed it up a bit
now it is called an international school and specialises in teaching assylum seeking children and children just new to the country full of somalians , iraqis and kosovans
i was the only pakistani to make it to college , and prolly only one to make it to uni, ive seen a few of my old school mates now and then and they havent turned out too well
i think the bad stuff is more likely to make headlines and stick in peoples mind
i have no experience of negative stuff in british schools
i have nothing but praise for them - esp how much they go out of their way to cater for everyone - esp children with special needs
but generally speaking
i heard that bham has some of the worst schools in UK
and some of the worst teachers
dunno why
inner city schools with high majority of ethnic minority pupils are underfunded, overcroweded and usaully in high crime areas especially in birmingham
im sure grammer schools, private schools, posh majority white public schools dont have these problems
However on the whole i think british school system is being monitered and teaching standards are improving, this is shown in the fact gcse results are increasing , and although i went to a terrible school the college and university i went to are great
but our education standards are way lower than those in europe
i have a family member who teaches and havent ruled out teaching as a career myself afterall they do get [b]piad holidays [/b]
i think the reason why britian ranks lowest on unicef was not because of its education but because of society values
British society is horrendous , you jus have to go to your local town center on friday night
Britain is turning into a booze obsessed, sex crazed , violence filled , drug taking society and its no surprise children have the lowest well being :roll:
The government should look at these countries such as Netherlands, Sweden ect and see how they could improve
as far as i can recall it's not friday night it's every night these days even sundays. i remember walking to the train station on a sunday afternoon teens ...kids in my books were already lining up outside clubs and it was like 7pm, their bedtime?
apparently they have daytimers? i remember my mate telling me this when i was about 17. she said x person has gone to a daytimer i said...erm what's that? She just laughed at me, then explained it was a daytime club. I thght ah that's the only way asian girls and boys can get to the clubs without their folks beating them up. Coz after 6pm most aren't allowed out not even to the corner shop..lol. i think thats pretty sad.
lol
6pm is when my day really starts. i love going out in the evening , fun time.
The nights young. So i say why not enjoy.
A rose protects its beauty with thorns..a woman protects hers with a veil
tut tut tut
kids these day :roll:
You have to create respect.
Once in sixth form a friend of mine went into a year 12 politics lesson to chat with the teacher, the students told him to get out but he didn't listen. So I gripped the roof (one storey porta-cabin), swung my lower body in through the door, wrapped my legs around him and started to pull him out. Apparently it looked quited weird to see a pair of legs fly into the class room and grab someone. The moral of the story is, that person was removed from the class thus mainting its respect.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
:shock:
Blimey, you've certainly seen and lived through a fair bit.
I still remember reading about your mosque experience...... :shock: