Where have all the flowers gone?

Hopefully I'm no so much older than everyone else here that some will recognise the title of this post is the same as the one written by Peter Seeger as a call for peace.A common misconception is the second verse is 'where have all the children gone?', the actual line being 'where have all the young girls gone?'So why on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon when all is peaceful and well has this song come to mind?Memories of yesteryear, and especially child hood memories can often become distorted, yet there distinctly in my memory are images of childhood and being out on days like this. Blocking streams, playing football, raiding an apple tree or a whole range of 'innocent' misdemeanors.Working in two very different communities, paid and voluntary this summer has been an eye opener, despite some important differences between them they both beg the same question, where have all the children gone? Both communities have children in them, both have had the distinction of having a lack of visibility of their young.As said there are differences, one is an estate, the other is a collection of street properties. One is in South London and the other in North London.The reasons behind this are not that different.Leaving home in South London to go to work I pass a small shrine dedicated to a young lad who went to my daughter's school, but was killed with a knife. Flowers and messages to a promising young life stolen. Sadly it is not a isolated thing, and there are others in the borough. I get into work, and have been told to not leave the door open, while it is more welcoming the office is opposite an alley well known for drug dealing, within yards of an infant school. On the other side of this alley is a small children's play area which seperates the school from the alley. It is always locked because it was used by addicts and drunks. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many young people in the area are addicted to one form of drug or another.Both have another dubious distinction. Near our community in South London an MP caused a storm by doing a walkaround in a stab proof vest, in the North London borough another MP caused a storm when she said it was only a matter of time for a young person to be mugged by peers, not if.What ever your theories on the causes, we are a society at war with itself, and one of the first victims has been childhood.Like the small shrine I pass every day the song finishes:Where have all the graveyards gone?Covered with flowers every oneWhen will we ever learn?When will we ever learn?

Only the other day, I attended a HO session on their Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) and whilst in my area we don't have a major problem (just pocket areas) I was shocked by some of the accounts of the inner cities.

It's a shame that the actions of a few young people tarnishes the majority of the youth in quite a few peoples eyes.

I for one wouldn’t want to be a young person growing up under some of the conditions that was mentioned – a real shame that these children just don’t have any sense of what it is actually like to be a child and carefree!

At least one of the aims of the program is to embrace the young people and for them to have a say in local issues - not only in helping make the areas safe but turning them into somewhere they actually want to go to and be proud of. Re-landscaping the environment was just one option discussed.

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Comments

Graeme @ BGS August 9, 2009 at 3:50pm

Only the other day, I attended a HO session on their Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) and whilst in my area we don't have a major problem (just pocket areas) I was shocked by some of the accounts of the inner cities.

It's a shame that the actions of a few young people tarnishes the majority of the youth in quite a few peoples eyes.

I for one wouldn’t want to be a young person growing up under some of the conditions that was mentioned – a real shame that these children just don’t have any sense of what it is actually like to be a child and carefree!

At least one of the aims of the program is to embrace the young people and for them to have a say in local issues - not only in helping make the areas safe but turning them into somewhere they actually want to go to and be proud of. Re-landscaping the environment was just one option discussed.