London's burning

As the dust settles from the riots, a country is left in shock, disgust and anger.

When I first heard news reporting on the riots in London, I kept asking my husband why they were rioting. He didn’t know, and as I continued watching the BBC news report, I realized that no one was sure why these riots were breaking out and spreading. This is what makes these actions even more detestable. One rioter being interviewed said it was against the police, yet none of these atrocities have been aimed at the police. The people who have suffered are the normal working class citizens who have worked hard for what they have. One newspaper article told of a man whose off license shop was looted and burnt to the ground. He now only had 25p to his name and a family to support. It is no surprise that the people of England are enraged by these selfish, greedy, repulsive yobs.

On Monday night, my husband and I walked home together from Clapham Junction station and evidently just missed the riots that took place there; devastating the streets we know so well. The next morning I had to walk the 45min journey to the station as no busses were on route to go there. There was an eerie, empty feeling in Clapham as onlookers gaped at the wreckage of the high street. 

Clapham high street

 

The party shop that burnt down, which ironically donated some of it's profit to help the less fortunate

The question that I want to ask is where are the parents in all this? How can they let their kids go around with no regard or respect for others. How has a generation emerged that has no discipline and again has no respect for authority? We live in a place where teachers and parents have no power or authority over these kids for fear of the law coming down on them. How did things get so screwed up?

I believe that respect is first learnt at home. It seems that these kids are learning quite the opposite. I don’t believe it’s the circumstances that they are in, or the fact that they are brought up on council estates (which have emerged as reasons for these horrid events). There are many young kids out there not taking place in these riots, or similar criminal behavior, who are from the same backgrounds. I do believe that a country whose churches are mostly empty has resulted in a society where money and material possessions have become their gods.

The one good thing that has come from this is the sense of a nation pulling together. My husband went down to help clean up the streets of Clapham the next morning. Hundreds of people had turned up to help. There was a beautiful spirit of community as shops brought food and drink out to the volunteers. We only hope now that the government will recognize these real problems with the youth of this country and things will start to change.