After the riots, back to school

Quote
“The poor suffer twice at the rioter's hands. First, his destructive fury scars their neighbourhood; second, the atmosphere of accommodation and consent is changed to one of hostility and resentment.” President Lyndon B Johnson

News

As children and teenagers return from their school holidays in Britain, the riots in August will be a major topic of conversation.  The scenes of chaos and looting bring home the truth that a society which aspires to both freedom and security depends on ample amounts of both trust and self-restraint.  We commented on the relational aspects of trust in an earlier Friday Five; the flip side of trust is self-restraint.  This involves accepting that right and wrong exist in an absolute sense – it’s not just about getting caught – and choosing the right when the opportunity presents to do otherwise (such as a walking past the smashed window of a mobile phone shop, when others are helping themselves). 

Basic moral standards are formed for better or worse in children through parenting at home and the socialisation process in the community – especially at school, and in faith groups.  Values are both taught and caught, and good relationships are both the method by which those values are transmitted and the fruit which they produce.

This reinforces our conviction at Relationships Global that working to improve relationships in public and private life is not a ‘bolt-on extra’ – they are a fundamental part of any healthy society.  Good relationships, or at least functional ones, are taken for granted when all is well; but when decades of broken families and disrespect for authority erupt into scenes of looting and arson, then knee-jerk reactions about being harder on criminals are woefully inadequate.

On the BBC this morning, the Prime Minister spoke about the need for ‘tough love’ in dealing with those involved in the riots.  The government cannot legislate morality, however; their power is limited to indirect influences on attitudes and behaviour.  What is needed is a broad, grassroots movement committed, over the long haul, to recovering moral standards (here faith communities should take the lead) and rebuilding family and local community relationships in the real world. 

Read on...

The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, has written a deeply reflective comment on the riots and points towards how social capital can be rebuilt, so as to ‘Reverse the decay of London undone’.  Read this excellent article here.

Walk the talk

Many of the youths convicted following the UK riots have grown up with absent fathers, and are gang members.  One of the greatest needs that all young people have is for real conversations with adults they respect.   Might you help meet that need for any children (perhaps your own!) who lack quality time with an adult? 

The last word
From the Bible, Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”