Living in London all my life and being from an area where poverty has always been a problem, my early days of living were going well where products and items in the shops were really cheap, jobs were much easier to get and people could just go out and find a job the same day. Not only that, I could book a doctor’s appointment in the morning and have my appointment within minutes. How things have changed.
Then there is transport. Fares to travel are a joke nowadays. I remember when to travel on a London bus it was 40p for child and 70p for an adult – and that wasn’t too long ago. As I am 19 and still in full time education I get bus travel for free but only till September where I will have to pay over £2 to travel on one bus which I won’t be able to afford and so I’ll probably have to walk over two miles to get to my journey’s end – my place of education.
As the years go on it seems Britain and London is becoming really corrupt and over populated. Products in the shop are really expensive and it seems applying for a job is becoming nearly impossible. I have applied for jobs for about 3 years and haven’t even got an interview even though I am willing to work hard so I can help provide for my family.
As I walk through the streets I see more and more people becoming drug dealers and falling in to the trap of being addicted to drugs and alcohol. This is mainly to do with having no job and no money.
If you want to do something then it seems it’s impossible to do it. I am turning 20 this year and I applied for an apprenticeship in IT - I have always been interested in computing all my life. They told me the government are only funding for 16-18 year olds and that I would have to pay a minimum of £18,000 to get the same training. A 16-18 year old would get paid every week, but I am only one year older and can’t even afford to pay £1000, let alone £18,000 minimum! Am I on the scrapheap already?
If I stay on and do Level 3 at college it’s just as unaffordable. The two year Extended National Diploma would be free for my first year as it would be my first Level 3 qualification. However, I would be expected to pay around £1,500 for the second year as it would count as my second Level 3 qualification and the government would not fund me. Further Education grants are available but only to people over 25. Where does that leave me?
Also big licensed businesses are taking over independent shops and because money talks, places like convenience stores, pubs and bars are forced to shut down! Everywhere I go I see a new Tesco Express or one of the other big name stores being opened where an independent business used to be.
Even when the shops are locally owned they often aren’t what we need. There are five fried chicken shops on one road where I live. Shops like bakeries and groceries used to be there but they closed down because people didn’t have the money to shop there. Now people are buying this horrible food because it is cheap and no one can afford the ingredients for home cooked foods. Most young people I see are letting themselves go and falling victim to buying junk food and becoming addicted. This is all down to lack of money and a government which doesn’t care!
They preach up, but members of the government are well off, have nice cars, nice houses and most importantly plenty of money. What do they know?
The young people of today are in the same boat as me and most youths have parents like me who are struggling to pay rent and bills. It can make you lose the plot when you get a bill coming through the door and your family is stressing about it and all you want to do is help them out and be happy – but you can’t.
Youth’s heads can become really corrupted by things like this and so the only thing they think to turn to is selling drugs and risking their life to try and feed their families. The murder rate among youths is ridiculous and that is the only reason - money! Yet once a young teenager or adult gets killed it makes the news and just becomes a statistic. The roots of the problem aren’t even looked at.
I think the government should do something very quickly and change their approach to people who live in the ‘gutter’. Maybe someone like David Cameron should live in a council flat for a few months and have to budget. Perhaps then someone will understand the pain and struggle that the people of today live through. Right now I see the people in power as killers in political suits!
I have always kept positive and I will continue to be motivated by studying in college and looking for jobs. However sometimes I feel like giving up because I am not I can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel under the current government.
It hurts me to think that money is a problem and the Government is not doing anything for us people living on the ‘breadline’
I had to write this article because I feel that there should be a voice and maybe the government will understand what people in Britain and my community are going through.
Because of all these issues in my area, no one has a smile on their face and you run the risk of getting killed. London is not safe and a lot of youths feel carrying a weapon to protect them is essential. Remember the riots a couple of years ago? Prevention is better than cure and if you ask me, if the government does not do something major soon, those riots will seem like a picnic compared to what is to come.
So clearly there are huge problems facing the youth of today - and they never seem to end.
What do you think?
Comment below.
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