I bet that was just a jolly for the police....cos there's some really good fishing places round here....one in Woolwich which is about 2 miles away!

It's really unfair on the kids who do apply themselves isn't it...

My Mum was a Dinner Lady for years, and the kids with bad attendance records at the School used to get treats for turning up, the kids who had excellent attendance got nothing...

Ah! That old chestnut again.
Hurrah for the taxpayers alliance!

My oldest used to get really irate about things like that cos he was always top at everything at school, a good attender and never late and he'd moan that some kid got something for sitting on his chair for 5 minutes!

He used to think he might as well be a git cos it seems to be the way to get rewarded.

Absolute joke!  And I agree with Croc and Devil..........

At my daughter's school, all the badly behaved and most difficult and disruptive children, got treated to a week in Arthog in June this year, and they got 'special awards' in assembly for 'special achievements'  (like going a whole month without disrupting a class probably!)  amongst other things they totally made up for them, so they could get an award for basically f**k-all!

And what does my daughter get for being good and toe-ing the line and getting a shed load of A grades, going to school every day on time, studying bloody hard for her GCSE's, and turning in every scrap of homework given to her?  Diddly Squat, that's what!!! 

She said to me, (quite sadly...) that sometimes she wonders why she bothers.    I just told her to just do well and get good grades and get a place in uni, and sod everyone else...  But how the blatant 'under-achievers' and naughty kids are rewarded makes me see red!    (Especially when the well behaved kids who try damn hard are not acknowledged, as several people have pointed out here....).

BTW, I am NOT talking about the kids who are slower learners... I mean the ones who are BLATANTLY dispruptive and naughty and who rarely even make any effort.

I think you will find that we have done rather well.

My sentiments excactly Croc    My daughter had also said 'why don't we ALL behave like total bastards?! 

I actually challenged her tutor about this last year, and he admitted that it was to encourage the under achievers and more disruptive children to behave.  I pointed out that the more well behaved children who tried hard, were feeling aggrieved, and left behind, and feeling left out, and he said 'yeah I know.... maybe we should address that...' And that is it.  12 months later; nowt has changed!

Good kids melt away into the background, you walk past them and don't notice their presence. The bad one's stick their fingers up at you get a wagging finger from the police and are told very politely to move along. (must be polite to them now). 
Little gitts should get a kick up the backside. Fishing trips? If  they do wrong put them in the stocks in the main street.. If we did that there would not be so many gangs I can tell you.

Wonder if the other ethnic groups include white Caucasian

  Well said that man!

I very much doubt it....there's a few kids round my way that'd benefit from being put in the stocks.....

See y'all later peeps.  Gotta go out now.    Have a great day. 

Tra well

No doubt the do gooders will be reading with this shock I mean it would harm those poor little excuses for humanity.. May even have a long lasting psychological effect...
Errrr that's the idea!!

But the article doesn't say they are bad kids... its an activity to stop them becoming bad kids. Taking kids from a deprived area and showing them something different....

Hmmmm, how do we know that they are 'wayward' or not 'good'?

Hopefully, a well paid, fulfilling job and a happy life on the outside (of prison)!

Plus self esteem and a longer life expectancy.

This is true but in that case it should have been a family outing including the parents as it is the home that all proper of control of children begins not on the streets.

Being deprived does not make you bad.. lack of a proper care does.

but it would be nice to get rewarded for being a good student-instead of bypassed

maybe if the local authorities took the 'good' kids on trips and outings-it might spur the 'wayward' kids to think 'ill have a bit of that thank you' and maybe they would behave-THEN get the reward

thats how it usually works-earn your reward

Blizzie, Sazbomb...I hear you, but they must think they have a chance of becoming wayward right? Whichever way, it's just another waste of money IMO...

I think that is a seperate issue, James.

It sound like this trip was designed to give these kids an idea that there is more to life than what they see on their estates, and also to build up some trust between them and the police.

I wouldn't have wanted my parents turning up on the outward bounds course I attended!

Of course, but if they manage to get to them before they end up joining the local gang, surely that's good for everyone?

We will have to disagree on hat one For the trust of the parents are also needed by the police and it would have promoted a better all round goody goody feeling

He said: "The guys who took part weren't gang members but they live in an area where there are a lot of gangs and they are at risk of joining them." He added: "Engaging them in positive activities, giving them something to focus on and make them realise police are people has to be a good thing."

 So these aren't bad kids.
 I don't see anything wrong with it.
Oh wait you're right maybe we should stop all the Youth clubs and drop in centres as well.

Hang on though, the kids that took part weren't wayward, it was done in the hope that it would keep them away from the wayward kids.

why should it just be for kids from ethnic backgrounds. Should it not be open to all children regardless of ethnicity?

I didn't mean to start a disagreement whith this thread, maybe I should've phrased it better...what I was trying to point out was that the kids who are 'doing well' seem to get overlooked....they don't seem to get noticed...

TBH that could be half the kids in any part of London.

Having a three day jolly for 7 of them only is like pissing in the ocean...they could probably have taken 30/40 for a day out for the same cost.

I'm assuming that the parents have escaped Somalia, which is after all one of the most dangerous countries in the world, having seen madmen with guns ruling the streets and brutal behaviour becoming the norm.

I'm pretty sure that they are now desperate to stop their boys (again, I'm assuming) wasting their opportunities and ending up carrying knives or guns in this country.

They must surely be on the side of the police in this situation.

Wheres the bloody nodding smiley gone?  Anyway seeing as I have to type my agreement now.  I agree Blizzie.

I wouldn't bet on it...there's loads of trouble round here with gangs and a lot of it is with Somalian gangs....i know the police round here refer to Woolwich as Mogadishu on Thames

i agree with you
like i said-reward the good kids and the bad kids might strive a bit harder to get a reward-if its handed out on a plate-no one is gonna learn anything-doesnt matter what part of the world you come from

dont forget lots of the older people in this country saw there way through a brutal world war-but i imagine their kids didnt become part of a gang because of it, and if they did i doubt they got taken to the local fish pond

Wasn't going to get involved but I took it as a fairly positive story, but I get a bit jittery when I see terms like 'do gooders' taken as pejorative term. Good kids do get recognised in society, they are all around us in positions of power, influence and care.
Diligence and doing the right thing is a reward in itself.

Which is presumably why they chose Somalian kids.

Or are these gang members parents of teenagers?

Kids who have grown up seeing brutality as the norm are far more likely to end up commiting violent crime. Surely showing them a different way and getting them interested in alternative activities, will help to break the cycle and the more kids you manage to keep out of gangs, the better life will be for all those living in those areas.

I wouldn't be so bad if it was the local fish pond!
More kids could have participated in that instead of just a select few!

well behaved, intelligent good kid get rewarded with wisedom, a better life, a better education and a better start in life....i think that is a much better reward than fishing for 3 sodding days. ALL the 'bad' kids i know from school have miserable lives and are miserable people.

and nowhere in this article does it say that the kids ARE bad, although i do wonder why it is only for ethnic kids when white kids are just as likely to turn to gangs.

we've got one of them
sparkhill aka little somalia
its a no go area
and its made known by the locals very clearly that youre not welcome

take em all fishing i say!
that should sort it

A bit off topic, but I think parental guidance should be looked at in finer detail.  Someone I know got shot of her husband, put her youngest daughter in care due to anger problems, and has now got herself a boyfriend.  Her daughter has been in care for 6 months now, in which time, she hasn't had to shell out a penny, she even told me 'I'm going to take everything they offer' which believe me is incredible, pocket money, present every week for being good, new bike, holiday abroad, she is due home today and i've been told that she doesn't want her back because it's going to put pressure on her new relationship!  If the whole family hadn't been vetted properly, Social Services would have seen where the real problems have come from.  Makes me so angry.

But a lot of these kids were born here so have never seen it, unless it was occuring in the home and that could also apply to loads of other kids.

that would be better in my eyes...though i would have probably done anything to avoid fishing