Site navigation

Site subnavigation

Home Blog

YouthNet blog

An insight into youth issues, volunteering trends, charity life and more from the UK charity YouthNet

« Previous day (Jan 11, 2007) | Main | Next day (Jan 13, 2007) »

Friday Jan 12, 2007

School's In, Forever!

Last week's news that cigarettes were being put on the top shelf, out of reach from those pesky under-18s has been followed by an even bigger policy decision which effects the lives of young people. As of 2013, students in England will be forced to stay in school until they turn 18, up from the current leaving age of 16.

The users of TheSite.org discussion boards seem warm to the idea. The general view seems to be that as long as it's coupled with proper vocational training then it should work. Although there are opposing voices. Says one user:

"Great, 2 more years of brainwashing....I didn't start learning the really useful things in life 'til I left school....stunted development to the age of 16 is bad enough thanks."

But as Tom pointed out in an an earlier post, there's major confusion about age in the UK, particularly in how society treats the transition from childhood to adulthood. In Japan, they have a special coming out day where all those who have turned 20 in the past year dress up and celebrate. It's tied to Japan's laws on voting and drinking, which both kick in at 20.

This idea of somehow signalling this transition (and the rights and responsibilities that come with it) is one David Cameron picked up on last year (although not perhaps in a way everyone liked). But as this article on TheSite.org shows, there's a lot of work to do before we get to that point. Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 4:39 PM ) Link to this post Comments[1]