anthony hinchliffe...

[oxeyedaisy]

what posseses anyone to lead a small boy away and leave him with neck ligatures and bruising.?? the story sickens me as i have two small grandchildren and the poor little boy will probably be mentally scarred for life..are children so bored they have to do things like this??its allmost a jamie bulgar act all over again without the fatal end..i am sure all you answerbank people will wish the little boy a speedy recovery..those that did it will probably live it up in the lap of luxury in a young offenders.why do people do things like this ??its just something i cant get my head round why anyone could be so cruel no matter what age they are.. .

[Lillabet]

This is getting away from the original question a bit. My first response was to answer Loosehead's (in my opinion) ill informed response.

With regard to LeMarchand's question directed to me. Yes, of course some do not take advantage of the opportunities given to them as children. Many regret this later. Just saying - 'you've had your chance - tough' seems to me to be far from constructive.

In some cases the parents are instrumental in preventing their children benefit from education - encouraging truancy etc. Do we penalise people for having been brought up by poor parents by denying them access to education later on?

Also there are many other reasons why someone may be illiterate other than poor behaviour at school. I work part time at an adult education centre and teach on a basic literacy course. some of the reasons my students have fallen behind are as follows:

1, Male student. 70% deaf. This was not picked up by anyone until he was in his teens. When he couldn't hear what the teacher said he'd ask his friends - then get sent out for talking. Never managed to explain to the school that he was having to lip read so if the teacher was writing on the board he had no chance and got labelled a troublemaker and treated as such.

2, Male student. Suffered from leukaemia as a child. Missed about 4 years of school. When he rejoined he was far far behind anyone else. Put into a remedial class as a result where almost all lessons were practical skills based. (Pre National curriculum a lot of schools seem to have largely ignored the academic development of the least able kids)

3, Female Student. Dyslexic. This was not picked up on at school. Even now many teachers are ill equipped to spot learning disabilities.

[Lillabet]

4, Female Student. Mother a drug addict and prostitute - often in trouble with the law and landlords. She went to over 30 different schools before leaving school at 15. Chaotic lifestyle meant it was hard to learn.

5, Male student. Parents moved here when he was 14 escaping a war in their original country. Neither of his parents speak or write English well. He is very good verbally but his written work is behind. His parents aren't in a position to help him and the school had limited resources.

Absolutely parents who work against schools are a problem as is behaviour in school in some cases. However learning disabilities affect more people than you may realise (if you are over 35 it is very likely that the school would not even have known what dyslexia was when you were at school) and there are other circumstances that prevent people from learning. Which of the example students I have listed would you exclude from access to adult education?

I am not making excuses for criminal behaviour. That was not the aim of my first response. I just wanted to point out that social factors do have a part to play. I think there is a tendency for people to identify one factor and say that 'this is where we should be looking'

To me this is an oversimplistic approach. It assumes that there is the possibility of finding a magic key which will correct society's ills. Improving literacy won't stop all crime. It might well however reduce some of it. Improving behaviour in schools and training parents to be more effective might help too. It isn't an either or choice.

There are many factors / problems which if addressed could have a positive impact. Of course these include personal responsibility as Loosehead said. My point is simply that social factors also have a part to play and education is a major factor.