Carmel

Bring back national service maybe they could learn some respect and they wouldn't be hanging arround street corners with bottles of drink. It would take them off our streets for a while too and show them hard work. Most of these loats lie in bed till dinner time sign on, then buy thier drink with it and give abuse to all that passes by and think it is so funny what kind of parents had these children to begin with iv seen kids in our town as young as 11 and 12 drinking and swearing and out until early hours did their parents never notice them gone or drunk the mind boggles.

ChristineCB

I'm in favor of national service, too. I'd have hated it myself, but I never think it'd be a terrible thing for me to have endured. I learned that the American Draft selected GW Bush, who fled the draft and joined the militia ("Nationa Guard") and joined an outfit of rich men's sons, stationed in Dallas, Texas, where GW still couldn't be trusted to remain on guard duty and avoid several AWOL charges. Good ol' Dad bailed him out, though, and the world is enjoying parenting of that kind, too.

samkydd

Perhaps these ne'er-do-wells can be given non-military options to take them out of their urban utopias like overseas humanitarian work; hostage swaps in Africa, UK conservation projects; litter-picking on the M1. However, if any are beyond salvation then a new scumbag regiment set up specifically to help Mr Bush on his overseas gigs "King George commands and we obey, over the hills and far away!" so that we don't lose any more decent folk.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

DB7

I can just imagine some raw recruit on patrol in Iraq with an SA80 in his hand. More dead civilians and more body bags flown home. If Prince Harry wont go then anybody expecting me to go would get the middle finger.

In my experience neither does army service nurture self improvement, those I've worked with were often incapable of working independently and stood about awaiting instruction.

clitheroekid

Re: Nuisance Alarms

They have been around for some time now...

Steve Crook

I noticed that and thought it was just the Torygraph being behind the times as usual. But then I noticed that the article was dated Feb 2006

Steve

kelp

Carmel, Christine, National Service was a good thing. But today, with the thug not just using a razor, or a cosh, I think we would need a special forces Punishment Battalion. Why inflict our serving soldiers with that kind of rubbish. Having done my military service, I have seen so called Hard Men realize their is only one winner...the Army. Shepton Mallet or Colchester are still places you really don't want to see the inside of. 144 paces per minute from Dawn to Dusk.
But then........perhaps a telling off would suffice? Poor dears.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR...YOU MAY GET IT!

samkydd

If he's got an SA80 in his hands it'll probably jam at the first attempt at using it!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

ChristineCB

I think there's plenty of non-arms related activities that a national service program could be involved in. The predatory personalities would still be there to wreak their havoc, but I don't think it'd be a terrible thing for citizens to spend Years 19 and 20 doing something for the good of their country - every country.

samkydd

I remember in that great comedy series The Worst Week of My Life when Howard's rough and ready builder father is lecturing the future father-in-law, a High Court judge, on the breakdown of law and order; "It's time people like you got out into the real world for a change and smelled the piss in the lifts!"

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

David Brent

The same National Service proposal has been used over the years as the so-called remedy to ending social disorder amongst the young.
The Teddy Boys in the fifties, the mods and rockers in the sixties, the punks and skinheads in the seventies, the football hooligans in the eighties and nineties.
National Service after the war didn't seem to stop such problems.
Seems every generation has it's louts and hooligans and always will have.

There are also a lot of good, decent young people out there who are achieving great things in their lives. Unfortunately that type of story is not newsworthy.
As with everything else - we only hear about the bad things in life.
Fear and controversy tends to sell more newspapers.

Dave.

ChristineCB

My interest in a national service isn't just my usual lame attempt at addressing wayward youth (I mean, that's why I'd vote for town-center hangings), but I'd look at it as real service. Not armed forces, but Construction. Farming. Water projects. Road-work. Forest service (a lot of fire-trails to cut). Housing. And I'd probably throw in international travel (the joys of inoculation, after all, shouldn't be wasted on the occasional tetnus or rabies, when skin diseases of all climates are now readily available) and the enlightenment that occurs when one's lost without a native tongue in his head.

Moor Larkin

I think you're confusing Chav-baiting and full employment.

[code]http://www.flickr.com/photos/29487363@N02/sets/72157606700675506/code]

ChristineCB

Undoubtedly! Hubby tells me I've confused the Wheel with the Rack, too, but I know when he cries out for me to stop, it sounds exactly the same. I think Michael Caine said it best...

"Ruprecht, is it time for the genital cup?"

Fareham_Bee

No, no I didn't say that, I said you showed intent to injure and that is bad enough.

As for brining back National Service, on the face of it a good idea, Bad Lads Army has shown that they can change some of these imbeciles,even if it does go OTT sometimes. BUT the army don't want them and with cutbacks in their funding why should they put up with them?

Boot camps would be a good way, like in America and some former Eastern Block countries. Now I am sounding like my dad and all those blue rinse Tories of the seventies/eighties when they were trying to put a stop to football hooliganism. Arrgghhh!