Over the last twenty-four hours numerous unanswered questions have been gripping the nation regarding the riots in London, primarily Clapham and Croydon, and other parts of the UK. These questions are mainly querying who the rioters are, and what the purpose of their rioting is. Whilst countless spectators have cast the looting and destruction off as the work of opportunistic teenagers many others, who are not simply playing devil's advocate, have justified the turmoil as being due to the political system, not the people on the streets.
Whether the rioting can be linked to true political motive or not, it certainly has brought light to the utter disillusionment felt by many young people at this current time. Certainly low graduate prospects and ever increasing university fees and requirements cannot help the sense of alienation and lack of control felt by students across England, and can clearly justify why young people may not feel hopeful about their futures whilst at school.
To counteract this feeling of inevitability and doom, one must remember that graduate prospects are not all bad ???? the starting graduate salary has increased, and England is finally beginning to pull out of the recession, albeit slowly. The UK is one of the countries that is faring better in the recession, when compared to countries like Greece, Libya and Syria where widespread civil unrest has mainly been caused by the economic climate. Although times are hard, they are not comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s, where starving civilians resorted to eating dogs, and cannibalism. Those who rioted are certainly not experiencing desperation and poverty on that unbelievable scale.
Therefore, students who feel hopeless about their future must think rationally before joining the rioters. Before resorting to aggressive, devastating action that directly affects innocent shopkeepers and workers, one must remember that prospects are finally looking up for students, and the UK is steadily making economic progress. Although times are tough, violence and destruction is the most dangerous and harmful way to go about making disillusionment heard.
Kate, GRB Journalist
