Funding for paid staff, after all there is a degree qualification in youth work and we need clubs with no religious affiliations.

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What it really needs is a ringfencing of council funds for young people – in a time when govt hands out cash for this kind of work councils build/maintain/fund youth workers and clubs (and make a big thing of it in the press!) – but inevitably in harder times/election times and complaints from locals, then Youth clubs are seen as very easy targets for councils (of ALL types) to save a little cash (VERY little!) improve their public relations with locals around them (less noise).

So all the work done by youth workers building a commuinity is all lost – so its back to square one again.

Youth workers have to spend far too much time fighting to keep their funding while being used as pawns in the shuffle-money game played in councils up and down the country.

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What the writer of the letter has overlooked is that the vast majority of teenagers are not interested in youth clubs which were popular many decades ago in very different eras.

Today’s teenagers want sex, alcohol and drugs. Spend millions on youth clubs if you like but they won’t be cool to today’s teenagers. Not when they can get some weed, cheap cider and some girls.

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In that case, Bob [#7], why are people like Andy Chetwood trying to force these idealistic youth clubs on the population? For their own vanity, I presume.

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@ 8, nobody has ever “forced” a youth club on the population. All Andy Chetwood is trying to do is give younger people something else to do with their spare time.
Unfortunatly you have already pidgeon holed the whole youth population into being drunken sex mad drug addicts.. No wonder they don’t like negative old fogies like yourself..

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When I was young the council used to run after school and school holiday playschemes – we always had something to do there, even the teenagers who were too old to stay in with Mum and Dad but too young to go in a pub to play a game of pool. We had a great time. The youth of Telford seem to behave worse than they did 15 years ago because they’re bored so they turn to taboo subject matter like drink, drugs, etc. What have they got to do as an alternative anymore? If anything they’re attention seeking because it looks to them like the world forgot about them. We only seem to take notice of kids and teenagers these days when they do something bad. Look at the news for example, ‘Teenager helps little old lady across street’ doesn’t grab you like ‘Teenager stabs little old lady and steals purse’ Lets not tar them all with the same brush and show them we believe they can mature into responsible civilised adults – it’s the least we can do!

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I completely agree with more clubs being run for teenagers, but there are things out there for kids, if their parents and they are willing to look!

My 13 yr old daughter goes to army cadets, after school clubs, a saturday club, guides and sunday school! her social life is better than mine lol, and she doesn’t waste her time hanging about on street corners.

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@ 13, because as soon as a youth picks up a tin of paint young fogies like peasbody will assume they will either start sniffing it or use it for graffiti and therefore call the police..

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Why is everyone so against youth labelling them as thugs and layabouts? Surely there is a way of asking youth what they want and with the help of some of the people who are labelling them – Getting a grant to make a difference to a few of these young peoples lives. It needs action not moaning all the time. There are plenty of building that can be rented and with a few volunteers and a lot of listening I am sure a huge difference can be made.Try it some of you – You will find it has a lot of satisfaction

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