Throwback Article: Chavs: The Forgotten Brits?
Posted on 05. Oct, 2009 by GoRealer in Life and Style, Politics, UK
I recently bumped into an old primary school friend, and the first thing I spotted was how static his whole being had remained over the 10 years.
He was what the most people would describe as ‘Chav’, casually dressed working class white male, sheltered in Reebok gear from his hoodie, down to his trainers. But to defeat the stereotype, he was still one of the most polite guys that you would ever encounter.
If his dress sense and the approaching pregnant female –his partner- was anything to go by, he was a poster boy for ‘politically, emotionally and culturally incorrectness’. But Dave, (not his real name because I promised Lee, that I will not enclose his identity) seemed content with life; I could not sense any animosity towards society.
Then it hit me that the working class was the most fragmented social class, to the point where everyone within that class were using Chavs or hoodie youth as their measurement of their sanity and success. You knew that you did not fail in life when you could say to yourself ‘at least we are not like them’.
Parents started to believe that their children were fine since they were not pregnant at 14, or hung out around the estate causing havoc to other people’s property.
Are Chavs Victims?
I remember reading in one of the London free newspapers that poor white boys were most likely to fail in school. Metro writes: ‘More than 40 per cent of white British children who were eligible for free school meals left school without a GCSE pass above a D grade, a survey found.’
It seemed pretty weird, because were have been use to studies showing Afro-Caribbean children achieving the lowest grades, which we tend to point the finger at institutionalised racism. Here was a study that suggested otherwise, and the answer does not require million pound surveys, but just a little bit of common sense.
Poor white children are possibly the most deprived faction in the British education system. Based on my experience teachers tend to overlook the extra care that these children require, highlighting not institutionalised racism, but classism. It seems to be generally acceptable to highlight our disgust towards, white British children who are unable to write basic English words.
From experience, I have noticed teachers being supportive towards children that are not only studious, but ones with parents that are willing and interested in their children’s education. This is rarely the case for poor and less studious white children. It is also hard to control teachers from practicing elitism with their classroom, especially with our tabloid media quick to point out the thousands of households, housing ASBOS and benefit recipients-the only group that it is pretty much generally acceptable to discriminate against.
Yes we should not excuse those people that abuse the welfare system and there are those that have become over reliant on the dole, but their children did not choose to be born into poverty.
It is hardly debatable that our welfare system tends to encourage an increasing feel of state reliance. Housing and Council tax subsidies is hardly going to influence people into the work force, but when our educational system is unable to offer a career route for their children it is highly fairly unlikely for that cycle to change anytime soon. When we also consider that these children are more likely to be in large crowded housing, it makes it even harder to be parented by unmotivated parents.
Self Victimisation
There seems to be a parallel trend between the statically least academic groups, poor white and afro-Caribbean youth, both factions seem to possess a level of self victimisation. One faction blames it on racism; the other blames it on a system that benefits immigrants. Whether right or wrong, both factions do not trust the educational system, because their environment around them represents the failure of such a system, making it less likely to engage-although not an acceptable excuse, it all stems from political stance from controversial critics who claim to represent each group.
Language is no longer an advantage possessed by these groups, because studious migrants had surpassed them with qualifications to work in more advanced and skilled industries. The British economic structure is totally different to developing countries, where the agriculture industry-which in many of these countries has been the route out of unemployment-, is run by the more affluent people in Britain. This means that a lot of these children are leaving the education system with neither an academic nor a networking advantage even into low skilled industries.
Passive Culture
The reason society targets Chavs, ASBOs or youth mob, is because they are the easiest minority to target. If we talk bad about people of another race or country we can be considered racist, but to use a derogatory term like Chavs or stereotype them is cool and I guess to some extent makes people feel better about themselves. They have no political representation; there is no Union or Associations for Chavs, who can stand up against any injustice. Some could argue that the BNP is their political faction, but I would say that is a group that targets these individuals, because they understand that politically unspoken and could easily manipulate these people into believing that migrants are the enemies.
Are they the forgotten Brits? Yes and No. Yes because no one seems to give them any time or day, No because their passive nature would suggest that they have also given up on society.
Still over the last decade we have all been striving toward middle class classification that our political and social reasoning has been base on us seeming so. We moan about taxes and those that rely on the state, we look to buy house on the suburbs-away from the Chavs- even though we can barely afford it. Just for the self flattery that we are part of the then booming economy. Since we cannot move up a social classification within a decade, we find ourselves creating our own social hierarchy, where all beneath us are looked upon with disgust. Now if teachers have this same view about these youths, what chance do they have?
Pic Sources
http://www.freewebs.com/chavbustersinc/Mr__Chav_by_vurtpunk.jpg
http://www.blastedthing.com/wp-content/themes/whitespace/images/_chav.jpg
http://www.rob-smith.co.uk/chavs/chavopoly.jpg
