Make yobs learn Latin.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Teaching hoodies Latin and ancient Greek could help turn them away from knife crime, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday.

He said education was the key to helping disadvantaged kids keep out of trouble.

Speaking at his first press conference at City Hall since being elected last month, Mr Johnson said: "I think there's a huge amount we can do in London by promoting the learning of languages including Latin." He added: "I would like to see not only that but I would like to see ancient Greek. Latin can help with all languages." Boxing clubs could also help keep youngsters out of trouble, he said.

Cambridge University classics expert Will Griffiths welcomed the move last night.He said: "Forcing everyone in London to learn Latin won't solve every problem but it will improve education and open doors for people."

Edited June 5, 2008 by Gaius Paulinus Maximus

[The Augusta]

Teaching hoodies Latin and ancient Greek could help turn them away from knife crime, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday.

He said education was the key to helping disadvantaged kids keep out of trouble.

Speaking at his first press conference at City Hall since being elected last month, Mr Johnson said: "I think there's a huge amount we can do in London by promoting the learning of languages including Latin." He added: "I would like to see not only that but I would like to see ancient Greek. Latin can help with all languages." Boxing clubs could also help keep youngsters out of trouble, he said.

Cambridge University classics expert Will Griffiths welcomed the move last night.He said: "Forcing everyone in London to learn Latin won't solve every problem but it will improve education and open doors for people."

 

Boris is priceless! I knew he'd be good value when elected.

 

So, we have: 'Alea iacta est' - innit? Me down wiv me mates Cicero and Caesar - wicked!

 

Yeah, I can just see it working..... But nice try, Boris.

[Nephele]

How do you say "Boris Rules!" in Latin?

 

Well, however you say it, he does! Our MPC gave a hail to Boris in a recent blog entry of his: Boris for President???

 

-- Nephele

[docoflove1974]

Hey, why not. Of course, giving these folk an education in general might just keep them off the streets. Oh, sorry, I was being practical...wait, so was Boris? Really???

[M. Porcius Cato]

As much as I'd love to see the spread of Latin, I'd prefer to see students introduced to statistics. Of the neglected topics of pre-university study, statistics is the most broadly useful. Statistics--not Latin--is the lingua franca of business, economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, political science, and all the medical sciences.

[The Augusta]

Hey, why not. Of course, giving these folk an education in general might just keep them off the streets. Oh, sorry, I was being practical...wait, so was Boris? Really???

 

Yes, Doc, Boris is missing the point. As my post was meant to convey - perhaps teaching them basic English would be the first step. Living in an area surrounded by these youngsters, no matter what the efforts of the education system, you'd be banging your head against a brick wall. Trust me. I'm in England in a working class area - I know. Boris is living in dreamland. You have kids who can't even be bothered to attend school to learn the three Rs, let alone trying to get them to grips with conjugations and declensions in an inflected language.

 

I'd be interested to see what our other English posters feel. Not idealism now - practicality.

 

Now. if Boris had suggested that we start by educating their parents in basic parenting - well, who knows what we might discover....

 

But I have to admit - it's this sort of thing that has me in hoots about our Boris. He is almost as good value as Edwina Currie was, and that's saying something. And that's from me, who's a Tory! (Well, a very wet one)

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

It's a nice thought isn't it but there's not a chance in hell it's going to happen. Before Boris starts the Latin classes he wants to make sure that the 'hoodies' graduate from the "actually going to school class" first!

 

Good old Boris, What next? Classes in Jedi mind tricks??

[Faustus]

As much as I'd love to see the spread of Latin, I'd prefer to see students introduced to statistics. Of the neglected topics of pre-university study, statistics is the most broadly useful. Statistics--not Latin--is the lingua franca of business, economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, political science, and all the medical sciences.

Really, both: Latin for the basis of for their own language, and they could us statistics to analyze quality and processes they were involved in. I

Edited June 5, 2008 by Faustus

[ASCLEPIADES]

As much as I'd love to see the spread of Latin, I'd prefer to see students introduced to statistics. Of the neglected topics of pre-university study, statistics is the most broadly useful. Statistics--not Latin--is the lingua franca of business, economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, political science, and all the medical sciences.

Ipsae summae rerum, MPC

[The Augusta]

For this discussion, I am talking (and the original thought) was about "young hoods" or here maybe we would call them just "kids" who aren't headed into the universlity.

 

Faustus

 

Ah, well, Faustus - here we call them: Scallies, Scrotes, Chavs, or just plain Yobs. When Boris talks of English 'Hoodies'*, he does NOT mean kids who aren't headed for University, believe me! The term is not remotely related to the American 'Hoodlum' or 'Hood' - i.e. from 'neighbourhood'. In England the word has quite a different connotation: we're talking about kids who aren't even headed for the job market. Believe me, this is a real problem for us at the moment - a serious one. We have yob culture. One might almost say - and it's no exaggeration - that we have a sub-culture, or what the Victorians called 'a residuum'. Gangs terrorise decent kids on street corners. Girls attack people in the street and take photos of the attack on their mobile phones - that's the latest craze. Asking one of these youngsters to step aside while you pass may result in death. No - I'm not joking.

 

Believe me, we don't know what the answer is, but it sure as heck isn't statistics or classical languages.

 

* For our non-English cousins worldwide, the English word 'Hoody' refers to a kid who wears a hooded top, in a vain effort to look 'hard'. While some kids wear these tops in all innocence, the fashion has become synonymous with hostile groups who roam the streets terrorising others.

[Northern Neil]

I believe that our ugly, stupid, thick people are already adept at speaking a form of latin, which could well mutate into its very own 'white-trash romance' given time. In England, every morning at 09.30 television viewers of a certain disposition and educational level are treated to a daily serving of the 'Jeremy Kyle Show'. This is the English version of the show we all know well, in which dim, vulnerable people are harangued by a studio audience of only slightly less dim voyeurs, who hiss and boo at the way the guests conduct their lives - doubtless to go home and commit the same atrocities themselves shortly afterwards.

 

Anyway, like I said, these people already seem to know a fair few latin phrases such as 'Et Cetera' (usually pronounced by such people as 'Eksetewaah') and 'Vice Versa' (usually pronounced 'Vicerversaah').

 

Maybe The Augusta can render such phrases into the Scouse vernacular, given her admiration for the fine folk of Liverpool?

[ASCLEPIADES]

Asking one of these youngsters to step aside while you pass may result in death. No - I'm not joking.

Believe me, we don't know what the answer is, but it sure as heck isn't statistics or classical languages.

Sorry to read that, Lady A. No easy answer for youth street violence anytime anywhere. Education as a whole might have a place for its control, but a limited one I fear.

[docoflove1974]

It's an epidemic, if the word could be used, here in the US, too. And with the employment situation being such that there are fewer jobs going to those who don't have at least a high school education, there is a high probability that the problem will grow. The community colleges are doing what we can; I know at my district, enrollment is up in general, and specifically those who wish to complete their GED and get education in the trades. I believe this is true for most community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I don't know for sure. But even here, while our enrollment is rising, there are so many more who are not interested in education, or who don't believe they can go to community colleges.

 

Hopefully this trend in growth continues...a new charter school opened in East Palo Alto (one of the worst cities/ghettos in the country) which teaches students from pre-kindergarten through high school, and guides them to our college, and hopefully to transfer to a university. At the very least, it gives kids who otherwise would end up on the streets a chance at a better life. There are other similar programs around the country, too; indeed, the company which runs this charter school has others in California (and, I want to say, elsewhere in the US, but I'm not positive), and they seem to succeed.

 

As my dean has said many times, it's not education that is the key to success, but the belief and confidence that you can obtain that education, and the instruction on how to obtain it.

[Faustus]

For this discussion, I am talking (and the original thought) was about "young hoods" or here maybe we would call them just "kids" who aren't headed into the universlity.

 

Faustus

 

Ah, well, Faustus - here we call them: Scallies, Scrotes, Chavs, or just plain Yobs.

Believe me, this is a real problem for us at the moment - a serious one. We have yob culture. One might almost say - and it's no exaggeration - that we have a sub-culture, or what the Victorians called 'a residuum'. Gangs terrorise decent kids on street corners. Girls attack people in the street and take photos of the attack on their mobile phones - that's the latest craze. Asking one of these youngsters to step aside while you pass may result in death. No - I'm not joking.

 

Believe me, we don't know what the answer is, but it sure as heck isn't statistics or classical languages.

 

Salve Augusta, and thanks

[Silentium]

Teaching hoodies Latin and ancient Greek could help turn them away from knife crime, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday.

Oh yes, I'm sure that is the great panacea XD.