Youth

Issues for young people

How to organise young workers

One of the most visible impacts of capitalist globalisation has been the massive expansion of low-paid (and often semi-casual) jobs in the service sector. This “precarious” employment — in bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, fast-food chains, supermarkets, high-street retailers, call centres and elsewhere — means long hours, barely-legal wages and unsafe working conditions. Young people fill these jobs. According to a recent TUC survey, workers between the ages of 16-24 make up nearly a third of the total workforce in hotels and restaurants in the UK (migrant workers and women of all ages...

France: against the police who kill!

At 8am on Tuesday 27 June, two police officers shot a 17-year-old man dead at the wheel of his car in Nanterre. In a video posted on social media, two police officers on motorbikes are heard ordering the driver to open the car door, one of them holding a gun to the driver’s head and shouting: “Open up or I’ll put a bullet in your head!” We then see the car move forward and the policeman shoots the young man at point-blank range, even though the vehicle wasn’t moving towards him or endangering him. Once again, the police have killed a young person of North African origin in the French banlieue...

Punishing families is no cure

Darren Rodwell, the Labour leader of Barking and Dagenham council and parliamentary candidate for Barking, has threatened to evict council-tenant families not working with the police over knife crime. “If your child is involved in an incident and knows who the perpetrators are, and refuses to speak out, we will look at reviewing your housing agreement,” Rodwell said. “Everyone must play their part in stopping these crimes. As parents, it is up to us to know where our children are, and that we play an active role.” He added: “If families know their relatives are linked to crime, they must speak...

Vaping, smoking, and children

Tobacco smoking causes cancers and a whole range of life-limiting diseases. The active ingredient of tobacco, nicotine [1], is one of the most addictive substances known. As well as denying or suppressing the evidence of smoking harm, tobacco companies have also researched safer ways to deliver nicotine. The problems with smoking are mainly tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (CO). The invention 20 years ago of the e-cigarette enabled nicotine to be delivered without the tar and CO. In order to deliver nicotine efficiently into the user’s bloodstream (and thence to the brain), e-cigarettes...

Ex-members come out against UCKG

On 29 November the Guardian published an article about ex-followers of the international “evangelical Christian” church UCKG speaking out against the organisation. On 2 December this was followed by a more detailed podcast , well worth listening to. The young people some of whom spoke have accused the organisation of financial exploitation, psychological abuse and threats. They have also organised protests. The “United Church of the Kingdom of God” was founded in Brazil in 1977 by Edir Macedo , still head of the church and now a billionaire capitalist as result of his “religious” activities...

Battling a 2.5% pay offer in FE

Workers from Lewisham College joined the University and College Union (UCU) strike of 23 Further Education (FE) colleges on 6 and 7 October. Two further days next week and three the following week. Six other colleges are striking on other dates. The picket was lively, noisy and well supported by students and other supporters. The strikers rally heard speakers from Lewisham College, an RMT tube driver, UCU speakers from Lambeth College and Goldsmiths University and from UCU General Secretary, Jo Grady. Speakers pointed to the increased salaries of the college's principal and the leadership of...

Police out of schools!

Police officers in schools are called “safer schools officers”. But as many students point out, these officers make schools less safe for them. A 15 year old girl, Child Q, was assaulted at her school by Metropolitan Police officers two years ago under the premise of a strip search after a (false) accusation that she had cannabis. A local safeguarding review noted that racism contributed to the decision to strip search Child Q, who is Black. Over 5,000 children have been strip searched in London schools in the last three years. That figure only includes strip searches that took place after...

A win for teenagers' rights

The Court of Appeal have overruled the Bell v Tavistock judgement. This is good news for young trans people under 18. It means that they are no longer legally obliged to get permission from the court to receive puberty blockers. It is also good news for other young people whose ability to make choices about medical treatments rests on “Gillick competency”. “Gillick competency” is based on a legal case in 1985 in which Victoria Gillick was defeated in her attempt to rescind NHS guidance which allowed under 18s to access contraception without parental approval. The original Bell v Tavistock...

Get socialists organised!

What do we mean by socialism? More here The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a right-wing think tank, is mildly alarmed. It takes its new research indicating that young people are mostly sympathetic to socialism seriously, and urges supporters of capitalism not to dismiss it as “social media hype”, temporary “student radicalism” or a “passing fad which ended with Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation”. It calls its findings a “wake-up call” and a “challenge”. They are also, and even more, a challenge for socialists. The research commissioned by the IEA involved polling just under 2,000 people in the...

Socialist Summer Camp 2023 (25-28 August, Haslemere)

To book your ticket, click here! Tickets are £30 waged, £20 low-waged/student and £15 unwaged. A weekend of fires, partying, nature, good food and socialist education. The camp will be fully outdoors, sleeping in tents. We will have access to hot water, proper showers in a well-lit modern shower block, and proper toilets. Sessions: We will have a range of political discussions and workshops. The site and activities: we will be camping in a large field set amid woodland with a modern shower block, a large fire pit, friendly horses in the next field, and wild swimming spots nearby. We will be...

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