MyPlace space booked

I’ve ranted quite a bit about this before, and whilst browsing some council documents the other day I spotted that outline plans for something called MyPlace were up for approval this month.

When I saw that the location for MyPlace was slated as the Palatine Campus, my initial thought was, “oh no”. I contacted Cllr Don Clapham just to query whether MyPlace was actually the Southpoint Youth Hub, and he confirmed that it is. So it’s going ahead, it seems.

I wont repeat all the stuff I moaned about last time in relation to this project, but I will add one or two further points.

The area that has been selected for this is next to the Palatine Leisure Centre. This area, currently neighbouring a car park, is already effectively a youth centre and it has been allowed to sink into a poor state. Unfortunately my car was keyed in this car park two weeks ago, and I have heard reports of other people suffering the same. Youths congregate there regularly and you can observe police patrols moving them on from time to time: even doing a chav sweep of the building. The car park and field that backs on to Yeadon Way is also used for dog walking and gangs congregating.

The centre itself is in poor order: the gym equipment is often broken and remains so for long periods, and the TV’s still haven’t been updated since the digital switchover. The swimming pool is dirty with all kinds of unpleasantness silting along the bottom, and the staff are so thick that they will spend 15 minutes signing up a new member instead of processing a long queue which I have had the misfortune of waiting in on many occasions. What was a modern centre has been allowed to fall into disrepair.

Okay, so I did go over old ground there, but this background information is important when considering the new youth centre. Yes, it is going to cost £4m of Government money and will create a few jobs, but is it going to be the attraction to youth that the authorities hope, and will it help to create a more responsible and respectable teenage society?

I made a comment on Live In Blackpool the other day about the Syndicate touting a teen disco event to, ahem, teenagers. There were the inevitable calls for such practises to be banned because there might be drink, there might be drugs and there might be sex and their innocent little Johnny might be exposed to it (pun intended), but I argued that if you never let teenagers take responsibility for themselves, then you can’t be surprised when they turn out irresponsible.

Many things that I used to do as a teenager are now socially unacceptable or banned. Teenagers feel restricted, contained, and without the freedom they crave. You can’t, for example, play football in the street without risking a visit from the local police or abusive nimbys. In some cases it’s risky to go to a park because of gangs of older, menacing youths that think they own it. In some places you can’t even walk down the street without a cider-drinking rabble hurling abuse at you or threatening to “cut” you. However, its easier than ever to get served in an off license or pub.

It doesn’t help that schools have evolved from the personality manufacturing agenda whereby you toss a bad child in and get a good, well rounded one out. Teachers aren’t that interested and have little power to discipline kids; they just want to hit their key stage targets and as long as they can bugger off on their 8 week summer holidays they’re happy to suffer the abuse and unruliness in the classroom.

Staying on this subject, Palatine Community Sports College – which neighbours Palatine Leisure Centre – is reportedly one of the worst schools in the UK. In 2008, almost a fifth of all pupils were persistently absent (had an attendance record of less than 80%) and only about 40% of pupils scrape A-C in their GCSEs. It may be therefore fair to say that at least 60% come out for a life of drugs, crime, and benefits, and therefore Palatine can be labelled as a chav factory.

I cant just pick on Palatine though; Collegiate, Beacon Hill, Bispham, St Mary’s and Highfield all drop into “priority” status due to their dreadful truancy record. Priority means that over 7% of pupils are persistently absent. The Gasjet said in 2008 that, “education bosses in Blackpool are clamping down on children skipping school with regular truancy sweeps” . Clearly they aren’t, because truancy levels are still appalling.

Blackpool Council are too stupid to realise that this is the root cause of many of the problems in Blackpool. Poor education and poor quality of school leavers means, oh yes, that Blackpool will be poor quality. You can keep ignoring it, Steve Weaver, but it won’t go away. A bit like you.

I don’t buy into the often touted argument that this youth centre is a reward for miscreants, though. There’s nothing for kids to do these days, and something that perhaps makes them feel part of a team or feel of value may improve their self esteem and aspiration. Indeed, for the youth centre to be a success, it needs to educate kids … hang on a minute.

Councillor Don Clapham said,

This myplace project is intended to engage young people in a safe and enjoyable environment whilst also contributing to their personal development.

This should be happening in schools Don!

Save the four million quid and invest it in education, not teaching plebs to be a DJ.