The Values and Character Dispositions of 14-16 Year Olds in the Hodge Hill Constituency

S1: People are making a living from razing people and jacking them. Cos they
ain’t like ready for a job.

R: What’s ‘razing’?

S1: Yeah it’s called razing when you rob someone. You take things away from
people for drugs. ‘Cos you got no money innit? So you take money for drugs.
Even stealing recycling bins.

The majority of students expressed a desire for a secure, quiet, clean, ordered
environment to live in. Although a small minority of students did not comment on the
issue of greater security and order, there was no actual dissent on this matter.

When asked about whether they helped out in the community the majority of students
stated that there were no opportunities to work in the community, either within or outside
school. Several students observed that there were few clubs or community organizations
and that where they did exist, students didn’t attend them.

The issue of the community led to questions based on it in the following questionnaire.

Aspirations

When asked what they wanted to do in the future responses were varied. Most students
demonstrated a high level of ambition (builders, doctors, lawyers, business people and
members of the army were mentioned as future careers, as was a desire to go to
university). The minority had no idea what they wanted to do. There was commonality in
one area. Nearly all students rated earning an income as their main aim in life.

This issue informed further related questions in the following questionnaire.

Islam

The majority of Muslim students stated that Islam was misrepresented in the press.
Around half thought that adherence to Islam was lapsing among some other students.
Half the students who responded to this theme said that it was incompatible with the
British way of life.

The issue of misrepresentation led to a question based on it in the following questionnaire.

Political Engagement

Most students who expressed a view said that they did not trust politicians and several
expressed unhappiness with government, ‘I hate Gordon Brown’, ‘useless, they never
change a thing’. Some students didn’t understand the concept of politics at all, ‘I don’t
really know what that means’, ‘I’m too young to know about that’ and did not articulate
views about it.

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