Lost Connections - March 01

On a dreary March day, Liz contemplates the fading sense of community and the limited support available for young people. In today’s '5 Minutes in Nature', she recalls a local town meeting that was disrupted by a group of teenagers. As she reflects on the incident, she recognizes that these young people have few opportunities and often find themselves on the fringes of society.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott and oh my goodness you've caught me on a really blustery wet day. The mist is down in our village and it's grey, It's rainy, It's blowing a gale and I'm trying hard not to get too wet as I wander around the village speaking to you and there just might be the occasional car go by as I'm talking because not many people are out walking in today's weather. But I'm out every day just listening to nature's wisdom and thanks for joining me again today. And today I'm really reflecting on young people actually. What is there for young people in our world? Where are the young people in my world? I don't have my own children and I don't really come across young people day to day. I've got a teenage nephew and in our village there are young people around but often they're at school or they're just in their homes or in a car. I just don't see young people that much and it just strikes me as I look at the world which for me feels very unsettling and a world that's rushing into a future that we just can't fully understand with technology and the politics of what's going on at the moment and I wonder what it's like to be a young person in the world. And this thought came to a head actually when I was talking in my local town earlier in the week about some of the community work I've been engaged with in the town for the past five years. I was asked to give a talk and as I was giving a talk there was a group of six lads probably around 15-16 years old who were actively disrupting what we were doing. So it started out with them knocking on the door and then they tried to come in and then they started throwing things at the window and sort of it wasn't bad behavior it was just disruptive behavior and there were a few people in the room that I was speaking to who were former teachers at the school and they sort of got up and went to deal with them and I went out and had a chat with them as well and I really recognized when I spoke with them they were a little bit put out because I just really I just felt a real sense of love and connection to them and for them and I just asked them if they're okay and what was going on and I said you know really really would you know love it if you didn't disrupt our meeting it's it's quite disruptive what you're doing and would it be okay just to leave us alone for a bit and my sense is that the way I spoke to them was very different than the way they were spoken to by others which was much more about telling them off or saying they're going to phone the police and and I understand that too because these youngsters have been really disruptive for quite some time in the town and they've broken windows and they have done some low-grade vandalism as well so it's understandable that others in the community feel frustrated at their behavior and their lack of care for the place that they live in and yet for some reason even though I was the one doing the talk and I was the one that found it quite hard to concentrate and my audience was very distracted because of all the interruptions I just found myself feeling this incredible sense of love for them and also wondering what it was that we live in a community where we don't actually know who our young people are we live in a community where we outsource their care to the school and then we outsource their care to the police if they're disruptive and it occurred to me that this could be the start of a very sad life for these young people if they get reported to the police and they start getting known for being disruptive and maybe eventually getting a criminal record and I just think wow we I I'm not blaming the community I'm part of the community I am the community it just occurred to me that I don't know these lads I don't know how to support these lads I don't know what homes they've got I don't know whether the parents need support but it just felt to me as though I and the community were letting these youngsters down so really it's about thinking about young people and I don't know if your community deals with young people in a way that works I'd love to hear if you do but yes today it's just reflecting on our young people and reflecting on the world they live in and reflecting on the state of community in the world as it is today

Reviews

Really something to reflect about - the young people.
Glad you were able to show them love and care. Inspiring.