IS IT any wonder that employers regard some of our young people as ill prepared for life?
Teenagers are being fed a diet of money, sex and celebrities.
I have just begun my autumn exercise regime at the new gym (see above) which is peppered with TV screens playing materialistic and mindless music videos aimed at young people.
As my flat feet pounded rhythmically on the treadmill this week, the worst thing about the whole experience was not the breathlessness, or even the fact that I was fit to drop and still had 12 minutes to go. No, it was the constant stream of talentless music and abominable videos.
It kicked off with DJ Antoine’s Welcome to St Tropez, an instantly forgettable song with an endless stream of speedboats, luxury hotels, fast cars and scantily dressed anorexic women throwing themselves at the feet of muscled and tattooed men.
The next couple of videos followed a similar theme with speedboats occupied by couples wearing not very much – except lots of tasteless jewellery – zooming around from one tropical villa to another.
The heroes of the second video were served cocktails by servants before several more semi naked stick insects draped themselves over the singer.
Next up was a song called Where Dem Girls At? I will leave that one to your imagination. Suffice to say that I will not be buying the record – or downloading the track, as it’s called these days. Incidentally, several of these videos were X-rated, which theoretically prohibits the target audience from watching them.
Honestly, I’d rather watch re-runs of the sitcom The Office than that drivel.
Although the repetitive music and inane lyrics of these materialistic offerings were occasionally punctuated with some classic songs, sadly that only lasted for a few seconds as it was the adverts.
At a time when many primary school children list ‘actor’, ‘singer’ or ‘celebrity’ when asked what they want to do when they grow up, it should come as no surprise that local bosses are having difficulty recruiting young people into manufacturing.
Eight hours on the factory floor isn’t half as appealing as jet-setting around the world in the luxury lifestyle of their dreams.
Fantasy is a healthy thing, but we do our children no favours if it becomes their world. What our young people need is a dose of reality – bring back The Office.
