| Your letters
Dear N16
As a long-time member of the Woodcraft Folk I was interested in
your article on John Hargrave (Issue 29).
One correction needs to be made: it was not so much the ‘apolitical’
style of his leadership which led the founders of Woodcraft Folk
to break away as the fact that he ran Kibbo Kift as a one-man dictatorship
and excluded all opinions, political or other, with which he did
not entirely agree. As his later career showed he was hardly an
advertisment for democracy. The Woodcraft Folk by contrast has always
been resolutely democratic and not only survives but thrives.
In Stoke Newington we run groups for children/young people of varying
ages between 6 and 16. We remain based on the principles and values
of our early members, some of which they brought from Kibbo Kift,
such as love of outdoor activities, respect for the environment,
social justice, world peace (yes, we are still trying) and a democratic
voice for our young people. This summer, indeed, the Woodcraft Folk
is hosting the Global Village international camp and festival in
which young people from groups all round the world will try to put
some of our principles into practice. Any of your readers interested
in knowing more about the Woodcraft Folk
can visit our website: www.woodcraftfolk.org.uk. If you are interested
in yourself and/or your children becoming involved locally please
contact me.
Richard Kirkwood, Hackney District Woodcraft Folk, r.kirkwood@londonmet.ac.uk
Dear N16
Hi, it’s me again, Doris, to continue about my life in Stokey
when I was a child (thank you, John Cotton, for your e-mail)...
I would love to hear from people who lived in Stokey in the late
30s, 40s and 50s. I can remember when I lived in Victoria Road (I
was, say, six at that time) a man on the corner playing an organ
grinder with a monkey on his shoulder. I used to dance to the music
then. Also this was the dying age of the knife grinder, the ice
man, the cat meat man, the coalman, the milk that came on a cart
and filled up a jug, a rag and bone man for old rags etc. It was
all was horse and cart in those days. I used to play marbles on
the kerb, flick cards, and do hopscotch and skipping. I was never
bored in those times like they are these days, and at least we were
safe to play out then. Oh dear, how times have changed. From 7 yrs
old we moved to the flats at Lordship Road. So I guess it’s
all for this time. Next time I will tell you about what I did after
the 1939 War started.
byeee doris x, Dorishacket@aol.om
Dear N16,
In response to Doris’s letter in your last issue
Dear Doris
Yes, the New River still flows through the park. And yes, the mulberry
tree is still there, near the church. I was delighted to discover
it last year – my son and I enjoyed scoffing some of the delicious
fruits. Actually, it would be brilliant if there were more of these
in the park. And maybe some Sweet Chestnuts, instead of those boring
municipal Alders and London Planes.
Regards,
Jo Homan
Dear N16,
‘Do I get you? (article on ‘hoodies’, issue 29)’
No, unfortunately I do not.
Hoodies, young people, bad behaviour and general disrespect, I
get that. But not an adult saying that our teenager’s trends
and attitudes are on the whole acceptable – not in inner London.
I’d like to know where the reporter found her teenagers, because
she certainly did not find them at my school (I am a secondary teacher
in E1).
I like kids very much, and I like the ‘bad’ ones. But
I would not like to be a stranger passing them in their gangs at
night, or even in the da,y really. Where were the two hoodie interviewees
found? On their way home from a public school?
To say that the majority of kids nowadays, and I can only talk
of inner London, are motivated, animated and sociable is a joke,
if we’re talking of the hoodie crews. And these qualities
are the last thing they want to be. They want to be cool. As have
all teenagers in the past.
Saying that their styles are ‘a rich expression’ will
only push these young people further from civilised society: they
just want to be cool. In the comparison to the punk scene, there
is the musical influence on dress sense; but the adults of that
era didn’t say, ‘Oh yeah, I love that green spiky hair
and those chains; think I’ll get a few.’ They said,
‘You look bloody awful, son’.
Today, the hoodie crew kids want to be gangstas, and rappers (of
course not all, but lots of them), and rappers’ wives. The
popular music scene that shows the young people very rich people
who have little or no education, but plenty of money, sex and power
is the route many of kids are aspiring to. Fuck it, they can ‘spit’.
But they have to do something because everyone who they don’t
want to be is wearing a hoodie. So, up the attitude, stand out,
be bad. There is no force to fight against because there are adults
around them saying, ‘yes, that’s great, love; in fact
I’ll join you.’
I am being harsh, but goodness me, the teenagers do not run the
country and should not be allowed to feel as if they do; and certainly
should not be encouraged to stray further into anti-social behaviour
– and gangs, and drugs. The glamourisation of this fantasy
drug/rap/money-for-nothing world is a very bad influence, and the
misconception of its coolness is a distressing route.
 Ride
the buses around the East End after school, cover your ears and
get off as quick as you can. We have to stop saying it’s ok,
it isn’t. I am sad and afraid for these future generations.
Take down your hoodie, pull up your trousers and shut up. Kids
too.
Incidentally, I woke up this morning to the news on my clock radio:
a priest somewhere in Brixton is an advocate of hoodies, and he’s
wearing his up. God help us.
Yours, Lizzie, Stoke Newington High Street
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