Now we all know about Chavs, we all know who they are but we don't know why they are Chavs. I believe that it is deliberately inadequate education. I come to this conclusion after a great deal of thought and delving into my own history.
I was born in 1942. My first school was Stapleford Abbots Primary/Junior school. The headmistress was Miis Anita Youa who was a stuck up old bag with a bun on her hear that was so tight I swear she could not blink. Miss Youa used to say that "children from the wrong sort of families are not to be encouraged" as she strutted up and down the classroom with her ruler under her arm, ready to strike at the least little thing. She never seemed to strike out at the first five or six rows, only the very back row where the nine of us who came from the wrong sort of families were stuck. She mostly ignored the back row, except for the odd scowl. My father and his two brothers went to the same school and from what they said Miss.Youa had not changed a bit. Neither had her attitude. My Dad often described her as looking like a startled ostrich. Probably that bun keeping her eyes open.
Bear with me, there is a point to this lengthy preamble.
From what I can gather from talking to others of a similar age, this sort of behaviour from teachers was not uncommon at the time. It was a very similar situation when we went to "big school", the only exception being that if your parents could afford a uniform you were okay but if not you were, once again, treated as if you weren't there. This resulted in those of us from what was considered the wrong sort of families leaving school at 15 with what can best be described as bad attitudes. Conscription had ended so that bit of salvation was gone, jobs for our sort were not readily available so attitudes hardened. I joined the Royal Marines when I was 17 and the basic training in those days included 2 hours a day schooling where nobody was ignored and treated differently.
Now we come to where I believe todays Chavs come from.
Those who left school with bad attitudes who weren't saved by going into the forces, eventually got jobs, got married, had kids who were classed as coming from the wrong sort of families. These kids left school and because their parents had bad attitudes to authority and work etc; they had even worse attitudes. And so the cycle continues until we reach the present. It is wrong to generalise and there were many who escaped the cycle but a significant number did not. I like to think I escaped the cycle but there may be some who went to Eton or similar schools who think I am a Chav. But that sort think that everyone who didn't go to Eton or similar is a Chav.
I lived on a council estate in Chipping Ongar for much of the 50's and 60's. When I lived there very few house had gardens full of old junk. Most of the Mums and Dads went to work and the Chavs were few and far between. Now they appear to be everywhere. The other thing that defines a Chav is that very few will bother to vote and if they did they would not vote Tory. This is why I believe that the inadequate education still exists. The more Chavs the state turns out the better for the political right wing who are without a doubt more right-wing than they ever have been.
