TraceyW

This is our major stumbling block about going home. We hear so many terrible stories about crime, muggings, chavs,binge drinking fashion, drugs (I know that's here but it seems more prolific in the UK) inflicted upon kids in the UK.

People coming out here reckon their kids are not safe back in the UK, that they're liable to be pricked by infected needles, smothered in dog poo or tread on broken glass if they so much as go to the local play park. They also reckon their kids don't play outside because of the danger from weirdo's, or it's too cold or dark, or it's raining every day.

We left the UK years ago when our kids were so little, before they had a chance to experience any form of social life as such back there. I have little knowledge of the UK education system, however, recent arrivals reckon the kids in primary schools in the UK are stressed out and worried about exams and tests all of the time.

Can somebody back there, who has perhaps lived both lives (in Uk and Aus) give me their viewpoint about this?

Danny B

I raised two children in the UK until one was 10 and the other 4. I'm happy to say that both survived OK and never got beaten up or found needles in the park.
However, and it is a big however, it all depends on where you decide to live and what School they go to. Pick a nice area and I'm sure you'll be fine, pick a grotty crime ridden council estate and it will be a different story.

Issie

Hi Tracey


I havent lived in Australia ( but will be in 6 weeks ) but i agree with all your above post. I also agree that it does exsist too in Australia but not on the level it does here.

I live in a little local village just outside Liverpool and a few months ago a little boy of 5 years was expelled from one of our local schools for bringing a knife into school.

The playgrounds are nothing to write home and yes they are full of dog sh*t and gangs of kids who are so cocky that i feel scared to approach them so i don't go to the parks that much.

From what little bit of Australia i have seen i know that i am doing the right thing especially as my kids are little .......they deserve the chance to be kids and have some freedom.....some outdoor life instead of being couped up indoors as the weather is so crap........Summer this year was abismal ......and they couldn't play out that much so we ended up taking them to indoor expensive venues which were overcrowded and crap !!!

This is just my views and i want to say again i know that Australia does have its own problems so i have not got rose tinted glasses on ....


Good luck with your decision ...... And like Danny has said ......my kids have survived too so its not all that bad

quoll

Well you wont have to worry about kids with knives being expelled in Aus! They may get a short term suspension but generally the school and the other kids have to live with them. Knives are pretty common especially in High Schools although the schools try not to make a big deal of them - it's just when a kid gets stabbed does it hit the media.

Over the years, virtually every school I have worked at has found needles in the grounds at some time or another, we have also found bongs as quite a regular occurrence. Most people engage before school care and after school care if they are unable to look after their own kids before and after school. We have a wide range of holiday programs for kids whose parents work. Actually I rarely see kids playing out in the streets - or even at playgrounds and even then, never alone, there is always an adult around. You do occasionally hear the sound of kids playing in their own backyard but not as much as you would think given the beaut weather etc.

We have muggings, fights, and everything else that UK has including young kids who take and drive away cars and street race them, quite a few gangs -even in civilized Canberra!!

The added problem with kids is that you get a tad paranoid about letting them out in the sun without their hats and sunscreen and, possibly, insect repellant. Different sorts of stresses I guess!

crystal23

You are probably going to get lots of differing viewpoints on your questions Tracey but here are my experiences.

Dog Poo: Unfortunately found it was worse in the UK not just in the parks but in the street as well. Filthy dirty irresponsible dog owners who just cannot be bothered to clean up.

However having said that I have noticed it is getting bad around the beaches here. More and more dogs are being allowed to run around and foul the beaches and they aren't even supposed to be on the bloody beach in the first place. A woman let her dog crap on the pavement outside my daughter's school the other day so I leapt out of my car, handed her a plastic bag and ever so nicely said she must have forgotten to bring one with her. I did get called a Pommie Bitch for my troubles but she did pick the mess up. Still not as bad here as the UK. And I also find the streets alot cleaner here in WA.

Chavs: I see more chavs at Lakeside (Joondalup) than I ever did in the area I lived in the UK.

Crime: Having had my car vandalised 3 times, my house vandalised and my purse almost stolen (someone saw the pickpocket and shouted out) I am biased about this topic. From a personal point of view I find there is more crime per capita in WA than the UK. Alot of it isn't reported in the papers (2 major crime incidents not even given a paragraph in The West - If you want to know how I know pm me). Without a doubt there is alot of crime in the UK but I was never really affected by it. It is certainly reported more in the UK papers. As Danny says depends where you live in the UK.

Weirdos: Experienced problems in both UK and Oz.

Playing Out: Purely by virtue of the fact that Britain is in the Northern Hemisphere it is going to be too cold, wet and dark for kids to play out as much as they can here. That is a poor excuse to slag Britain off. You just have to do other things with them albeit indoors, although we used to go out on our bikes in all weathers and also go sailing in the middle of winter.

Education: I would agree that some schools do pressure kids over testing. I was very lucky in that my daughter's school didn't. In fact during the last lot of Sats I didn't even realise they had happened my daughter was so unconcerned by the whole thing. Again, depends on the school and more importantly teachers. My daughter was happy at school in the UK and is happy here and has said she will be happy when we go home.

There is a report in the papers that there is going to be a shake up in the testing system at Primaries for the better in the UK but I haven't managed to read all the details.


Drugs: Probably more prevalent in the UK especially in senior schools. My daughter has had very intense drug awareness lesson in Oz but when we left the Uk (she was 9) had had no drug awareness education at all. That's not to say I don't think drugs are very accessible here. A friend has just had major problems at her son's High School and is now moving him to another one.

I'm not slating either country - there is good and bad in both.

I'm sure you will be fine back in the UK. You aren't going to get away from drugs, chavs, or crime anywhere in the world (maybe Singapore and you just have to accept it (not you personally, general you).

If you perceive the UK to be a shithole it will be.

JAJ

I would think it is more to do with Britain's latitude rather than the fact that it's in the Northern Hemisphere.

If you look at the map you will see that there is very little land in the Southern Hemisphere at 52 degrees south of the equator.

crystal23

Hey Quoll

You forgot to mention the bomb that kid took into High School a couple of weeks ago.

TraceyW

Thanks guys.

It's not that I perceive the UK to be a shithole (very elequently put crystal!), it's just that it's been so long since I lived in it, I think I've forgotten so much about everyday life there.

I keep making up these damn pro's and con's lists in my head, and it always comes up that we should stay here. We're much better off materialisticaly here, we have the trappings of the Aussie lifestyle. But I look around me some days and wonder what the hell does it all mean eh? Is this what life is supposed to be about? We all strive so hard to have nicer things, bigger homes, be comfortably off, but when that doesn't make you happy, it's time to re-evaluate things surely?

But I just keep looking at my kids and wondering what the hell is the right thing to do that's best for them....and us as a whole family, because, I know this may sound a little self-centered but it's usually the case in most households, if the Mum's not happy, those feelings will radiate out and effect the whole family in the end.

Oh, what to do, what to do..........

crystal23

Sorry Tracey - didn't make it clear - I didn't mean you - I meant anybody in general

Grayling

How come I've never experienced all these terrible things in the UK?

Perhaps I read the wrong newspaper and have lived in the wrong areas.

G

Issie

Your a posh Sod G


I don't live in a too bad area but the outskirts are crap (IMO)

Grayling

You would think that in 40 years of working in front line Mental health services I would have seen most things.....and I have.

......but things are nowhere near as bad as many people like to portray.

Brits are very good at running their country down.

When I read some of the stuff on this forum I wonder how my kids ever managed to get to their 30's unscathed......yet they did and so did their friends.

Perhaps we live in a parallel universe.....or perhaps it is mostly in people's minds.

G

TraceyW

Hey, I thought it was funny!!! Also your bit about more chavs being in Lakeside...totally agee. Me and OH go chav spotting when we go to Woolies! Kinda takes the boredom off shopping a bit!

Fleaflyfloflum

I have just spent 3mths back there. I was living in a lovely country village. I cant even remember seeing any dog crap! I'm sure its there somewhere though Just as there is currently some dog crap in the park opposite our house here in Sydney! I also took the neighbours 6yr old daugther to school most mornings to help out. No needles, no dog crap, no gangs (unless you count the 4x wheel drive posse in designer track pants at the school gates)

The fact is, as always, it depends where you choose to live. Fortunately both here in Sydney and in UK i lived in great places, BUT, whilst over there we had to drive into central London every week for my grandaughter to have a her feet put in plaster casts. We had to drive through what must be some of the most disgusting areas of inner city Britain. Whitechapel, Poplar and a lot of the old east end of London. I wouldnt let my dog live there let alone my family!! But the same goes here also. I wouldnt go for a walk after dark in Redfern.

After reading up on these forums about the terrible state of Britain, i was a little apprehensive at going back. I have been very pleasantly surprised. As usual, it depends on the area you are in, the lifestyle you live and your own wants and needs in life. If you like inner city buzz and can foregoe the ugliness in places then fine. If you want green pastures a quiet life and all things quaint and English it is still there!

TraceyW

Oh yeah...you and me both Mrs!! The decision to go home is more scary than the one to come here I reckon.

How are you Flea? I hope things get sorted out for you soon and you and hubby can go back to Blighty together.