The end of the chav? Young people today want to be 'ethical' rather than 'chavvy', according to an Oxfam survey releaed today to mark the beginning of Volunteer Week (1 - 7 June). A whopping 92 per cent of teenagers would consider volunteering for a charity, and over a third had volunteered in the last 12 months. And 89 per cent said they would make sacrifices in the name of charity - 60 per cent stated they would give up 'Watching Big Brother' to accommodate volunteering in their lifestyle. As one volunteer, Kate Earl (24), put it: "Young people aren't all apathetic, hoody-wearing yobs. Volunteering means my spare time is used positively. I've gained the confidence to do other things and have actually got a new job as a result of it." The survey also suggests that volunteering could be the solution to 'yob culture' - 51 per cent of those surveyed said voluntary work should be part of the school curriculum. So, what do you think? Should we do voluntary work when we're at school? And is volunteering the answer to 'yob culture'? Post your comments below... More about the survey >> More about Volunteer Week >> Everything you need to know about volunteering >> posted at 8:36 AM | Permalink 13 comments   Comments: GenerationWhy and Oxfam accept no responsibility for the content of comments in the Blog. Voluntary work at school would be great I reckon - it would be great to make a difference and not just do the same old boring stuff. By  kitty, June 01, 2005 8:56 AM   Do you seriously reckon your average teenager would want to volunteer? Most I know wouldn't! By  Tinhead, June 02, 2005 9:32 AM   my name is jess (15) i think volenteering is amazing i give up my saturdays and i would rather spend all day working for nothing knowing i am changing lives than going out with my mates because i get to spend all day with a different set of friends who i love and they are more than just friends they are fabuolsly generouse people who give up there time . And well lets face it if they can still work for nothing and work with me then they have to be pritty amazing people ....right. By  Anonymous, June 02, 2005 6:46 PM   damn right jess! nice one on the volunteering, where do you work? By  Anonymous, June 03, 2005 8:24 AM   al very true, but if u have to volunteer doesnt that take away the fact its volunteering? By  Anonymous, June 05, 2005 9:51 PM   Volunteering is fantastically rewarding and worthwhile and I think loads of young people could benefit from doing it, but why draw a line between 'hoody wearing yobs' and 'ethical volunteers'? I know plenty of young people who like wearing hoodies or the 'chav' style and who are also worried about global poverty and the welfare of their local community. I think reading things like this will only put those young people off volunteering-they'll see it as something for middle class kids whose uniform is boho rather than burberry. By  Anonymous, June 06, 2005 5:28 PM   it shouldn't put people off, it's the media that call people chavs and i think this survey was saying thats insulting and that kids are actually more aware than people say. By  Anonymous, June 07, 2005 10:20 AM   I agree with that previous comment. This was making the point that when they talk about 'hoodie-wearing yobs' on TV and in the papers they're just concentrating on a minority. By  anders, June 07, 2005 3:22 PM   I have recently returned from Ghana where I saw a couple of school kids with burberry handbags. Ghanaian chavs! By  Anonymous, June 08, 2005 10:36 AM   I am really surprised at Oxfam thinking that it is a good idea to use the nasty, snobbish insult 'chav' to promote volunteering. Chav is a derogatory term for white working class teenagers ( see wikipedia definition ). I can't imagine you would use the same kinds of offensive slang to describe other social or ethnic groups. By  Maya, June 08, 2005 8:52 PM   I know where you're coming from Maya but I think you might be being a bit hard. According to the wikipedia article chav means a 'subculture stereotype of a person who is uneducated, uncultured and prone to antisocial or immoral behavior'. Wasn't Oxfam saying that this stereotype is rubbish. If anything I read this as saying stop using the word chav caus young people do actually care. By  anders, June 10, 2005 9:28 AM   i think the majority of ppl who do wear burberry AND think its cool dont mind being called chavs. to them its not an insult, its a factual statement. By  Anonymous, June 15, 2005 10:22 AM   Burberry can boast an impressive list of collections, including: Burberry Prorsum, Thomas Burberry, Burberry London, Burberry Golf, Burberry House, Burberry Timepiece (watches to the rest of us) and Burberry Eyewear - phew! Impressive! However, scratch the glossy checkered surface and an all too different picture emerges; a new world-order which must send shivers down the spine of every major brand. Burberry’s once pre-eminent status as a brand of the rich and powerful has been completely undermined over the past few years as a new breed of customer or pseudo-customer (a parenthesis is necessary to clarify pseudo-customer — this term denotes an individual who purchases a counterfeit [usually online] at a drastically reduced price in an attempt to glean the associated kudos of the brand), drags the once might brand through the lager and blood-stained gutter now so commonly associated with Burberry clad lads and ladettes, colloquially referred to as “Chavs”. Burberry must be devastated by this new found infamy and wonder whether they will ever fully rid themselves of this damaging stigma. Some fashion commentators actually believe Burberry is partly to blame for this situation — they point to the decision to produce Burberry baseball cap as an open invitation to a new strata of customer which was bound to instigate negative consequences; the traditional Burberry customer would never consider buying a baseball cap - ergo, Burberry must accept some of the onus for the current stigma. That aside, other brands are experiencing the “burberry-effect” and are desperately seeking a way to avoid this new world-order which turns the class strata on its head or at the very least dissolves the class system altogether. Perhaps we’re all missing the point and Burberry are in fact at the vanguard of a secretive egalitarian mission to integrate toff and chav into a new inclusive integrated world-order where Dave and Rupert or Tracy and Camilla can live in peace and the social divide is bridge in red, camel, black and white check. By  Anonymous, February 10, 2006 2:31 AM   Post a Comment

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