UK Riots 2011 - Why They Started

The true cause of the riots this August is currently unknown, however there are many theories behind it all.

After the police shooting of Mark Duggan on 6^th August 2011 there were many riots across the UK, including in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and many more places.

Reasons such as the large proportion of unemployment in the UK could be a possible answer. In Tottenham, the birth of the recent riots, there is an extraordinarily high unemployment rate. It is now the 8^th highest in the UK. After London, the violence spread to other cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. This could also be due to a high unemployment rate. Birmingham has 4 of the top 5 unemployment rates in the UK. The highest is in Birmingham Ladywood, where the unemployment level is 11.9%. Therefore, unemployment is most probably a high contributory factor to the August riots.

Many believe the development of gangs in urban areas is a reason for the riots across the UK. Rioting gangs can influence young people and make them believe it is acceptable to act in these ways, causing damage to many lives without even thinking about their actions. Children as young as 11 years of age have been caught contributing to these riots, and this could be down to their peers acting in a terrible manner.

Government cuts meant that youth clubs have had to close in Tottenham. Youth clubs can keep teenagers off the streets and let them participate in social, non-violent activities. Unfortunately, the closing of youth clubs means that many teenagers have less to do and no one to aspire to. As well as this inner city areas have faced a large amount of closures of their primary schools, leading to poor education for children. Children then go onto secondary school with no motivation or aspiration and do not have a high attainment level. This can lead to people having no job, and they then feel the need to riot about this. They also come to a stage where ‘the only way to get money or possessions in this age is to steal things’ said a man involved in the looting following the riots.

There are many causes to the August 2011 riots in the UK, though I believe they are largely to do with government cuts leading to high unemployment rates and gang influence.

Can the common cold be cured?

Adults generally catch between 2 and 4 colds every year and for children it is even worse, with about 10 colds being caught every year. The common cold can be easily passed on from person to person from coughing, sneezing and simply touching infected surfaces. Therefore, there is desperate need for a cure for the common cold.

Experts have now found that the brutality of the common cold can be lessened.

Taking zinc, in the form of zinc syrup for example, within a day of having common cold symptoms will shorten the recovery time. Zinc is also said to help defend against future symptoms of the common cold. Zinc can lessen infections, stop the cold viruses getting into the body through the nose and even stop the virus from duplicating.

However, there are some problems with taking excess zinc. There are toxicity concerns from too much zinc and can lead to nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.

Consequently, there needs to be further research into the correct dosing of zinc so any side effects do not develop.

Mexico to the USA

Mexicans migrating to the USA is a big problem for the border patrol, Mexico and the USA. However there are also advantages.

Why migrate to the USA?

—  Mexican unemployment is at about 40%.

—  As well as this, jobs are poorly paid.

—  There are poor medical facilities in Mexico.

·         Many jobs are available with a good pay (minimum wage) in the USA.

·         Glorious life of Americans – “American dream”

The vast amounts of illegal migrants from Mexico every year creates high costs for the US Border Patrol. Also, conflicts can be created between cultures in USA urban areas. However, the fact that migrants are often paid minimum wage helps the US economy.

The migrants also have an impact on Mexico. As the majority of migrants are mainly young men there is an aging population and a very young population left behind in Mexico. There are therefore less people to support these age groups. Emigrants can help the Mexican economy because they send back a lot of money back to their families.

Even though the large amount of Mexican migrants can sound bad, it can benefit themselves, their families, Mexico and the USA.

Anti-natal Policies...China's One Child Policy

In the 1950's, the people of China were encouraged to have large families so the country could industrialise.

In the 1960's, it became apparent that there had been large increase in population and this was getting out of control.

In the 1970's, family planning programmes had been introduced promoting later marriages, fewer children and having a wider gap between births. The average family now had 3 children.

In 1979, the One Child Policy was brought into action. The aim was to reduce the large growth rate and each family was allowed to have just one child.

Incentives to have one child included:
- a free education for the child
- a priority over choosing a house
- pensions
- other family benefits

If a second child was born, all the benefits would be taken away and in some cases the family was fined.
The minimum age for marriage became 22 for men and 20 for women.
Permission was needed to marry and have a child.

Problems with the One Child Policy occurred, these included:
- more than one child was needed to help on farms in rural areas
- a generation of 'Little Emperors' emerged, meaning there were many spoilt only children
- there were little young people to look after the elderly
- the was a gender imbalance because there was a large amount of female infanticides
- there was also a large amount of abortions if a second child had been conceived

In the 1990's, the policies became more relaxed for some people. Rural areas could now have 2 children if they were spread over a 3 year period. This would help out farmers as they will have more helping hands.

The One Child Policy still continues to this day. It has had a great effect on the fertility rate and the population growth of the country. In 1979 the fertility rate was 2.74 and has now reduced to 1.77, concluding that the population policy has helped.

I think that the One Child Policy is a very forceful way of reducing the fertility rate and is unfair on families that would want more children. However, it has evidently been a success and is better that is has become less strict on some of the rules.

人口

中国洪水地震地理奶酪权谋人口计算机眼镜

An Ageing Population

The amount of elderly people in the UK is increasing at alarming rates. In 1995 there were above 9 million elderly people aged 65 and by 2030 this is expected to increase to 13 million.
Furthermore, the fertility rate is decreasing due to women having children later because of their busy working lives.
There are fewer younger people to support the increasing elderly population.

In East Devon almost 50% of the population is over 50 years of age. This is 15% more the national average and is expected to rise to a 17% difference by 2029.
Communities are in need for more elderly facilities as their population increases. The Abundant Life Project in Dartington is taking on the ageing population by setting up a community for over 55's.

Child deaths and vaccinations

Millions of children are dying every year from diseases. Rotavirus is a disease that causes diarrhoea, diarrheal and the death of over 500,000 children under the age of 5 every year.

Logically, the more people there are in a country, the harder it is to provide resources for people and to educate people. It is also difficult to sustain the environment. Many countries have a continuous growth in population. Families often have many children to ensure they have at least one surviving child. This means families have more people to provide for and causes resources to become scarce.

If the number of deaths of children were to decrease, it would be thought that the population would increase even more. However if there is a greater amount of children surviving their parents would need less children to ensure they have a surviving child. Therefore reducing the amount of children dying will cause the country's population growth to decrease. Consequently, this will mean there is a greater amount of resources to be shared within the population. Decreasing the amount of deaths of children in a country can be done by providing vaccinations for the worst off areas. With little costs for vaccines this can be easily done.