National Service

I can see the value in something like the Civil Defence Corps.  Have a nucleus of permanent staff, and top up with volunteers and national service trainees. Train them in basic first aid, radio communications, rescue skills and how to deal with civil emergencies such as floods.  Link it to an NVQ so they get a qualification. Give the option of staying on as a volunteer and learn additional transferable skills. As with the TA, have an annual retainer and pay for days on duty, weekend training etc.

Encourage volunteering with HM Coastguard, RNLI, Mountain Rescue, RVS, Red Cross, St John Ambulance etc. to meet the required number of service hours.

At the same time, encourage schools to start CCF and support voluntary youth organisations working with younger kids - there are Scouts, Brigades, St John Ambulance, Red Cross, Police and Fire Cadets and loads of other voluntary youth organisations that offer structured programmes and need resources and leaders. Count service as leaders with such organisations as meeting the requirement.

Have a military option, but make it something useful ... not square bashing and busywork like some of the stories about the old National Service personnel painting coal white etc.. I am thinking something along the lines of the old TA / Home Guard who, in an emergency, could guard airfields and barracks and release more qualified service personnel for active duty. Again, this could include SIA training so that they could work as security guards on completion of their training commitment. I remember the military who supported the security at the London Olympic Games - this could be handled by National Service personnel with regular miltiary NCOs supervising. 

Young people with appropriate skills - and that could include some of our neurodivergent youngsters - could be involved in an apprenticeship  with the security services to tackle cyber crime and terrorism, possibly leading to permanent employment.

Whats CCF and SIA?

What about those of us who don't do groups and teamwork? The ideas that you've come up with fill me with horror, I know I was brought up by someone who would never allow me do somethig where I had to wear a uniform, but the idea of all this militaristic structured training just seems weird!

Arn't there already things like The Duke Of Edinburgh Awards that do all this stuff with young people?

I'm dubious about things like making young people do things like search and rescue, will they be given the right equipment to enable them to do it? Or will it be another cash burden on financially over stretched parents? Will the state pick up the tab for young people in care?

You're obviously a person who enjoys group/team work and see's the value in it, I'm the opposite and I think it would either put me into melt down or engage my fight/flight responses to such a degree that it would be seriously harmful to me and those around me, I'd probably oscilate between fighting, fleeing and meltdowns.

We are talking 18+ i.e. young adults, so presumably they would not be parents' responsibility. If it were National Service all equipment, uniform or whatever would need to be provided, just as if they were in the military

A lot of autistic young people get involved with uniformed youth organisations - two autistic teenagers live in my road, one is in the Boys Brigade and the other was in Scouts before going to university. I was in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) at school and in the Scouts - as you suggest, I liked the structure and the adventurous stuff suited my ADHD. Many of my peers were, like me, "weirdly wired" but undiagnosed.

The Duke of Edinburgh's award is delivered through schools and youth organisations, and could be incorporated into a National Service scheme as extra accreditation.

Presumably there would need to be some special  provision for individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities, mental health difficulties, social phobia etc.

SIA - Security Industry Authority - the body which licenses security cards.

We are talking 18+ i.e. young adults, so presumably they would not be parents' responsibility. If it were National Service all equipment, uniform or whatever would need to be provided, just as if they were in the military

A lot of autistic young people get involved with uniformed youth organisations - two autistic teenagers live in my road, one is in the Boys Brigade and the other was in Scouts before going to university. I was in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) at school and in the Scouts - as you suggest, I liked the structure and the adventurous stuff suited my ADHD. Many of my peers were, like me, "weirdly wired" but undiagnosed.

The Duke of Edinburgh's award is delivered through schools and youth organisations, and could be incorporated into a National Service scheme as extra accreditation.

Presumably there would need to be some special  provision for individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities, mental health difficulties, social phobia etc.

SIA - Security Industry Authority - the body which licenses security cards.

TheCatWoman said:

Is this your road in Brazil or the one you used to live in the UK? Because I imagine that they're rather different?

Ian is not Iain 

TheCatWoman 

"Is this your road in Brazil or the one you used to live in the UK? "   I am not sure what this signifies. Brazil? Where does that come from?

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award was designed to give all young people the opportunities that more fortunate young people can access. Prince Philip was educated at Gordonstoun School, a private school that specialises in the all-round development of students and is very strong on outdoor challenging activities, team building and developing leadership potential - not something readily available many state schools. The Award require young people to undertake community service. At Bronze level this can be training, e.g. completing a first aid certificate, fire safety course, etc. For higher levels they look for active participation as a volunteer in the community. The second requirement is to either develop an existing hobby or interest, or try something new. The third is physical fitness, which can be team sports or individual activities. Then there is an expedition where a small group of participants go off into unfamiliar territory and have to navigate, do their own cooking, and complete some sort of target.  The DoE operates through provider organisations, ranging from the military cadets and uniformed organisations, schools (as an optional after-school activity) ,and youth clubs to Young Offenders Institutions. The DofE Award was intended to stand alongside academic achievement as a measure of "soft skills" such as leadership, problem-solving and communication.

Some youth organisations do have some sort of oath or promise, but not all. The King is Head of State, and allegiance is to the King in the context of  " the Crown in Parliament" and our constitution, not to Charles Mountbatten-Windsor in a personal capacity. Members of HM forces do swear allegiance to the King. The clue is that we live in a United >Kingdom< ... not a republic. We tried that under Cromwell for eleven years.

 We have seen from the Paralympics that people with physical impairments can join if if given appropriate facilities - the social model of disability is that the limitation is not the impairment, but the barriers that society put in the way, whether in the built environment or attitudes.

I don't know what if any thought has been given to people with severe cognitive impairment or mental health difficulties, chronic alcoholics, substance mis-users etc. Individuals who need significant care themselves would presumably be exempt. Nor do I want to disparage individuals who have genuine anxieties and phobias. I assume that National Service would be subject to a similar "fitness to work" test as we have for sickness and disability benefits.

Doubtless we will have individuals with the equivalent of Trump's "bone spurs"  or the mental health equivalent who will try to claim exemption.

I wouldn't bet on it not being the parents responsibilty to provide kit just because the people are over 18. Student loans have a parental contribution, it's only if you're a mature student (over 21) that parents have no say or finanacial control. A student loan is a loan to the student, who is responsible for it's repayment, but the amount you're awarded is dependent on your parents income and a whoie load of paper work has to be provided to support this. I saw far to many students really struggling or having to give up their courses because their parents refused to pay their contribution. The process of being legally estranged from your parents was as burocratic, lengthy and required the co-operation of abusive, uncaring parents who often had issues of their own, such as substance abuse and mental health problems. I have no faith that something similar wouldn't be the case for young people in a national service situation.

Why, if you've done something like a Duke of Edinburgh Award would you need to do something else on top of it? If someone hadn't done one, would they be seen as lesser in someway for not having had that opportunity? To me it seems like another layer of division to add to an already divided society and the exact opposite of what is trying to be achieved.

Is this your road in Brazil or the one you used to live in the UK? Because I imagine that they're rather different?

What provision do you suggest for those of us with things like social phobia and mental and physical health problems? Or would we just be bullied and told we have to do things anyway and stop being snowflakes or whatever term of abuse is popular at the time?

Another thing about all these uniformed options you're giving, don't they all require an oath of loyalty to the monarch? What if you're a republican? Or is this yet another attempt to shore up support for monarchy and the archaic system that goes with it?