Also, it could be argued that the riots showed how bad mannered the children in the society: they are selfish because they do not care about how their looting is affecting everyone else; they are thoughtless in not caring about their own future and just want luxury which will only be for a short while, and they are disrespectful because they are not respecting other people’s rights and not being respectful to even their own parents, by not listening to them.
Furthermore, many people blame the police for the riots. If the police were humane, they would not have done something as immoral as shooting a man. They could have punished the man in a more civilized way. As a consequence, friends and family of Mark Duggan, the man who was shot, wanted revenge, and this was one of the causes of the riots. Some people think that the police should have had more respect from the society, which would mean that the police would not have been hurt.
It is also argued that the riots proved the irresponsibility Britain’s government. If Britain had a better society, the government would have been prepared for situations like this. They would have made the changes they have made once the situation worsened, before: for example, allowing the police to remove people’s facemasks even if the person does not allow it. The government should have ensured that the police were well trained and had all the necessary tactics. They should have also given more power to the police earlier, so the society would have never even thought of causing riots, because they would know that the police are in the upper hand.
The riots reflected the inadequate socialization of the poor. It showed how the poor are undeserving – they live off others (get allowances) and are still not satisfied. They have no desire to protect the economy and are instead damaging it.
On the other hand, others disagree with this statement. Firstly, some people may argue that it is not the parent’s fault that their children are out of control, because however much parents teach their children good behavior when they are young, when the children grow older they can make the wrong friends and get out of control. Also, the parents sometimes think that their children are doing nothing wrong, because the children may make excuses for going outside. They believe that the parents are, instead, working to help the society. For example, one of the mothers of the rioters handed in her child to the police when she heard that her child was included in the rioting.
Moreover, many people believe that the riots were not a sign of the police being wrecked, because it was not their fault that they could not control the situation. The police did not know what to do – they have been blamed in the past for over acting, because they were afraid they would get blamed for overacting again. In addition, they had many restrictions which prevented them from being able to control the situation.
In my opinion, I agree with this statement. First of all, children should not make the wrong friends, because the parents should be responsible and teach their children who they should not make friends with and the bad consequences that would happen if they do, so that children would never make the wrong friends. Secondly, the adults of the society should be role models and be criminals themselves, so there will be no bad example shown to the children. Also, if Britain was not a broken society, the police would have been more prepared and would have known when to act and the limit to how much action they can take. This would mean they would not have been blamed for anything and would be able to control the situation well. To sum up, I think Britain’s society, the parents and children, the police and government, is broken, and the riots of 2011 prove this.
