Search

Tag results

You are searching documents tagged with "Youth"

  • Interviews and Storytelling: Michael Sirmond

    [TRACK 1]

    What is your full name?

    Michael Anthony Sirmond or Seth.

    Where and when were you born?

    I was born in Halifax General Hospital on the sixth of February 1991.

    Where do you live?

    Mytholmroyd.

    Can you tell me anything about your family?

    They’re all very lovely, very supporting. My mother’s lovely, she takes cares of me; she’s always been there for me. I’ve never really seen my father and he split up when I was only two. My father walked out on my mum on Christmas Day and I’ve never particularly seen him since, and the only times I have, he’s not really acknowledged me as a son, but I’ve got a step-father and he’s lovely – he’s amazing, the best thing that’s ever happened to me or my mum.

    So can you tell me anything about your childhood?

    I used to be deaf, and I couldn’t speak until I was about four through deafness, and then I had very bad problems with asthma. I’ve had many asthma attacks and I’ve almost died a few times through asthma attacks. I have really bad dyslexia in English; it’s got better over the years because I’ve worked on it and I’ve put a lot of effort into it but because of that, Maths has always been my thing.

    Would you classify yourself as a Goth?

    No, but a lot of other people and a lot of my friends would classify me as a Goth, but I don’t think of myself as…I don’t keep myself under a strict rule, but I am definitely a Goth and I have to do this because this is all what Goths do.

    What would you say a Goth is?

    A Goth is another person, just a human being who likes other fashion and a different style to everyone else.

    How did you get into the Gothic type of fashion?

    …through my music. I like Sum 41 and Linkin Park, that was my first stuff and then went into more heavy stuff like Soil and Slipknot and Korn, then I’ve into my style of music after that.

    Is there a certain Goth style of music?

    No, I know a lot of Goths who like…heavy metal and I know a lot of Goths who like classical music and violins; there’s anything you could really be into.

    And what music do you like?

    I like industrial metal, doom metal and black metal.

    Who would you say is your favourite band?

    Death Stars by far, then probably Cradle of Filth.

    And what is your favourite album by this band?

    That’s hard – sometimes I think it’s ‘Synthetic Generations’ – sometimes I think it’s Termination Bliss’ – it depends what mood I’m into and it depends how long I’ve been playing it. Sometimes I’ve played it for a couple of weeks and I’m thinking it’s a bit bored so I put the other album on, but they’re both just as good as each other, and favourites – I don’t really have a favourite song. They’re all just as good as each other and they’re all absolutely amazing, and that’s why it interest me, and that’s why it’s my favourite band. –

    Do you ever go to gigs?

    I’ve gone to many gigs before – I go to Manchester Academy, I’ve been to The Cockpit in Leeds, I’ve been to The Metropolitan University in Leeds but the main one is Bradford Rio. I’ve been to Death Stars, Mortice twice, Leaves Eyes and many other bands.

    What kind of things do you like?

    I like my bass guitar, it’s the best thing what’s ever happened – I like my friends, I like- I love drinking, that’s my greatest hobby probably, especially Guinness – it’s very fattening but I don’t mind it.

    What do other people think of Goth?

    …it’s kind of mixed – some people can’t stand it, I don’t know why ‘cos it’s just another fashion; I don’t see why we have to be insulted just because we’re slightly different…but a lot of people think it’s just an okay fashion – we’re better than chavs at least.

    What do you think of this chav fashion?

    …I’ve a fair few friends who are chavs and they stick up for me but people who don’t know me, they normal just insult me or chavs, but I’m lucky because the school where I went to, I had a lot of friends who were later to become chavs. There’s a gang known as the Mytholmroyd Lot and they get in fights with like people from Mixenden and Todmorden, and they’re basically known all around our area and they’re known as ‘hard’ kind of people, and they’re probably the strongest gang there are, and they always stick up for me, and they’re nice to me.

    What do you think is the worst insult you’ve every had?

    I’m getting insults all the time. Every day I walk through a corridor and it’s…’blumming Goth’ and stuff like that, so I’m so used to them I can’t just pull one out off the top of my head.

    Does it affect you in any way?

    No, I just think they’re ignorant and I hate them, I don’t see why they have to insult me; I don’t go around going ‘oh you’re a bloody chav and I hate yer’ so I don’t see why on earth they do it to me.

    What do you think of other people who aren’t Goths?

    I’m fine with them, as long as they’re okay with me I don’t really mind them, it’s just the other people I find annoying.

    Would you like more of your type of music in Hebden Bridge?

    No I’d hated it ‘cos I’m in a band myself playing a bass guitar and if there was more bands around Hebden Bride, it would be much harder to get noticed and more hard to get famous, and there’d be more people into my style of music, and if I went to see ‘Cradle of Filth’ or ‘Death Stars’ it’s more likely to be sell-out gigs, so I wouldn’t be able to go and see my favourite bands.

    What do you think of Hebden Bridge in general?

    It’s quite pathetic; a lot of shops are quite bad and there’s always fights whenever I walk through Hebden Bridge; it’s just a rubbish little town.

    Does your family come from Hebden Bridge?

    No, we’re a very scattered family. My mum comes from Manchester and before that she was born up in Scotland, and her dad comes from India; he was in the army what’s part of the English army in India, and he was Captain for India a few times, for rugby, and from my father’s side they originally come from Ireland and they went Scotland as well, and now they’re just dotted around Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and Manchester.

    Do you think you’ll stay in Hebden Bridge when you’re older?

    It depends – it depends where there’s work for me, it depends what I’m doing – money obviously, stuff like that, but I wouldn’t really mind staying around here ‘cos a lot of my friends, a lot of my family are from the Hebden Bridge area.

    What do you like or dislike about older people?

    I don’t dislike anything about them; my best friend is eighty-two years old, and he’s lovely; he takes me everywhere, I love him to bits – he’s like a granddad to me, and a lot of my family – they’re old. I’ve actually just come from three of my family’s funeral in the last year which I’m very upset about, but it brings us closer because I think I’d better keep in touch with my older generation, so I go down and see them often and listen to their old stories from war time and I’ve got a friend of the family which is like a grandma, and she was born in 1915 in the First World War, so very interesting stories from her. She’s still totally got her memory, so it’s lovely seeing her.

    Do you like any of your teachers at school?

    I don’t see anything bad about teachers, they’re just there to do a job and they get paid decent money for it. They’re setting us ready for the future, so there’s nowt really wrong with teachers.

    What’s the worst thing about being a Goth in Hebden Bridge?

    Most of the Goths are like in Manchester and Leeds, and they’re thirty miles each side so it’s not the easiest places to go to, and it costs a lot so you have to be in solitude a lot of the time, and you have to stick with whatever Gothic kind of people or heavy metal people there are around Hebden Bridge, but there’s not many so you don’t have many friends, and you get more insults than compliments.

    Do you think you’ll always be into this Gothic style?

    Probably, hopefully – I’ll always be into…well it’s my style, it’s just something what gets me, it’s…unless I find something more interesting, I don’t know, it’s just…I guess so, yeh.

    Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?

    Probably not; I like sex!

    Thank you very much.

    [END OF TRACK 1]

    Read more

  • Interviews and Storytelling: Hannah Atkinson

    [TRACK ONE]

    Are you going to write down everything that’s said?

    Not everything, just those things that you think are important because what’ll happen is this will go on to a web site, and then people will go on to that web site and they’ll be reading through Hannah’s thing and there’ll be things that they’ll think ‘oh that’s really interesting’ – ‘oh that’s good’ – ‘oh that’s what that place is like’ – ‘that’s what that street is like’ and what have you, and they’ll us that, so basically I’m trying to get you to do that, but as we go along really, so you write down what you think the important points are and once we’ve done the other interview, and then in our last session when we kind of like evaluate it and talk about it a bit, we can go back over that and say ‘right, we’ll talk about it a bit more’. So it’s whatever you think basically – it’s not what either of us think, it’s what you think.

    Okay – are you ready?

    Yes.

    The first question is – can you tell me your full name and where and when you were born?

    Hannah Claire Atkinson – I was born in Halifax, and my date of birth is fifth of the fourth eighty-five.

    Do you still live in Halifax?

    No I don’t, actually I live in Brighouse now.

    When did you move there?

    When? About fourteen years ago.

    So you spent – what, the first like six or seven years of your life in Halifax – whereabouts in Halifax?

    Hipperholme.

    That’s not far from Brighouse really is it?

    No not at all – it’s about…quarter of an hour, not even that.

    What was it like then in Hipperholme?

    It was nice – we lived in like a cul-de-sac…it was a semi-detached house, it was nice – there was lots of children to play with and I made some friends from there, and they also went to the same school as me which was good, so it was quite a fun place to be brought up.

    What was the name of the street?

    Leyburn Avenue.

    And what school did you go to?

    I went to…oh I’ve forgotten, no I haven’t….oh Lightcliffe C of E School – sorry about that!

    That’s fine – did you like school?

    I did yes, but then I moved from Lightcliffe when we moved to Brighouse and I went to Saint Andrew’s School so I left all my friends behind and had to make new friends; I didn’t – I preferred Lightcliffe to Saint Andrew’s School.

    Why – what was better about it?

    ….it was just, I don’t know really, a more happier time I’d say – people were different, I had a different circle of friends to what I did at Saint Andrew’s School and they weren’t close friendships at Saint Andrew’s School – it was more just – you had lots of friends and you didn’t really have any proper connections if you get me, so…

    Do you think that was because…the friends you made first at Lightcliffe when you were younger – do you think there was a bit more connection there, and when you moved on it was…they’d already made their friendships?

    I think so yeh, that’s the thing so you didn’t fit in, is that it? I did fit in, but like you say they’d already formed their friendships so I was sort of the new girl coming in and I wasn’t maybe as close to what they all were, so I did feel a little bit isolated sometimes.

    So you changed houses as well?

    Yes.

    And what was the new house like?

    It was a bungalow, really nice actually…I’ve enjoyed living there as well, so we’ve got a foster family next door to us so I sort of met children from there and played with them, and then at the other side we had three boys and they were quite big fields at the back of us, so we used to play football and – so that was good.

    So were you a bit of a tomboy then?

    I was, yeh, I’d say I was, but then I sort of changed once I sort of got out – not got out of that – we started doing different things as we got older. They were – the lads were a little bit older than me, so they moved on to liked college and university so we all sort of parted, but we still do keep in contact – we do still see each other, so – which is nice.

    How come you had to move from one to the other then?

    My mum and dad really – they just saw it and they just thought it was time for a change I think; I’m not really quite sure because I mean I was quite young, so I was just sort of like ‘oh we’re moving house’ and I remember being really sad leaving my house at Leyburn Avenue, and when the For Sale sign was up and then it said Sold I remember feeling really sad, but then I do enjoy living where I do now, it’s nice, a nice area, so..

    So when you were still in Lightcliffe when you were little, what kind of things did you play at?

    Played all sorts, like just skipping ropes…other like…hopscotch and they had like you know all that in the playground, like hopscotch and then the snakes and ladders thing, everyone just used to get really involved, like the lads used to play football – we all used to do girlie things, so – like skipping.

    What kind of toys did you have, what games did you have in the house?

    …I had quite a few toys really, I remember we had like a little – me and me sister had like a sort of a kitchen that had like you know the kettle, and that was really fun – I used to enjoy that, I used to play with that quite a bit, but me sister’s a lot older than me so – she’s like six years older than me, so there’s quite a big gap there, so it was nice – I did have friends to play with, so – I just had a range of toys and games; Hungry Hippos, that was my favourite game, it was a really good game – I used to love that game [said happily] – I used to get everyone to play that game with me, I loved it [laughing]. Just teddies, just general toys and educational toys as well – books, I used to like reading books.

    Sort of information ones or like stories?

    Just like stories, just…just stories

    Who was your favourite sort of author then?

    I’d probably say…who would I say my favourite author was…I did like Enid Blyton and those…what else…I think that’s about really my favourite, and then the other ones when I lived on Leyburn Avenue was like Roger Red Hat when I was really young – I used to love those books, they were quite entertaining.

    Did you used to like pretend with them?

    Yeh I did, I used to like…imagining you know, sort of getting a picture in my head of what was going on – it might be totally different to what was actually being said if you get me, but I liked forming my own picture, so like using my imagination.

    What do your parents do?

    They work in a bank – my dad’s a financial advisor and my mum’s just an admin – HSBC bank, so…so I’ve gone down a different path really.

    And do you have any brothers or sisters?

    I’ve one sister.

    Just the one?

    Yeh.

    What does she do?

    She’s in recruitment – yeh, she’s a recruitment consultant, so she lives in London with her fiancé so I don’t really see her that often.

    Why did she move from Halifax down south?

    She went to university, she went to Surrey University – she had quite a long-term boyfriend, she lived down there and then she just ended up staying down there after she’d finished university ‘cos her friends had moved down there as well, got jobs down there, so they all sort of rented together and she just from then on from going to university, she just lived there all along, but we get on better when she’s away [laughing] – yeh, we’re a lot closer now.

    Do you think she’ll ever come back?

    She does want to do, yeh – maybe when she starts a family, I think she want to move back up here. There’s been talks about it, but that won’t be for another few years yet.

    Is that so she can be close to the rest of her family then?

    I think so yeh, but also I think it’s just a – not a change, but she loves it up here and it’s where she was brought up, and I think financially as well – you know, living down there is…house prices and I just think when she does start a family, it’s just being close to my parents – they’ll be Grandma and Granddad then and, so…yeh I do think that, so hopefully she will do.

    Do you think you’ll ever move away?

    …I’ve been to university, I moved – I was at Loughborough University then started to come back home, but now I am maybe thinking about in the future maybe moving down there, ‘cos I’ve got quite a few friends down there still, so maybe in a year or two time then I might venture off once I’ve got money and found myself a steady job, so I think that might be on the cards.

    If you did move away, when would you kind of want to come back as well – would you just go wherever you’re led to?

    …I don’t know, I can’t really say, I probably would want to come back, like again when I start a family, you know I want my mum and dad to be there, but I can’t really say – it could change, but I think deep down, yeh I probably would move back and settle down up here then for good.

    So what did you study at university?

    Criminology and Social Policy

    That’s a mouthful!

    It is [laughing]

    And what did you learn from studying that?

    Oh goodness – I learnt a lot really…I wish I’d had more practical experience. I did find it – I think it’s all very well going to university and getting knowledge behind you, but I do find that practical experience is a lot better, I mean I need practical experience for the jobs I want to go into – I do need quite a lot of practical experience, but knowledge about crime and you know, what happens and why it happens – I’m really interested in that, so I did learn quite a bit from that, different theories, what they think about it, then I also – you form your own opinions, so there might be similarities – no right or wrong answer really, so that’s why I find it really really interesting, but it’s not like maths where you’re either right or wrong, it’s forming your own if you want to, so yes- interesting.

    So do you want to work for the police or social services – what kind of work?

    I’ve applied to – well I’ve applied to the Probation Service, I’m also applying to a charity organisation which is DISC – Developing Initiatives Supporting Communities – that’s to be a Prolific Project, well Prolific Offender Project Worker so that’s on the cards at the minute – also like Youth Offending Teams, so I enjoy what I do at the minute.

    So what’s good about it – why do you like working with people who have…come into crime I guess?

    Because I see that – I just, from my point of view, I like helping people and I like trying to support people, and try and get them out of offending, or just – it’s like a challenge, trying to get people interested in something – if I feel that that I’ve helped somebody, then that means a lot more to me than – a million pounds, do you know what I mean? That’s more – so more important to me because I think that people do need help and…I’d love to help people basically, so it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, something I’ve always been interested in really. Hopefully I’ll achieve that, and make a difference.

    So are you working at the minute?

    I am yes, I work for a research company in Hebden Bridge and I also do voluntary work for Calderdale Youth Offending Team.

    What kind of researching are you doing?

    We do research basically, we do a lot in Manchester and Plymouth, basically one big project that we’ve just been doing is staying safe and it’s trying to identify risks in Manchester, what children and young people, what risks they’re exposed to and we then develop that on to organisations – we write reports, we do interviews, questionnaires, develop all that, and then pass it on to the organisations and we try and make – from what we’ve found out, we try and make recommendations of maybe what would be better in that area and if it will be feasible, so it is very interesting, but I like to be more hands on – I’m not a very ‘desky’ person, writing loads of reports – I like to be out there; I do understand that obviously the career that I do want to go into, I am going to have to be writing reports and things like that, but I think you know, I think nine times out of ten I will be out there helping somebody.

    Well would you consider going to other countries, like to Africa or..

    I’ve always wanted to do that, yeh, always

    Because there’ll be a lot of risks for children in those countries I should imagine. But is it different – I mean, do you know anything about it – is it different than what you get here?

    I’m not quite sure really, I suppose it is – I don’t know anything about it, but I suppose it is different; there’s a lot of deprived areas within England, but if what you see on television…that’s real poverty is that, I would love to do that. It’s just obviously affording to be able to do that. I’ve looked into it and I will – well I hope I will do it one day – I would love to do that.

    It sounds very ambitious.

    Yeh [laughing] – try and strive…

    I want to kind of go back to your family life a bit now and talk about the sort of things that your family do, like on birthdays and maybe Christmas time – what do you do at Christmas?

    We basically just – there’s me, mum and my dad, my sister and her fiancé and my grandma, and we just have a really nice – just family and you know it’s just really nice, it’s quite exciting even now when I’m twenty-one and it’s still exciting, it’s just warm- a very warm atmosphere, it’s just really nice and there’s lots of laughter and – yeh, it’s very enjoyable. I do like Christmas a lot.

    So is it all at your parent’s house this?

    Yes.

    Where does your gran live then?

    She basically lives – she lives on Granny Hall Lane, just like not even five minutes’ walk from where we live, so I try and go round to see her as much as I can.

    Is she from Hipperholme then?

    Well she’s from Brighouse, so she’s always lived in Brighouse.

    What did she do when she was younger?

    She worked in a butcher’s in Brighouse, so she helped out there, and my granddad was a teacher at Saint Andrew’s School where I eventually moved on to.

    How do you compare then Brighouse to Lightcliffe or Hipperholme – are they similar?

    [pause] They are in a way, I mean other ways they’re not. Obviously Brighouse is a lot busier than Hipperholme – you know you’ve only got like one row of shops in Hipperholme whereas Brighouse is a little town centre. I’d say where I’m living’s different to where I lived in Hipperholme, definitely – it’s a lot quieter, a little bit more secluded – not as many children about.

    Where you live now?

    Where I live now, yeh, to what there was in…in Hipperholme

    What do you think about the rest of Calderdale then, like you know – Halifax and Sowerby, and Hebden and Tod? Do you work in any of those?

    I work in Hebden Bridge, yeh.

    How do you compare Hebden Bridge then to where you live?

    It’s very different I’d say.

    How?

    Just the…the shops that they’ve got, but I don’t know really because…it’s just, Hebden Bridge is very…to me it’s very touristy, whereas Brighouse isn’t – it’s that difference – a lot nicer shops in Hebden Bridge, you know your old shops, and it’s a lot…quainter, do you know where I’m coming from?

    So is that just how they look, or the things that they sell?

    Probably the things that they sell, but mainly how it looks – I mean, Hebden Bridge is so nice, especially in the summer – it’s pretty and just lovely, whereas like Brighouse is – it’s not really that pretty – it’s just Brighouse!

    Well how about birthdays then – do you celebrate like – are you or your family church-goers?

    My grandma goes to church – I used to go to church when I was younger, but unfortunately I stopped going and then went to university, so…but my grandma still goes; my parents don’t – they did do when they were younger as well; when we were younger they used to go, but we used to go with my grandma more – birthdays really, we don’t – we celebrate Christmas more I think than what we do birthdays, with me sister being away – she tries to come up on my dad’s birthday and my dad’s birthday but obviously it’s difficult. When I was at university sometimes I wouldn’t be able to afford to come home so it’s not as big a thing – I think like my eighteenth and my twenty-first, my mum and dad went to a lot of effort for that you know – we all went out for a meal and then you know, I went out separately with my friends, but on my eighteenth my mum paid for us to go for a really nice meal, me and my friends in Leeds and that was really nice – she made a lot of effort, so it was lovely.

    Has it – well either Brighouse or Hipperholme, have they changed since you’ve grown up in them, like from when you were ten to like now?

    I wouldn’t say Hipperholme has really…I mean I don’t – I drive past there now but I don’t really go out there or anything, so from what I can remember, I wouldn’t say it’s changed – it’s still got that row of shops and buildings are still the same. Brighouse…just the shops really I find have changed – shops have moved, shops have closed down, but that’s nothing – it’s an up and coming area now, Brighouse, so it is – there’s a lot of apartments being built, obviously with it being accessible to the M62, we’re sort of in the middle of Halifax and Huddersfield and the M62, so, but I wouldn’t say it’s changed dramatically, no, no at all.

    What are the people like in Brighouse – are they just ordinary people or do they have a certain thing about them?

    …they are quite ordinary; some are idiots, but yeh…like if you go into some pubs in Brighouse you know, there can sometimes be trouble and just groups of..well they’re not gangs, but they are…if you get me, yeh, so it can get quite rough can Brighouse town centre on a night.

    Is that like on weekends or any time?

    Mainly on weekends.

    Are they young people then or is it like lads who are in their twenties or thirties?

    Lads in their twenties and thirties.

    Oh it is? So it’s them rather than like fifteen or sixteen year olds?

    I think – obviously fifteen and sixteen year olds do cause trouble, but not as much as what the lads in their twenties do, yeh it can get quite rough, quite nasty.

    So what kind of a social life is there in Brighouse, or do you have to go to other places to do things you want to?

    I tend to go out in Huddersfield more than Brighouse, and there’s only a few pubs in Brighouse – well there’s one pub really in Brighouse that’s decent, so yeh it’s not my ideal night out isn’t Brighouse, but I do like Huddersfield – I used to go to Halifax when I was younger, but I’ve started going to Huddersfield.

    Is that just for pubs or is it other stuff that’s there?

    No, just probably the bars – there’s a lot more bars in Huddersfield that stay open quite late, I mean I know there is in Halifax but it’s just so different – I find there’s more bars in Huddersfield, quite close together as well, so if you didn’t want to go on to a club you know, you can stay in the bars and just have a chat or what have you, so..

    How do you compare Huddersfield to Halifax then?

    …I’d say Huddersfield now is getting like a mini Leeds you know – there’s new bars opening, trendy bars and whereas – to be fair, I’ve not been out in Halifax since I was – I can’t remember – for quite a while, so I don’t really know how I could compare; I just find Huddersfield better really. Sometimes Halifax can get a bit rough as well. I don’t like getting into fights or trouble or anything – I try and stay out of trouble.

    Do you have…the values that you have, do you think they’re similar to like your parents or your gran’s values – how do you compare those?

    I would say so, I think Mum and Dean have brought me up very well and obviously you know, I’ve taken some of their values. I do have different opinions to them obviously, I am just very different to like what my mum and dad are and my sister is, I’m just going down a totally different career path which is quite strange really.

    How did that go down with the family then?

    They were obviously fine and they think you know, I’m doing a really good job and that, they’re really proud of me; my sister just can’t believe what I sort of want to do you know, she’s so different to me, but no – they’re proud of me.

    Well the young people that you work with then, you know – the ones from the Youth Offending Team – do they have the same kind of values that you were brought up with?

    …they probably do, yeh they probably do, I mean…I don’t know really, I don’t know how to explain myself…obviously some don’t, but I think some do; I mean I’ve been doing it for six months now but I’ve not met that many kids yet and when I do, I’ll just be with them for a like couple of hours and then they’ll have finished their hours so I don’t get to see them, and I don’t get to talk to them as much as what I’d like to do, but I am starting to be a mentor now, which means I’d have one person for twelve weeks so I’d get to know them and find out what their problems are and try and help them, and give them a goal to strive for, what they’re interested in, and hopefully research that and find out things about them.

    So if you have these kids that you only see for like two or three hours or so, isn’t that really frustrating?

    Yeh definitely.

    What’s your role in those few hours then – what do you actually do with them?

    Basically just supervise…they’ll have to – it’s called reparation work, so basically they’re giving back to the community so I will just supervise, but I do like to get stuck in – I find that…like we were planting daffodil bulbs on Mytholmroyd estate and I did find that these two young lads were getting a bit restless and a bit…and I sort of just stood there and I thought ‘right, if I try and engage with the, if I try and do it, that’ll get them involved’ which it did do, and they behaved because they were getting a bit restless, a bit frustrated and…so I try and get involved as well even though I’m only there to supervise, I do like to – I don’t like to just show myself as if ‘I’m here and you’re there and you’re planting’ – do you know what I mean – I see everybody on the same level, so I don’t want anybody thinking that I’m higher than them just because I’m working within the Youth Offending Team, so I try and get on board with them.

    Do you think that young people appreciate that attitude then, that’s looked upon as kind of equal?

    I hope so, I do – I find that I do engage with them, you know – try and find all their interests and talk to them and I do find they respond better to me when I am like that, when I am on a level, and I hope they do you know, appreciate – well not appreciate that, but take on board that I’m not trying to be up there.

    Is there a big like youth problem in Calderdale then?

    No I wouldn’t say so – I did some appropriate adult training which means if a young child’s parent or guardian doesn’t want to attend the police station then if I’m on the rota I’ll get called out to go and sit with that child whilst being interviewed. Within that training I did find out about actually how many crimes are committed by young people in Calderdale and it is…fewer than what I actually thought, which was quite surprising really, you know for instance like, assault and I thought that would be quite high and it wasn’t – just the whole, just everything…all, you know, all the crimes basically, really it wasn’t that bad, I just think that the media sometimes blow everything out of proportion, everybody goes into a bit of a panic mode that these kids are you know – like somebody’s got a hoody on, because hoodies have been portrayed as they’re violent and they’re this and that, you know I just think everybody’s just panicking about, and it’s really not as bas as what everybody thinks, and kids are bad – I feel that they need structure in their life and that’s it really.

    I was talking to Chris last night about language and how young people have a kind of different language to older people – did you find that sort of thing?

    I do now, yeh, I would say it is a bit different…society’s different really to when I was younger, a lot different, it has changed quite a lot. Language as in…different words?

    Well when people use words – the way they communicate with each other, just the way they talk really. I mean, Chris was saying that he does a lot of text messages and that affects – he begins to talk like that, with his mates; with adults he’s not so much that way, but there’s a whole kind of youth culture thing that people are into, and I was just trying to find out if you’d experienced any signs of that.

    I would say, for instance, what Chris said – you know, that is evident. I do think – I’m going off the language bit – I did find when I was younger obviously, there wasn’t – well there was mobile phones but nobody really had a mobile phone; e-mails, yes there was, but…I just think now, people don’t talk as much as what I used to do, you know – society like I say has just changed so much from when I was younger – what’s more acceptable and what isn’t, it has changed.

    Is that good or bad?

    I suppose it’s good in a sense, but also bad in another sense – I suppose it’s good as in – things have to change don’t they? Society does change, you’ll never get away from that and there’s new things developing and there’s different technologies, do you know where I’m coming from? But I would say in a bad way, maybe children now – there’s so many computer games about, there’s so many you know, new Playstations coming out and what have you – I do find that…people don’t tend to like play out as much any more, whereas I used to do, so you don’t find like kids kicking a football about as much as what you did when I was younger, so I do feel like computers are quite – I mean I e-mail all the time, so I do think for kids, I do think now like computer games – it is quite…not bad, but I don’t think they get as much…I’m trying to think of the word…I can’t think of the word what I’m trying to say – as much

    Well they don’t have as broad an experience?

    No, no – I wouldn’t say so.

    Do you think it’s just because it’s computers and Playstations and mobile phones, or do you think there’s less opportunity now for younger people then?

    I do think their age – I mean for instance, research that we’ve done in Manchester, from the ages of like eleven to I’d say sixteen, there’s nothing for children to do – there’s hardly any youth clubs any more or if there is, people don’t want to go because other you know, certain other people are there and I do find from that age – well it’s proven in the research that we’ve done – there is nothing for them to do, and so for instance, they do hang around on street corners and they might get a bit lairy really, because there’s just nothing for them to do. There’s nobody sort of…you know, I don’t know – taking them to play football or there’s no groups any more, there isn’t hardly any opportunities I don’t think personally, I do find that it is very different.

    Do you think it’s one of the reasons some children stay in to do computers and that, is because they feel it’s dangerous outside, and then other kids who hang out on the street corners, they are perceived to be a danger to others – it might be younger kids or it might be older people – what do you think about that?

    I think, yeh I do think that parents probably are worried if their children do go out, I mean you hear about nearly every day in the news you know, people who’ve children have gone missing, being murdered, but I do also think that maybe again, that was going on when I was younger but it wasn’t as..you know, mediarised in a way – the media, it wasn’t as open, it wasn’t talked about, or it wasn’t as known I don’t think. I have always asked the question ‘is there a lot more crime and is there a lot more murders and things like that going on now than what there was before?’ and I’ve had different views from people – yes there is, no there isn’t – my personal opinion is that I think it’s just publicised more, and I do think from a parent’s point of view, I mean if I was a parent, I wouldn’t want my child going out and you don’t know where they’re going, and if you do know where they’re going, if they’re going to be safe and is there going to be certain people about, and I think from a parent’s point of view you know, you’re probably just thinking ‘no, I would prefer them to sit there in front of a computer and at least I know they’re safe then’ so I do find that, yeh.

    Just as an aside really, have you picked up an accent since you’ve been down to university?

    Have I?

    **Yeh. **

    Why, do you think I have?

    I do – it doesn’t sound like a Halifax accent.

    Does it not?

    No – maybe it’s me…

    I might have done, I might have done, like sly – picked up an accent, but I think I’m quite northern. Yeh – everyone used to take the mickey out of me at uni, I think I’m quite northern really.

    Okay – well maybe it’s just me!

    [laughing] I probably have though – I probably have picked up a Loughborough accent in a way.

    Well I think maybe we’ll stop there because…I mean I could go on for ever about all kinds of things, but for what we’re doing I think that will do okay. Is there anything you’d like to say that I haven’t asked about?

    Don’t think so really – I think we’ve covered quite a lot – I don’t think there is anything that I can think of off the top of my head.

    What do you think about this then, because you’ve only met me once and I’m asking you lots of personal opinions and all that sort of thing – what do you think about this process?

    I think it’s good, I think it’s – I do think it’s good.

    Why?

    Why – I think because you don’t tend to talk about things like that to people do you, you know – I wouldn’t just sit down with someone and start talking about how I like Christmas and…do you know what I mean, so sometimes is nice to remember good times and talk about those, and talk about our childhoods and I do think that’s quite – yeh, I do think it’s good.

    Most of the people I interview are quite old really, and they talk about their childhood with like fond memories shall we say mostly, even though they may have been poor or times were hard, they have a kind of…they tend to say they were happy times. I mean you seem to be saying the same sort of thing, that when you were quite young you seemed to have a really good time.

    Yeh I did, yeh it was good.

    Do you think that sort of…a lot of people your age feel like that they had, you know – a good childhood?

    …some and others no, I wouldn’t – no; not people that I’ve spoke to – friends..

    What kind of things upset them then?

    Parents mainly, just maybe not having the opportunity you know – my mum and dad have given me so many opportunities you know – I wouldn’t have gone to university if they hadn’t supported me and I’m really really grateful for what I’ve got basically, and I’m really grateful to my parents for that. I do find that other people don’t have those opportunities which is sad, but obviously you know, I do think it must be frustrating.

    Is that because their parents couldn’t afford or because the system didn’t allow them to?

    Sometimes, because sometimes their parents don’t support them as much as my parents did – didn’t really bother, didn’t really care – my mum and dad always – they didn’t push me, they always said ‘if you want to go to college, go to college – if you want to go to university, go to university’ but I did want to, but without my parents’ support I wouldn’t have been able to get…you know, I wouldn’t have graduated, I don’t even think I would have gone to university, so I do think for other people it is income, I do find that you know – people can’t afford to do that and you know, the government – sorry to go on – but they say you know, further education and you know, we need to get more children into further education, but some people can’t afford that and they haven’t got the chances that everybody else has got, and I do find that quite sad, and I think if the government want people to go into further education and want them to strive, they maybe need to – my personal view – maybe need to change the system a little bit. I know you’ve got to fund and I know you’ve got to…but you know, I just disagree with some things.

    I think a lot of people do.

    Yeh definitely.

    But this family values thing that you have – that seems very strong within your family.

    Yes it is.

    And it is one of those things that people who are in their eighties, they talk about a lot is family values – it was a very important thing to all the older people, and it sometimes seems to have got lost along the way. Have you seen that then with – is it the people, the kids you work with, is it to do with family values breaking down do you think?

    Personally I couldn’t really say – I mean I don’t, like you say, I only see them maybe for a couple of hours so, in that couple of hours, we’re working – there’s other people there, I’m not on a one-to-one side, I don’t have the chance to maybe see them and talk about things like that or try and prompt them to talk about things like that – not that, that’s not me being nosey, that’s just me – if there’s a problem, I’ll try and help them solve that and see what could solve that, so I couldn’t – I couldn’t really say that.

    I just thought I’d ask!

    No it’s fine!

    I think we’ll stop now then. The only other thing is – do you think this will be of use to anybody else, I mean – type it all up and put it on a website – do you think anybody reading this would listen to it, would find it of interest or use?

    I hope so, I mean I don’t know – they’ll probably think I’m quite boring, but I hope it is interesting and I hope people find it interesting.

    Well I’ll cut it now if you like and give you a bit of peace.

    [END OF TRACK ONE]

    Read more

About Us

Wild Rose Heritage and Arts is a community group which takes it's name from the area in which we are located - the valley ("den") of the wild rose ("Heb") -  Hebden Bridge which is in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

Get in touch

Pennine Heritage Ltd.
The Birchcliffe Centre
Hebden Bridge
HX7 8DG

Phone: 01422 844450
Contact Us