Did anyone see Living on the Estate?

I did not see the programme but will try to catch it on i-player.

Sometimes life becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy...if you are told often enough that you are brilliant /rubbish etc you live up to that expectation whatever your core talents are!

One thing that struck me was how the mother who seemed to sit with her, also out of work, daughter all day, did not seem to get anything from the interview with the Job Centre which she really took exception to having to go to. Why are these interviews so ineffective? The woman said she was on antidepressants. Why couldn't they at that interview find her some little part time job where she could be brought back gently and carefully into the world of work. Surely big companies such as Sainsburys, Tescos, could find places to help people like her, or even better off private individuals could do so. I'll bet even in those poor areas there are still big houses who could employ people like her. What I'm really saying is, are those interviews just a formality, and then they are passed straight back onto their benefits without getting any real help?

The programme did make your blood run cold, and realise how lucky your own grandchildren are to be able to lead completely different lives.

What is wrong with the ordinary schools in those areas? The special measures school which was featured seemed to be very good. Why can't all the schools be like that?

I did notice, to be quite honest, the presence of plasma tv's. talk of X Boxes, and those mini motorbikes must be pretty expensive to buy. There needs to be better education, and, importantly, more family guidance. Even the family where the dad did the cleaning jobs seemed to spend their money on the wrong things.

I had so much sympathy with the despairing mum who sat and wept when her son left the family home. That was very moving. It would be to any mother.

The despairing mum seemed to be missing the boy's help around the house more than anything. He'd left to live with an aunt because he wanted to get away from the bad influence of his mates on the estate - good for him!

The absence of fathers was a common theme, except for the family whose parents worked. And yes, there were a lot of mini-motorbikes and expensive gadgets around.

The job centre interview woman hadn't sent her last boy to school until she was forced to, because she said they 'change' when they go to school. "I don't see why they have to go to school," she said "I hated it!". She's now thinking of home-schooling him....

She was crying because she missed him! You don't cry like that because you want a few jobs done.

She will have to jump through a few hoops before she is allowed to home school him.

Yes. I wondered where the fathers were.

Yes, I wondered how she was going to home school the boy (I felt sorry for him, he didn't seem to be able to talk very well) when she's had minimal education herself. Although perhaps they could learn together?

They would need a tutor though, wouldn't they? Nice idea.

Doubt if anything so good will happen.

I haven't watched it yet, but will do so on Catch-up later. DH did watch it, though and was telling me about it. jingl, I think that you really had a point there when you said what a good idea it would be if big firms/houses could take on those who just cannot find jobs and their lives are going to pot as they are. Even any wee paid job gives something and hopefully a bit of self-esteem. It doesn't bear thinking about how life is going to turn out for these people, as there's no community spirit, is there? Our small village has Community Police meetings every 8 weeks. Up to about 20 residents usually attend, as well as the Community 'Bobby' and the local councillor, who always comes. This way we're updated on local crimes and those which have been detected, and what we may be able to do to deter anything further. That's a small village though - hard to imagine how it would work in a large estate.

There is a big council estate near us. Crime rate high (when you hear the police helicopter it's usual round there that it is circling), but they do have a good community hall with a playgroup and other meetings for mums and some sports facilities. And a doctor holds a surgery there. At first it was vandalised but with good policing it seems to do alright now. It can be done. Needs a really good council.

I watched the programme for about 15mins and then fell asleep and woke up at the end so will watch this pm.Looking at what I saw I wonder why the makers of these programmes always film families who the majority do not make any effort at all,if they have no pride in how they live as some did where will they find the pride in getting up in the mornings and doing a job of work ?? All of them will most likely have massive TV's x-box's and computors so they can spend all day on FB etc and they feel they are deprived if they don't have these expensive extra's.
I do feel sorry for the interviewers at the Job Centres as they must be very downhearted at the interviews they conduct on a daily basis knowing that a vast majority of the claimants they are seeing will not make use of the facilities they have on offer at these centres.

I watched this on iplayer.
Agree withJO4 that the tears of the mum whose son Jordan had left the estate were those of genuine loss - no-one could fake that. At the end of the programme it said he was now at college - I just hope the college serves him well and he comes out with a worthwhile qualification and goes on to get a job and doesn't forget his mum. I felt so sorry for her, especially when her partner started talking about leaving her.
I was lost in admiration for the young couple struggling to support their children, the dad had chosen to take two cleaning jobs paying £100 per week, even though they might have been better off on benefit.
But I'm afraid I couldn't feel any sympathy for the mother who wanted to 'home-educate' her son and who said she really had better things to do (like shopping)than try to find a job. JO4 and Marelli you suggested that companies should take on people like her to give them a chance, but I can't imagine any employer, big or small, wanting to do that with that attitude. The woman needs a lot of help and counselling before she becomes employable IMHO.
However, her little boy who wanted only to see his Dad, nearly had me in tears.