Raising neighbors is a matter of state importance
British Interior Minister David Blunkett has made an unusual proposal. He supported the idea of establishing mandatory courses for dysfunctional families who cause inconvenience to others. According to Vremya Novostey, there is currently a very curious practice in this country - overly scandalous residents can be relocated to another place.
In brief, the picture looks like this: if the police receive too many reports about the inappropriate behavior of one of the neighbors renting a house or apartment, local authorities have the right to demand that the rowdy family move to another area. Britons usually complain about drunken brawls, loud shouting at night, untidiness, and petty hooliganism by poorly trained children. However, with such relocation, it turns out that the lumpen who create an unbearable environment around themselves are simply mechanically transferred to another part of the city. The former neighbors breathe a sigh of relief, but in the new place the situation repeats itself completely. Those who now have the misfortune of living side by side with the scandalous newcomers begin to complain about them.
As a cure for "hellish" neighbors, Blunkett proposed using the practice of charitable organizations in the Scottish city of Dundee. There, instead of moving such brawlers and drunkards from area to area, they tried to re-educate them. Misbehaving children who have become a headache for the whole neighborhood are offered to attend special classes after school, where they try to explain what is good and what is bad. For parents of troubled teenagers, special courses are given on how to cope with their temper, how to raise the younger generation, and even how to keep an apartment in order and how to prepare a delicious dinner. At first, the public received this plan with a certain skepticism (indeed, it is hard to believe that an inveterate brawler can be taught the rules of etiquette in old age). However, as the organizers of this educational program claim, the project has significantly helped 160 Scottish families already. True, teaching brawlers turned out to be a very costly affair: up to 300,000 pounds a year was spent on helping such families in Dundee. And considering that the program has been operating since 1996, the total expenditure has already exceeded 2.4 million.
Another similar project, initiated by public organizations, was launched in the Manchester suburb of Miles Platting. There, "hellish" neighbors were first moved to a five-apartment "educational" block allocated by local authorities. All residents of this "isolation ward" were required to observe a special code of conduct, in particular, they were forbidden to return late in a drunken state and disturb neighbors. On the other hand, they were provided with round-the-clock assistance from psychologists and social workers, who, for example, could wake the family in the morning, take the children to school, and even help with housework. It is expected that such an experience of peaceful coexistence should teach brawlers to live without bothering others.
However, both projects were carried out only in small towns and on a strictly voluntary basis. Brawlers could simply refuse the help of social services and continue their outrages. Minister Blunkett proposed to enshrine this practice in law and make such educational courses mandatory throughout the country. Then any family evicted for their vile behavior would inevitably have to agree to participate in some social program. In order, as the British minister put it, to "earn the right to move into a new home and become a member of society again."