Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives -#NewSeries August 2020- Pot Luck – #School Closures – Lost? by Stevie Turner in Having a Rant

Welcome to the current series of Posts from Your Archives… and I will be picking two posts from the blogs of those participating from the first six months of 2020. If you don’t mind me rifling through your archives… just let me know in the comments or you can find out the full scope: Posts from Your Archives – Pot Luck – 2020

This is the first post from author Stevie Turner and it is definitely a discussion piece.

This has been a challenging couple of terms for children who have been home-schooled. Especially those who were due to take critical exams this year… Stevie poses some interesting questions and also makes some observations that are reflected in the comments.. I am sure she would love to hear yours… Personally, I believe there are some great young people out there but they don’t get enough publicity as they are not seen as newsworthy by the majority of the media.

Lost? by Stevie Turner in Having a Rant

I feel I must have a mini-rant here. I know it’s a controversial topic, but hey, I’ll carry on and you can always skip on down if your blood starts to boil…

Students who were to sit GCSEs and A Level examinations this year in the UK have had 4 months of disruption to their education. They have been given work to do at home (my granddaughter has received merit awards for the amount of work she has completed) and will receive calculated grades based on their mock exam results and past assessments. Vulnerable children have not had their education disrupted at all, as they were still allowed to go to school, along with children of key workers. Students will receive results in August that will be accepted by universities and colleges.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres talked about a ‘lost generation of youth‘ back in April due to the impact of Covid-19 on education and future employment. Apparently one third of employees aged 16 -24 have had to be furloughed on reduced pay. However, one does tend to wonder whether a percentage of these ‘lost youths’ have been enjoying themselves sitting on UK beaches or in parks during lock-down?

Compare this to my father’s generation. He was born in 1927 in East London and by the time he was 12 he had to leave school altogether due to the impact of WWII. He never had the chance to go to school again. My mother, 4 years older than my dad, went to work as normal throughout WWII, and even throughout the Blitz. There was no talk of being furloughed on 80% of pay. If you didn’t work, then you didn’t eat. One evening she told me she sat in the front room of her flat and suddenly there was a terrible noise and all the windows imploded. She ran out onto the balcony and there were gaps in the street where houses had stood only minutes previously.

There was no counselling to get over the shock of the implosion or of being bombed for 5 years; it was a case of suck it up and get on with it, and get on with the food rationing as well. Can you imagine the majority of people these days having to live on the meagre rations of wartime?

My parents were intelligent people who worked all their lives and never had a chance to sit exams and go to university, and the scars of war affected them for life. As an older man Dad spent hours listening to instructional records and trying to teach himself (he learned a couple of languages for example). I think their generation and also the youth of WWI were the real ‘lost’ generations. Have the youth of today really ‘lost’ out by not going to school for 4 months? What do you think?

As an aside, both my sons did not gain even one A Level at school. Instead they left school with a great deal of relief and began 4-year apprenticeships which gave them day release to college where they passed exams relevant to their future careers. One is now the general manager of a precision engineering company, and the other is a regional account manager of a national company. They grew up on leaving school and suddenly gained motivation and a desire to succeed. You can drive the student to school, but you can’t make him learn. The desire to learn has to come from within. If today’s youth want to learn, then they will. If they don’t, then they’ll go and sit on the beach.

©Stevie Turner 2020

About Stevie Turner

Stevie Turner works part time as a medical secretary in a busy NHS hospital and writes suspense, women’s fiction, and darkly humorous novels in her spare time. She won a New Apple Book Award in 2014 and a Readers’ Favorite Gold Award in 2015 for her book ‘A House Without Windows’, and one of her short stories, ‘Checking Out’, was published in the Creative Writing Institute’s 2016 anthology ‘Explain!’ Her psychological thriller ‘Repent at Leisure’ won third place in the 2016 Drunken Druid Book Award contest.

Stevie lives in the East of England, and is married with two sons and four grandchildren. She has also branched out into the world of audio books, screenplays, and translations. Most of her novels are now available as audio books, and one screenplay, ‘For the Sake of a Child’, won a silver award in the Spring 2017 Depth of Field International Film Festival. ‘A House Without Windows’ gained the attention of a New York media production company in December 2017.

Some of Stevie’s books are currently being translated into German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

A selection of Stevie’s books.

A recent review for Finding David  on Goodreads

Jul 01, 2020 Pete Springer rated it Five Stars it was amazing

What would you do if the person you are married to becomes a murder suspect? Not just any murder—one that involves her son, David. Karen faces this dilemma after Rae, a gifted clairvoyant medium, provides information that suggests that her husband, Mick, may be responsible. To complicate matters, the police sergeant refuses to offer any help after he finds out that Rae claims the deceased spirit of the boy has provided this information.

Karen has complete faith in Rae, but Mick thinks Rae is trying to swindle money with a hoax reading. Is the murderer Karen, Mick, or someone else?

Several elements made Finding David an engaging read. One appealing quality is the relationship that Mick had with David. Because neither character liked the other, this made for some fascinating family dynamics.

Stevie Turner doesn’t waste time getting right into the meat of the story. There were no lulls, and my mind did not wander at any point because the plot was gripping. Take two hours to read this excellent tale and put yourself in Karen’s shoes

Read the reviews and buy the books : Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Stevie : Goodreads  blog: Stevie Turner on WordPress – Twitter: @StevieTurner6

Thank you for joining us today and I know Stevie would love to receive your feedback. You can also read the comments on the original post: Lost?