The London children who have never seen Trafalgar Square

- Warning over 'narrow horizons' of youth in capital- Mayor's education adviser wants children to 'reach for stars'
London sight: Trafalgar Square
Anna Davis @_annadavis1 November 2012

Too many London children are narrowing their horizons by sticking to their own postcodes and failing to explore the city, the Mayor’s education adviser warns.

Teenagers are missing out on the rich culture of London and their ignorance of the capital is preventing them from “reaching for the stars” according to Dr Tony Sewell.

Young people would rather stay in the “rundown suburbs” where they grew up because they feel more at ease there, said Dr Sewell, who chaired the Mayor’s education inquiry. This “narrowness of outlook and ambition” continues when they pick universities close to home instead of moving to the best institutions, he warned.

Dr Sewell, who runs the Generating Genius charity that prepares underprivileged children for university, was behind the idea of a “London curriculum” for schools in the capital, which Boris Johnson backs. He said real and perceived barriers such as cost, transport and health and safety are stopping teachers from taking children out of the classroom.

He warned that the “London isn’t for me” mentality meant youngsters missed “the endlessly enriching and stimulating array of activities that London has to offer; it’s also symptomatic of a narrowness of outlook and ambition that prevents so many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds reaching for the stars”. And when they applied for university they chose a local college “rather than aim for one of the elite institutions that lie further afield, outside their comfort zone in Dagenham, Brent or Beckenham.”

Dr Sewell said one youngster going to a course in Trafalgar Square phoned to ask what bus he needed.

He added: “So why doesn’t this ambitious, motivated straight-As sixth-form student from one of London’s inner suburbs know how to get into town, a distance of around five miles? Perhaps they’re taking their lead from Jessie J who confessed she can’t locate London on a map, despite being born in Redbridge and educated in Croydon”.

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