IN ASSOCIATION WITH Salisbury Cathedral School


I never thought I would stereotype our youth


Martin Priestley, headmaster of Warminster School, refl ects on a recent encounter with young people which left him questioning his ability to switch his headlights off and his tendency to jump to conclusions.


with the concert over, we returned to the car. And, as we had feared, all was not well. The reason for this, though, had nothing to


do with the youth of this town. In the rush to get into the theatre, I had left my headlights on. Two-and-a-half hours later, the battery was completely dead. We faced a choice. By this time it was 10pm


and my wife and I were going to a jazz concert in a small town not far from Warminster. It was only on plugging our destination into the ubiquitous ‘sat-nav’ that I discovered that the venue was more than 20 miles away from Warminster. In the end we screeched to a halt outside the venue just after the scheduled start- time of 7.30pm.


I


distinct sense of menace


‘ 28 Rushing from the car, I noticed a group of


youths sitting around a souped-up hatchback some thirty yards away, music blaring from the sound system. I say music, but it couldn’t have been more of a contrast to the sweet, lyrical music we were about to enjoy; it was the sort of thing teenagers like but which people of my age tend to dismiss as ‘noise’. They were keeping themselves to themselves,


’


but there was nevertheless a distinct sense of menace and I could not help entertain doubts about whether our car would still be in one piece when we got out at the end of the concert. But in we rushed, miraculously making it to our seats just as the auditorium lights went down. Two-and-a-half hours later,


WILTSHIRE LIFE Schools Supplement March 2012 There was a


t started with one of those mundane domestic crises which affect all of us from time to time. The evening had promised much; Saturday night during the holidays


at night, pitch dark, and the car park was deserted but for the youths still gathered noisily nearby. We could ask them for a push, or we could phone the AA, though that would mean a wait of goodness knows how long. I made my decision and reached for my mobile phone – but just as I did so, I heard a knock at the window. Three figures loomed there, blocking what little light there was. “Do you need a push?” one of them asked. “That would be brilliant – thanks,” I replied. I got out of the car and helped them push,


whilst Mrs Priestley took over at the wheel. “What was going on tonight in there?” one


of the three teenagers asked. “A jazz concert,” I answered. “Any good?” “Yes, really good, thanks,” I replied. Without power steering, it was not easy to


manoeuvre the car, but we got it rolling out of the car park and down the hill. Fortunately, it started first time and the car was off. “Thanks so much,” I said to the three of them, waving my thanks as I ran after the car.


As I got in, my wife and I had a conversation: should we give them some money for their trouble, we wondered? They had saved us at least an hour of hanging around, waiting for the


AA. We decided we would, even though it was absolutely clear to me that they had not been looking for any sort of payment. “What’s wrong?” one of them asked as I


approached: “Do you need another push?” “No,” I said, “We just wanted to give you


this to thank you for helping us out. Thanks again.” As I turned to run back to my own car – still


worried that if we did not get going it might stall again – I could tell that this had made their night. They had not been expecting any money, but it was a very welcome bonus. Off we drove, giving them a wave of thanks from the window as we headed back to Warminster. We may have made their night, but they


also made ours. I had badly misjudged them, or rather pre-judged them. I had seen the ‘uniform’ and heard their music and had reached my conclusion about them all too quickly. Their entirely selfless, generous and civic-minded behaviour made me feel a little ashamed of myself, and rightly so, but it also lifted my spirits, and reminded me to show a little more trust in human nature. Young people often get a bad press but I for one should have been slower to jump to such gloomy conclusions.


Below: A helping hand for a stranded driver unexpectedly comes from our youth


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