Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Article Discussion

katy-lou

Couldnt agree more

Savvy_Sue

I'd just like it on the record that DS1 didn't get it because he's a year ahead of it, and DS2 doesn't get it because we earn too much, and DS3 won't get it for the same reason. DS1 and DS2 didn't resent not getting it, but I think DS3 might be demanding that we pay him to stay on. We won't. I'll give him an allowance for bus fares and lunches, and if that's not enough he can get a job. Even a paper round, as his brothers did.

Love your sig, BestPud, will keep that one in mind for DS3! :rotfl:

tommy987654321

I think everybody needs to calm down, I think all danielle0817 is trying to say is that her family were just over by doing things correctly but still this shouldnt be the case because where is the encouragment for students who dont recieve ema and they see others getting it for the same or more or less amount of work they have done and spending it on none education related things. I agree with the fact that people should get it as it helps alot but the system should be made fairer. Also I think Danielle0817 was just giving an insight into how things are and i think bestpud has been, in some ways is making her out to be spoilt, im not arguing but i think you should be careful as you really dont know her life situation and should be more an adult and listen to what she is saying even if you dont agree but reply in a nice manner as it was the way you posted your reply that may have offended her. I also think you are taking everything which has been said and i think they are ment in general terms, just my opinion anyways

Tommy

bestpud

tommy987654321 wrote: »

I think everybody needs to calm down, I think all danielle0817 is trying to say is that her family were just over by doing things correctly but still this shouldnt be the case because where is the encouragment for students who dont recieve ema and they see others getting it for the same or more or less amount of work they have done and spending it on none education related things. I agree with the fact that people should get it as it helps alot but the system should be made fairer. Also I think Danielle0817 was just giving an insight into how things are and i think bestpud has been, in some ways is making her out to be spoilt, im not arguing but i think you should be careful as you really dont know her life situation and should be more an adult and listen to what she is saying even if you dont agree but reply in a nice manner as it was the way you posted your reply that may have offended her. I also think you are taking everything which has been said and i think they are ment in general terms, just my opinion anyways

Tommy

Lol, I think it was the way Danielle posted her original post that offended me. Could go on forever with that one couldn't we?

The fact is, life is not fair and it would be impossible to help every student. So like with other benefits, they have cut off points.

It is a terrible bummer for those who are just above the cut off point but remember there us a sliding scale. It is not the case that family A earn £20000 and dd gets £30 a week EMA but family B earn £20001 and dd gets nothing. The people from families earning just a bit below Dannielles will get £10 a week.

Or less than she spends on lunches. :rolleyes:

I'm afraid few of us on here know each others background so we have to rely on what is written. Danielles post made several very sweeping statements, which I found offensive. If we are going to post rants then we have to accept we may meet disagreement - that's the way it is.

Of course, if we have can back up our arguments and justify what we say then there is no issue is there? I am quite happy for people to disagree with me - opens our minds - but likewise, I will voice my disagreement with posts I feel to be wrong, or written in such a way that they may cause offense.

Do you actually mean everyone should calm down - or is it just me? If it;s just me then have no worries - I am very calm.

danielle0817

Thankyou Tommy987654321 someone who understands what i was saying.
Im sorry if i did cause you any offence bestpud but i did mean what i was generally, i dont resent ema if that was the case i would resent my best friend of 6 years, i just think its unfair for the chance of equal opportuinities. I talked about my family working to show they hadnt getting things by sitting on their backsides and now advantages are being taken away from them i dont think you get what i mean by this but i cant explain in a different way :S. and what you said by the way i was making myself look silly with the whole materilistic thing was if i was really spoilt then that what i would be like i think you also took this too literally. And to your surprise i do know about hardship and i spend that on lunches and thats just a Greggs would you believe but thats todays prices. And i gave you an idea of how much i spent since starting just to give an idea of how much it actually costs for everyone. Yeah I did go on a rant but that was because you did offend me so sorry for any offence i caused you.

p.s. hand on heart im not a spoilt brat lol

The_One_Who

tommy987654321 wrote: »

where is the encouragment for students who dont recieve ema

Research has shown that those who live in affluent areas or come from affluent families do better in education and are much, much more likely to go on to further and higher education. Those from socially and economically deprived areas tend to have less encouragement from families, fewer adult role models, are more subject to peer pressure in that education is 'uncool', etc, etc.

Also, those from poorer families have traditionally needed to go straight in to employment as soon as they can so that they can either help support their family or so they can support themselves. They don't have the safety net of their family being able to help them out if they get in trouble, unlike more affluent families.

Danielle, if you find spending £15 a week on lunches expensive then you could always make your own lunch and take it with you, or find somewhere cheaper? Greggs is really expensive and the prices seem to go up all the time.

bestpud

danielle0817 wrote: »

Thankyou Tommy987654321 someone who understands what i was saying.
Im sorry if i did cause you any offence bestpud but i did mean what i was generally, i dont resent ema if that was the case i would resent my best friend of 6 years, i just think its unfair for the chance of equal opportuinities. I talked about my family working to show they hadnt getting things by sitting on their backsides and now advantages are being taken away from them i dont think you get what i mean by this but i cant explain in a different way :S. and what you said by the way i was making myself look silly with the whole materilistic thing was if i was really spoilt then that what i would be like i think you also took this too literally. And to your surprise i do know about hardship and i spend that on lunches and thats just a Greggs would you believe but thats todays prices. And i gave you an idea of how much i spent since starting just to give an idea of how much it actually costs for everyone. Yeah I did go on a rant but that was because you did offend me so sorry for any offence i caused you.

p.s. hand on heart im not a spoilt brat lol

Lol - like I said before, your ORIGINAL post was the rant I found offensive. It was me that reacted to your original post. I hadn't posted on this thread before that!

Anyway, I do know what you mean. In fact I know exactly what you mean BUT that was not my point.

I was pointing out that lots of people work hard all their lives BUT they are not as fortunate as your family has been. And that is often NOT about how hard they have worked. There is often an assumption that people who receive benefits such as this, do so because they have somehow not worked as hard as those who are well off. But this is not a meritocratic society!

The point about your lunches is because if you are struggling to buy course essentials then why are you going to Greggs every day and spending £15-20 a week? On the one hand you feel terribly sorry for your hard working father and on the other, you are not prepared to help out by making yourself a packed lunch? If you were genuinely struggling financially you'd have no choice but to take a packed lunch. Do you see what I am getting at?

Anyway, we had better call a truce with this.

To repeat, I do know what you are saying. It is a system which is open to abuse and it is also a system which makes those abuses very obvious. I guess a lot of other benefit fraud is less obvious. As such I can see why it causes resentment. Really I can!

Savvy_Sue

Second that about Greggs. And we were at DS2's sixth form earlier for a parents' evening, and they can buy a full lunch for £2.30! Same as a school dinner ...

Although there's a BOGOF on the Greggs website for their chicken pastry things, if that's of interest.

Wish I could think of some way of getting back on topic after that - oh, I know, the bonuses. You could argue that they're not really fair either: DS2 would probably get them really easily, while others would work really hard and possibly not get them. But then it's not fair that he got his GCSEs with minimal work. Life's not fair, but he can't help being bright! :rotfl:

bestpud

Aren't the bonuses set to ability?

So each student should have to put the same effort in, even if the grade they need to achieve is lower?

Unless they are naturally a grade A* student, I guess, and would not need to work hard, even to achieve that grade.

Savvy_Sue

bestpud wrote: »

Aren't the bonuses set to ability?

So each student should have to put the same effort in, even if the grade they need to achieve is lower?

Unless they are naturally a grade A* student, I guess, and would not need to work hard, even to achieve that grade.

I don't know how the bonuses work, never having needed to, but I'm afraid that in the subjects he's chosen he is pretty much an A* student. He IS working, but probably not as much as his teachers like to think he is ...