Hundreds of thousands of mainly 18 year olds got their A level outcomes this week.

From what I can gather, about 35% of A level sitters will go to University, 1/2m people.

Good luck to them & good luck to all the others intending or hoping to go into a working life or some other form of perhaps more vocational training.

It's not easy times for those just embarking on the higher education or any other career route, nor their families & friends.

In 60/70s many of my pals in Birmingham left school at 16 & went straight into the huge car & motorbike or other engineering factories of the West Midlands: Austin, Morris, Land Rover, BSA, GKN etc.

We took A levels & became part of that cadre of first generation university attenders. On the night of results, we went out for a fancy foreign meal...sweet & sour pork & chips! Weren't we sophisticated!?

So, soon in September, as Chairman of our College, I'll be presenting to our A level people, apprentices & others, their certificates & diplomas gained arte et labore, by skill & hard work. A month later will see a similar event for our Higher Education graduates.

But I was also pleased & privileged to be invited to local team of the Princes Trust. Number 79, to be exact. I must have been to most team presentations over 20 or more years. That must be nearly a thousand youngsters.

It was a real cheers & tears event. Every youngster spoke, as did their "team leaders" & our Mayor, Alan Cottam. All 13 youngsters spoke about their adventures, mishaps & successes.

Chief Fire Officer Chris Kenny concluded, praising the staff & young people.

I noted some of the words & phrases used by the youngsters themselves, some of them self confessed non angels:- "self belief, confidence, new direction in life, putting the bad old days of my life behind them". Mums, Dads & others sat intently & proudly, phone cameras & tissues at the ready.

There's a prevailing view that this generation of young people are bad 'uns, not as good as the last & nowhere near as good as we were. Rubbish. What's that Native American saying about 'never criticise anyone till you've walked a few miles in their moccasins'?

We need our youngsters to succeed, we should want them to! It is an acid test of a civilised society that we should look after & nurture every generation of youngsters.

My experience is that they have similar hopes & fears as we do & did. A word of encouragement & praise would not go amiss! Try it, you might be surprised with its reception, effect & impact.