Hope in a tux, my sons school leavers Ball gave me hope.

Last night I went to my 16 year old son’s school leavers’ ball and for a few hours, surrounded by proud parents, smart kids, and the kind of honest laughter you don’t hear much anymore, I felt something I haven’t in a while…hope.

Now don’t get me wrong, the world outside that venue is still an absolute mess. We’ve got a Government that looks like it’s actively trying to wreck the economy, and doing a bloody good job of it too. We have small businesses being crushed, trades forgotten, working people pushed to the brink, and all while champagne socialists clap themselves on the back in Westminster. It looks like a controlled demolition to me, and we’re the ones getting buried under the rubble.

But, for this one evening, none of that mattered. I was sat with a cracking bunch of other parents, proper nice people, sharing stories, having a laugh and watching our kids celebrate the end of one chapter and the start of another.

And what a thing it was to watch, dozens of teenagers, buzzing with energy and joy, dressed to the nines and dancing like the world hasn’t managed to get its claws into them yet. There’s something special about that age, they haven’t been beaten down by bills, the bureaucracy, or any betrayal just yet. They still believe they can make it and that belief is powerful, powerful beyond belief.

I watched my son breakdancing with his mates and the headteacher even joined in, and I just couldn’t help but laugh. Not a cynical laugh, a real, full bellied, proud dad laugh, the kind that reminds you what you’re fighting for.

Because, let’s be brutally honest, it is a fight out there. The big bad world doesn’t pull any punches. I’m confident that my boy’s ready, he’s not off to chase some pipe dream or rack up fifty grand in uni debt studying something useless, he’s looking at possibly becoming an electrician, a real trade, one with a real skill set. The kind of job that’ll always be needed.

And that’s smart, because while half the country seems obsessed with TikTok fame, pronouns, getting on love Island or some other fleeting nonsense, there’s a serious shortage of people who can actually do something…build something, fix something and keep the lights on…literally.

In ten years, I reckon trades will be the gold standard. While others are drowning in student debt or waiting tables with a master’s degree in media studies… the sparkies, chippies and plumbers will be laughing, mark my words, I’ve told him, learn it, master it, and who knows, maybe we’ll have a fleet of Brooks Vans buzzing around town one day. “Brooks Electrics”… ha, that has a nice ring to it.

So yeah, the world’s in bits, the economy’s being completely wrecked and the country’s being run by people, who couldn’t wire a plug, let alone lead a nation.

But for now, I’ll take this win, I’ll hold on to that moment…that pride and that joy.

Go get it, kiddo, dad’s right here with you.