Taunts from yobs leave Benefits Street kids too ashamed to go to school. BENEFITS Street kids are too ashamed to leave their homes to attend school, an education boss has revealed.

The youngsters are being harangued by gangs of yobs from neighbouring areas and tourists eager to get a look at the infamous address.

Some have refused to attend the Oasis Academy Foundry Junior School, which is at the end of Birmingham’s James Turner Street, since the Channel 4 series aired.

And others have to be escorted to lessons by teachers because their parents are not keen to venture out of the house. Last night Steve Chalke, whose Christian charity is in charge of the failing school, revealed: “Some of the kids in that community have not been to school all week because they are too scared to go out in the street.

“Some of the kids are being picked up by us because the parents are refusing to go out.

“By the corner of our street where the school is, tourists are arriving to have their picture taken by the road sign and chants are being hurled.

“The show has created ill-feeling and tourists have turned up and been heckling and chanting and making it a dangerous and hostile place.

“This story will stick with these kids long after everyone has forgotten whether it was called Benefits Street or Benefits Road and whether it was in Manchester or Birmingham.”

The controversial show has been slammed by MPs, religious leaders, and its “stars”, some of whom say they were duped into appearing in what TV bosses claimed was a documentary about community spirit in troubled times.
Police say the bad feeling has made the area a no-go zone after dark.
And Mr Chalke slammed Channel 4 for “misrepresenting” the area.
He added: “There are 99 houses in the street with 300 people and 13 nationalities and most people refused to take part in it because they knew what would happen.
“They knew the community would be torn apart. The community is angry because it feels totally betrayed and misrepresented by Channel 4 for the sake of a programme.
“My task is to turn the school around and make it outstand-ing and we have not been helped in that task. In fact we have been hindered by this rather immature programme.”
Emma Johnson, principal of the academy, said: “The programme failed to reflect the life of James Turner Street in a balanced or accurate manner.
“This is something that cannot go unchallenged.”
The second part of the series, screened on Monday, featured tensions between residents Romanian immigrants who moved into the street.
It also followed elderly resident Sue as she tried to enlist support from neighbours for a Britain In Bloom entry.
Channel 4 insist it is an accurate reflection of events that unfolded in front of the cameras in over a year of filming.
They say they are offering support for locals in the aftermath of the controversy following its broadcast.